Travel Writing – DaneCobain.com

Benjamin Zephaniah – Kung Fu Trip | Review

Title: Kung Fu Trip

Author: Benjamin Zephaniah

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 122

Rating: 8/10

Benjamin Zephaniah – Kung Fu Trip

Benjamin Zephaniah is mostly famous for his work as a poet and as a children’s author, but in this book he shows that there’s much more to him than that. Effectively, it’s a collection of travel writing which talks about Benjamin’s time in China, where he pursued his love of kung fu and trained with Shaolin monks.

It’s a fantastic little read, well-written and highly engaging, and possibly one of my favourite Benjamin Zephaniah books so far. Even if you’ve never read any of his work then I suggest you check this out, because it really is fantastic, and fascinating too.

Benjamin Zephaniah

Click here to buy Kung Fu trip.

Graham Greene – Journey Without Maps | Review

Title: Journey Without Maps

Author: Graham Greene

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 250

Rating: 7/10

Graham Greene – Journey Without Maps

Journey Without Maps is, quite frankly, a piece of travel writing that’s taken on historical significance, the true story of Graham Greene’s first ever journey outside of Europe, across the border of Sierra Leone and in to Africa. It was also first published in 1936, before even the outbreak of the Second World War – as you can imagine, white men were neither common nor welcome in Liberia and the neighbouring areas, and so Greene’s work makes for incredibly interesting reading.

Sure, it can be tedious at times, purely because it’s hard work to imagine what it was actually like to go on that journey of his, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting – it’s just heavy going, and not the type of book you can read without really thinking. That’s probably why it’s just as good for the casual reader as it is for the academic, who wants to learn more about Africa in the 30s. If you fit in either category then it’s definitely worth buying.

In fact, if anything, it’s just as exciting as any of his novels, as if it’s made somehow more real by the fact that Greene himself is the central character, as well as the narrator. Besides, the journey itself would be no longer possible, I’m sure of it – the world has moved on in the last eighty years, for better or worse.