Backpacker books

Novels you shouldn't leave home without

Going travelling? Wondering what books to take with you? Never fear, the website bookride.com has done all the hard work and compiled a list of the best books to have in your backpack. Clearly no one is going to carry all of these on their back and still be able to walk, but if you need some inspiration on what to take, this is the place to look.

The website says each book ‘should have an element of profundity, preferably mystical – if not it should have cult status or be a statement about who you really are.’

Many classics make it on to the list – from Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America, to Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, chronicling the events leading up to the Napoleonic invasion of Russia and its impact on Russian society as a whole. For those who want something a bit different, Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost, concerning the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden is recommended. Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear, Emily Bronte’s passionate Wuthering Heights and Dan Brown’s ubiquitous The Da Vinci Code all make an appearance.

And then there are the books that are the backpacker's staple – go to any bookstall on the Khao San Road in Bangkok and you will almost definitely see a copy of Alex Garland’s The Beach or Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

The list also comes with some handy hints; when recommending James Joyce’s Ulysses the site helpfully advises on the Odyssey thin paper version.

While the list is extensive, catering to all tastes, it is debatable whether many backpackers would cart around The King James version of The Holy Bible for some light reading.

For the full list, click here [http://www.bookride.com/2009/09/backpacker-classics-for-journey.html]