Summer is a time for adventures, both the far-away and the stay-at-home kind. But this week, beloved patrons, we are talking about airplane travel–not only because so many of you are headed off into the wild blue yonder, but because several of your favorite library’s staff are also headed off on adventures, as well.
I don’t know about you, but I hate airplanes–the smell of them, the constant, droning noise of them, the numbness and boredom that ensues after one has been crammed into those little seats for so long…the delights really are endless. But there are perks: a wide-open swath of time to read in relatively uninterrupted quiet, especially if you’re like me and downloaded some 50 or 60 books from the NOBLE Overdrive website–because Heavens forbid you should be without a good selection of things to read! Overdrive also offers audiobook downloads, for those who enjoy listening to a scintillating book on your journey. Alternatively, you can enjoy a few hours to catch up on a tv show or film without worrying about all those things you should be doing in the real world, 35,000 feet below.
Not only is the library full of stories to take with you on your next adventure, we have a wide selection of items that can best be summed up as “misery loves company”–books and films that deal with the joys and pitfalls of travel that can often make the weariest, footsore traveler feel comparatively fortunate…or, at least grateful that someone else is having just as rotten a time as they are! So here are some suggestions for those of you thinking about jetting off in these waning months of summer, or for those looking for an excuse to enjoy the pleasures of home during an well-deserved ‘stay-cation’.
Airplane!: A film that gave us some of the most oft-quoted lines in cinematic comedy, this is a perfect film to remind us all of the absurdities involved in plane travel (it’s nice to know some things never change, I suppose). In this disaster movie spoof, a commercial flight is terrorized by bad fish and an incompetent crew (headed by the delightful Peter Graves). Surely the only person capable of landing the plane is an ex-pilot afraid to fly. But don’t call him Shirley. This film was apparently Leslie Nielsen’s first foray into comedy, which gives us another reason to revere it, but no airline other than Aeromexico has ever paid to play it as part of the in-flight entertainment….go figure.
Lost: This probably isn’t the best suggestion for those of you who would rather forgo flying, but it has become the modern definition of the worst-case scenario for air travel. When Oceanic Airways Flight 815 breaks apart in mid-flight, some 48 survivors are left stranded in a mysterious jungle full of mysterious monsters and miles away from any hope of rescue. What they endure, and the startling realizations about what has actually happened to them, was the stuff of many TV-addictions during the show’s run. Say what you will about the series finale, there is little doubt that once you start with this show, you’ll be on tenterhooks until the final scene has played.
Frozen In Time : an epic story of survival, and a modern quest for lost heroes of World War II: Again perhaps not for those a bit squeamish about flying, this is nevertheless a fascinating account of a little-known piece of history and a remarkable piece of travel writing. In 1942, a US cargo plane and the B-17 crew sent to rescue them, crashed into the Greenland ice cap. When a third rescue party vanished in a storm, the nine man crew of the B-17 were forced to endure for 148 days on the frozen tundra before being rescued by the famed explorer Bernt Balchen. This book not only tells the harrowing detail of their ordeal. but also recounts the 2012 naval expedition sent to investigate the mystery of the vanished plane, and the secrets still hidden in the Arctic ice. This is a read for history buffs and adventure-lovers alike, and Mitchell Zuckoff’s engaging writing style keeps the pages turning at a remarkably quick clip.
Four Past Midnight: There are few authors who can make the time pass faster than Stephen King, which makes his books a sure-fire bet for getting through a flight with your sanity intact. This book of short stories features some gems from this prolific author, including “Secret Window, Secret Garden”, which became the basis for the film starring Johnny Depp. But it also features “The Langoliers”, a tale about a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston, and the terrifying journey they take when the sleeping passengers awake to find that they are the only souls on board the plane, which is flying on autopilot. King revels in the fears of childhood in this story, presenting monsters who still lurk in the shadows of our imaginations to plague his travelers–and his readers, as well.
Not Now, Voyager: For centuries, people have been fascinated by travel, from the exploits of Marco Polo to the fate of Amelia Earhart. In this spellbinding book, Lynne Sharon Schwartz considers the reason behind that fascinating, while contemplating the meaning of journeys in her own life. This is a marvelously accessible work of philosophy, anthropology, memoir, and travel narrative that offers some heartfelt and stunning insight on why we travel, and how it shapes the lives of travelers, and a sensational read for those suffering with wanderlust, or those looking for an imaginative journey through both time and space.
Whatever you adventures, beloved patrons, be safe, have fun, and bring us back some good stories!