Jonathan Raban Bücher

Jonathan Raban legt mit seiner Elf-Meter-Ketsch in Seattle ab und segelt tausend Meilen die Pazifikküste Kanadas hinauf. Endpunkt der Reise ist Juneau, die Hauptstadt Alaskas. Seine Reiseroute führt ihn entlang alter Wasserwege der Indianer durch die 'Inside Passage', ein Labyrinth aus Sunden und Kanälen. Für den Reisenden wird der Törn zu einem äußeren wie inneren Abenteuer, zu einer unentrinnbaren Konfrontation mit der Wildnis der See und sich selbst. 'Raban vermag mit wenigen Worten Bilder zu zeichnen, die an den dunklen Ton mancher Kanalufer erinnern, wo die Wurzeln und Steine, die niedrige Böschung und ihr flüssiges Ebenbild zu verschmelzen scheinen.' Süddeutsche Zeitung

Sharp...funy...a marvellous attempt to discover the meaning of home' Ian Jack, Observer

An entrancing chronicle of the voyage from Seattle to the Alaskan capital from the late Anglo-American master of letters, Jonathan Raban.

Teems with acerbic humour . . . 600 relentlessly intelligent pages of erudite, witty and combative prose.' Patrick McGrath, Guardian Book of the Week'

‘A wonderful, rushing, crowded, enlightening voyage . . . A book which, in its ingenious understanding, its acceptance of a very imperfect world, and its energetic and constant fascination with human variety, should do a great deal to dispel the easiest and therefore the most prolific paranoid deception which the Western imagination has now fabricated in its desperate attempt to avoid facing reality’ Angus Wilson, Observer ‘A gem of a book, full of events and people and philosophy’ Sunday Telegraph ‘With an eye for the striking scene and entertaining incident he combines a perceptiveness of deeper realities that makes Arabia more than an amusing travellers’ journal’ Daily Telegraph ‘A very enjoyable book . . . It is racy and entertaining travel writing’ Cosmopolitan ‘The advent of a new travel writer of the first rank is an occasion to celebrate. Such a discovery is Jonathan Raban, whose Arabia is a tour de force’ Yorkshire Post

In the city we can live deliberately: inventing and renewing ourselves, carving out journeys, creating private spaces. But in the city we are also afraid of being alone, clinging to the structures of daily life to ward off the chaos around us. How is it that the noisy, jostling, overwhelming metropolis leaves us at once so energized and so fragile? In Soft City, Jonathan Raban, one of our most acclaimed novelists and travel writers seeks to find out. First published in the 1970s, his account is a compelling exploration of urban life: a classic in the literature of the city, more relevant to today’s overcrowded planet than ever."