The subtitle for this book should be "Love Affairs ON Five Continents" because instead of a travelogue, it's 300 pages of a privileged woman having afThe subtitle for this book should be "Love Affairs ON Five Continents" because instead of a travelogue, it's 300 pages of a privileged woman having affairs with a dozen different guys she meets in other countries over several years, and it's boring as hell. I'm not slut-shaming anyone, I just simply don't care about her boyfriends or fiances or hookups in hostels or her domestic life or her boring jobs. I picked up this book wanting to read about a woman travelling solo around the world. Some of it I could relate to, that feeling of wanderlust and not wanting to settle down for a conventional life. And yes, romance happens on the road and that could be interesting and dramatic to read about...but NOTHING HAPPENS in this book except hookups and her whining about breakups. The only remotely interesting thing she writes about is getting caught in a storm while working on a sailboat in the South Pacific. Somehow she manages to make a trek through the jungles of Papua New Guinea boring because all she writes about is having sex with her boyfriend and then there's some drama involving his jealous ex. I DON'T CARE, UGH. I skimmed the last quarter of the book, it was all angst about her relationships and her exes.
Also, she comes across as a privileged snot. When you're only in a country because of a diplomatic internship, and you live behind walls and gates, and join the yacht club, you need to acknowledge that privilege. She basically uses whatever country she's in as an exotic backdrop while she immediately finds a guy to bang. Again, I'm not slut-shaming if that's what she wants to do with her life -- I just don't want to read about it. It's boring. ...more
It's thematically appropriate to say I devoured this book. I wasn't familiar with most of these titles so when I read some of the more out-there plot It's thematically appropriate to say I devoured this book. I wasn't familiar with most of these titles so when I read some of the more out-there plot summaries, I made notes of books to look for at used bookstores.
Hendrix does get some details wrong, citing the Manson murders as taking place in 1968 (I thought that was a typo until it showed up again) and getting the basis of The Shining wrong (the Torrences didn't buy the hotel and weren't stuck with it as a money-pit). Weird things to get incorrect seeing as how they're so famous. Makes me wonder what other things are incorrect in this book....more
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