“The acute pain of solitude experienced at first never returned” to Capt. Joshua Slocum, author of the quintessential travelogue, Sailing Alone Around the World. I met Neptune in his wrath, but he found that I had not treated him with contempt, and so he suffered me to go on and explore. Slocum left Boston on April 24, 1895, returning three years later. His book was an international bestseller. It is a delightful, incredible, fabulous and awesome story. Delightful because of its superb […]

Categories: Tucker Cox, ZiR

This is part I of II, contrasting Dickens’ and Goethe’s images of Italy. Part II discusses sightseeing along Dickens’ itinerary – click here    A rousing contrast exists between Charles Dickens’ Pictures from Italy and Goethe’s Italian journey reviewed last week. Goethe says, “I am not here to enjoy myself… but to improve.” Dickens is on vacation. His travelogue is “a series of faint attractions – mere shadows in the water – of places to which the imaginations of most people are attracted.” […]

Categories: Tucker Cox, ZiR