أَعُوذُ بِاللّٰهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the name of ALLAH, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Book "Literary Journeys: Mapping Fictional Travels across the World of Literature" By John McMurtrie

John McMurtrie is an independent book editor. He is senior editor of the a literary journal "Zyzzyva", a contributing editor of the quarterly literary travel magazine "Stranger’s Guide", and an editor for "McSweeney’s Publishing". His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Literary Hub. He served as the books editor of the San Francisco Chronicle for a decade. A native of Boston, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The book "Literary Journeys": Mapping Fictional Travels across the World of Literature (press.princeton.edu) edited by John McMurtrie is a collection of original short essays. Over 50 international writers, scholars, and critics wrote individual entries exploring travel themes in more than 75 famous works of fiction. The essays in the book are categorized by era into "Quests & Explorations" (ca. 725-675 BCE-1897), "The Age of Travel" (1899-1953), "Postmodern Movements" (1955-1998), and "Contemporary Crossings" (2000-2021). Each of the 75 essays is illustrated by the cover, author photo, and accompanying art/photography. These bring the beautifully written, educational, and deep background provided by the contributors to life.

This Book "Literary Journeys" By John McMurtrie covers fictional works from Homer’s 'Odyssey', Chaucer’s 'Canterbury Tales', and Cervantes’s 'Don Quixote' to Melville’s 'Moby-Dick', Kerouac’s 'On the Road', and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 'Americanah', which are some of the most powerful works of fiction center on a journey. Extending to the ends of the earth and spanning from ancient Greece to today, "Literary Journeys" By John McMurtrie is an enthralling book that takes you on a voyage of discovery through some of the most important journeys in literature.

The central theme of Literary Journeys: Mapping Fictional Travels Across the World of Literature (wanderingeducators.com) edited by John McMurtrie is how physical movement in fiction mirrors inner psychological, spiritual, or personal transformation, exploring how the act of travel shapes human identity across 2,500 years of global storytelling. The "Core Concepts and Structure" of the book may be categorized as follows:-

Metaphorical Travel: The outer voyage serves as a mirror for self-discovery, moral trial, or emotional investigation.

Historical Evolution: Traces journey narratives from ancient Greek epics like Homer's The Odyssey up to contemporary 21st-century fiction.

Thematic Eras: Divided into four chronological sections—Quests & Explorations, The Age of Travel, Postmodern Movements, and Contemporary Crossings.

The book comprises original essays from an international team of literary critics, scholars, and other writers explore exciting, dangerous, tragic, and uplifting journeys in more than seventy-five classic and popular works of fiction from around the world.

A beautifully illustrated guide to over seventy-five important journeys in world literature, spanning more than thirty countries and twenty-five hundred years.

Book "Literary Journeys: Mapping Fictional Travels across the World of Literature" By John McMurtrie is an enthralling book that takes you on a voyage of discovery through some of the most important journeys in literature. Chronologically arranged and gorgeously illustrated throughout with paintings, engravings, photographs, and maps in full color, this captivating book will appeal to readers who have travelled widely, who are planning a trip, or who love armchair travel. Contributors include Robert McCrum, Susan Shillinglaw, Maya Jaggi, Robert Holden, Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Alan Taylor, Michael Bourne, Sarah Mesle—and dozens more.

Book "Literary Journeys: Mapping Fictional Travels across the World of Literature" By John McMurtrie is a beautiful book with orange end papers, accessible format, and many illustrations including, as you would expect, maps. The reach of the book is global and across time from Homer to now. Each author has a short bio at the beginning of each entry from which one may learn significant things. For example, H.G. Wells' human rights work was instrumental in establishing the United Nations. He is also credited with coining the terms 'atom bomb', 'time machine', 'the war to end war', and 'the league of nations'. His featured work is about bicycling, a popular activity at the time (1890s) which provided freedom for women in their 'rational' dress. It was interesting to learn that many of the writers hadn't been to the places they write about. Katherine Mansfield is featured with her story "The Voyage" which, like many of the featured works is as much - or more - about a psychological voyage or transition in life as it is about a literal journey.

Stories about travel have always taken us places, explored difference and commonalities, taught us much, and shown us the world. Once we are grown, they are no less magical. Often, there is TOO much choice—and not enough in-depth guidance to truly explore the best of literary travels. Book "Literary Journeys: Mapping Fictional Travels across the World of Literature" By John McMurtrie selections through roughly 2000, and a handful thereafter, were largely obvious, noncontroversial, and enduring. The book is an illustrated guide exploring over 75 important travel-based works of fiction spanning 2,500 years and 30 countries.

Book Overview & Structure

Editor: John McMurtrie

Focus: Fictional journeys tied to real-world locations (no fantasy realms like Narnia or Middle-earth).

Format: Short, accessible essays by international critics and writers, paired with full-color maps, paintings, and photographs.

Chronological Eras

Quests & Explorations: Covers ancient roots up to 1897 (e.g., Homer’s Odyssey, Cervantes's Don Quixote, Melville's Moby-Dick).

The Age of Travel: Spans 1899 to 1953 (e.g., Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath).

Postmodern Movements: Covers 1955 to 1998 (e.g., Kerouac's On the Road).

Contemporary Crossings: Covers 2000 to 2021 (e.g., Adichie's Americanah, Towles's The Lincoln Highway).

One of the many things I love about this book is the broad meaning of travel. What are the ties that bind these stories about journeys together?

I like that this collection features so many different sorts of journeys. There are characters who are returning home, there are those fleeing home, some are exploring their immediate surroundings. Usually the motivation is not unlike the one spoken by Gus in Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove: “Life’s a short affair. Why spend it here?”

The world is full of excellent books about journeys, of course. How did you winnow it down to these?

For starters, my fellow editors and I wanted the book to showcase works of fiction from throughout the centuries. So we start with The Odyssey, in antiquity, and travel through time to the present—wrapping up with Amor Towles’ novel The Lincoln Highway, published in 2021. We also wanted the book to be truly global, to have stories that take place around the world and are written in languages other than English. Reading the book, you’ll notice, too, that characters travel in a lot of different ways. By car, of course, but also on foot, by train, and by bicycle. A range of modes of transport was important. There are many famous authors in the book—Chaucer and Melville and Nabokov, among them—but there are also authors who’ll be unknown, until now, to many readers, including Kim Thuy and Tommy Wieringa and Arikawa Hiro. One last thing: these stories aren’t simply yarns of people going off on adventures. There’s Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days, sure, but there’s also plenty of dark material, everything from Paul Bowles’s The Sheltering Sky to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Not all journeys have happy endings.

I was elated to see global as well as Western literature discussed in this book. What do you hope that readers (whether they are already or future global travelers) take away in terms of intercultural understanding?

As I write in the introduction, the world is getting smaller, but it’s also getting more divided. Bad things can happen to people when they travel, but more often than not the experience opens our minds. That’s what I hope this book does. That, and entertain you.

(https://www.wanderingeducators.com/books-film/books/read-this-literary-journeys-fictional-travels-world-literature)

Book "Literary Journeys: Mapping Fictional Travels across the World of Literature" By John McMurtrie helps foster global literature by connecting classic and contemporary "Fictional Works" across different cultures and eras. It bridges diverse storytelling traditions through international essays and visual maps. The book uses illustrated maps and archival images to spark reader curiosity in world titles. The book supports "Global Literature" as it features insights from more than 50 international critics and writers and spans ancient epics like Homer's Odyssey to modern global narratives like Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West. There is a need for more of such works in different languages to engage larger readership for fostering global peace.