Thursday, August 25, 2011

The 10 best fictional holidays

At the Guardian, Kate Kellaway named the ten best fictional holidays.

One book on the list:
The Comfort of Strangers
Ian McEwan

Never accept hospitality from strangers on holiday, at least, not if you’re in an Ian McEwan novel. “When you are tired, a hotel is not such a good place. I will make you so comfortable you’ll forget your terrible night…” says Robert, a stranger... whom Mary and Colin encounter in what might be Venice, were McEwan to grace the setting with anything as reassuring as a name. Holidays are journeys into the unknown, and this compelling, driven, sadistic novel explores what it might be like to lose yourself for ever
Read about another novel on the list.

The Comfort of Strangers is on John Mullan's list of ten of the best visits to Venice in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue