In Plane Writing: Summer Reads for AvGeeks
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APEX Insight: “That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.” AvGeeks may be inclined to disagree with author Jhumpa Lahiri’s comparison: Can literature really conjure the same exhilaration of flight? Maybe not, but it sure does come close.
Every takeoff has its landing. And what better way to enjoy life on the ground than to direct your attention to the skies? Read on for this summer’s top reads for AvGeeks.
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
In the wake of World War I, two young aviators, Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown, set out to complete the very first transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to Ireland. In 1845, Frederick Douglass, a former African-American slave and abolitionist, makes his way to Dublin during an international lecture tour on democracy and freedom, only to find an Irish public who is unsympathetic to his cause. And, finally, in 1998, an Irish-American US senator leaves New York City to build peace in Northern Ireland. Colum McCann’s TransAtlantic encompasses these alternate time periods, migrates between continents and vacillates between history and fiction to study the complexities of Irish-American ties.
Airport Urbanism: Infrastructure and Mobility in Asia by Max Hirsh
In his new release, Airport Urbanism: Infrastructure and Mobility in Asia, Max Hirsh considers the preferences, habits and needs of less privileged passengers: the retiree, the migrant worker, the budget traveler and more. Drawing on interviews with passengers, urban planners and aviation executives, photographs and digital mapping tools, Hirsh shows how the growing variety of pax poses challenges to nearly all components of the air travel experience, including security screening, flow management, amenities and marketing. With Hong Kong International Airport as its central case study, Airport Urbanism conveys how the air transport sector has adapted to the increasingly diversified air traveler population – and will need to continue to do so.
Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Winner of one of France’s most prestigious literary awards, the Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie Français, Wind, Sand and Stars (originally published in French as Terre des hommes) is an autobiographical work by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who was a pioneer of the international postal flight and served on the French Air Force during World War II. His memoir focuses on his time as an airmail carrier for Aéropostale, during which he flew in hazardous conditions across the African Sahara and the South American Andes, most memorably flying over Argentina at night alone for his first time. From this vantage point, de Saint Saint-Exupéry €” author of the world-renowned Le Petit Prince €” is able to provide readers with a broader view of the landscape below him and of the nature of human life.
A Week at the Airport by Alain de Botton
“While punctuality lies at the heart of what we typically understand by a good trip, I have often longed for my plane to be delayed – so that I might be forced to spend a bit more time at the airport,” starts Alain de Botton’s A Week at the Airport. As London Heathrow Airport’s first writer-in-residence, de Botton is able to do just that as he spends one week in Terminal 5 observing everyone from passengers and airline representatives to security agents and service sector employees. A Week at the Airport documents de Botton’s time as airport voyeur, witnessing the moments of discomfort, anxiety, love and compassion that come with air travel. De Botton’s descriptions of these fleeting moments are accompanied by Richard Baker’s deftly rendered photographic depictions of them.
Tokyo Cancelled by Rana Dasgupta
Rana Dasgupta’s first novel, Tokyo Cancelled, features multiple narrators telling stories to each other in a style reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales and The Decameron. Thirteen passengers find themselves stranded in an airport at night after a flight to Tokyo is cancelled. Left to their own devices, the passengers assemble to tell each other stories – all in some way related to the novel’s over-arching theme of globalization – to pass the time until they make there way onto another flight. The narrative weaves in and out of temporal blocks – from the present with passenger commentary to the fantastical worlds of the tales being told.
Did we miss any essentail AvGeek reads? Let us know: editor@apex.aero