- Road trips are especially popular road trips in the United States.
- Thanks to the literature that addresses this subject, we can travel through countries such as the United States, Iceland, Scotland, France or Spain.
Traveling gives us indescribable freedom. If we do it by car, the feeling of lightness is multiplied considerably. Hence the idyll of going on road trips , an English term that designates road trips that are so representative of American culture. Fortunately, this practice is not limited to the United States: if you have a car or caravan you can carry it out in any country in the world. Sounds wonderful, right? It is logical, then, that since it is such a dreamlike experience, various authors have wanted to capture it in their works. Here we present 6 books that revolve around a road trip .
USA
American literature has numerous books whose plot centers on road trips. Among all of them , Jack Kerouac’s En el camino stands out especially, which not only contributed to the mythicalization of Route 66 but is also one of the masterpieces of the Beat Generation. Told in the form of an internal monologue, the author wrote a story based on the trips he and his friends made through the United States and Mexico between 1947 and 1950. To bring his own experiences to life, Kerouac created Sal Paradise and his close friend Dean Moriarty. —inspired by Neal Cassady—, two young people embarking on a road adventure and whose sole purpose in life was to have a good time, a premise that adds aspects such as sex, drugs and jazz to the equation.
Another book that takes place on four wheels on the roads of the United States is Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck, published shortly before he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. In this case, the writer, author of outstanding works such as The Grapes of Wrath or East of Eden, wanted to set foot in other corners of the country since he rarely left New York, Chicago or San Francisco. For this, he chose to bring with him the best of companions: his faithful pet, a French poodle named Charley. In the novel, he recounts how the two traveled more than 16,000 kilometers throughout 34 states aboard their Rocinante motorhome. During the trip there was time to talk with all kinds of people, especially truckers and farmers, and these talks helped him better understand the worries, fears and dreams of some of his compatriots.
Iceland
We leave America behind and enter Iceland at the hands of the Spanish writer of youth literature Laia Soler. Heima is home in Icelandic , one of her most celebrated novels, has as its central axis a car trip around the island that reveals some of its most inhospitable places. The protagonist of it is Laura, a young woman who is going through a complicated moment in her life; In order to disconnect and get away from Spain, she takes the first flight that leaves the airport, which takes her to Iceland. Laura does not know the language and has gone there without a road map, so she is quite lost. Luckily, two Icelanders cross her path, Orri and Gudjon, who invite her to join them on their tour of the island. Thanks to them she will know first handthe most magical places in Iceland and you will come into contact with its culture, its customs, its gastronomy and its language.
Scotland
Beth O’Leary, who already set the bar very high with Piso para dos and En tus zapatos , launches in Rumbo a ti —translated from English The Road Trip— to tour Scotland. The play is a romantic comedy starring Addie, whose friend is getting married in the country and has invited her to her wedding. She and her sister leave for there with such bad luck that her car collides with another and is useless; Fortunately, the other driver is Dylan, her ex-boyfriend, who is also heading to the celebration. Circumstances lead the two sisters to share the journey with Dylan and two of his friends. During the trip, which will reconnect the old couple and lead them to reflect on the comings and goings of their relationship, we will discover incredible places in Scottish lands .
France
And from Scotland we go to France with Julio Cortazar and his wife, the photographer Carol Dunlop. Los autonautas de la cosmopista collects the adventures of the couple who, in 1982 and for 33 days, embarked on an unforgettable journey along the French highways aboard a red Volkswaben Combi named Fafner. The trip begins one afternoon in May from Paris and heading to Marseilles; Like good travelers, Cortazar and Dunlop decide to take a logbook with them.where they will leave written their stops and other information of interest such as the flora and fauna that they discover along the way. His multiple anecdotes are also gathered in the work, which they accompany with reflections, poems and also photographs. In this way, the reader who delves into reading him will be able to experience the trip as if he had made it himself.
Spain
And no books on road trips in Spain? Yes, of course there are, how could there not be with all the wealth of the country that can be discovered on board a car? Among the novels that explore road trips through Spanish lands is Four Amigosby David Trueba. The protagonists are four friends who want to get out of the routine and plan an impromptu vacation that will make them forget their day-to-day problems. The novel dances between comedy and drama, because in its pages we will witness all the crazy situations in which they find themselves involved and also their deepest reflections, which mark the end of their twenties to enter their thirties. The characters, in their attempt to relive their youth, realize that that period of their lives has already ended and that they must grow up.
Emily Dickinson said that to travel far there is no better ship than a book and the 6 books that we have presented to you are proof of this. So sit back, relax and immerse yourself in these novels that take you to the United States, Iceland or France without having to leave where you are.
