The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuscinski. I picked this book up secondhand a few years ago, but I just never got around to reading it. Kapuscinski, who died in 2007, was a renowned Polish journalist who traveled extensively in the developing world and wrote about war and unrest in places like Angola (Another Day of Life), Ethiopia (The Emperor), and Iran (Shah of Shahs). The Shadow of the Sun, which is described by one reviewer as a "personal and political travelogue of one man's rocky love affair with a continent of nations," covers more than three decades of Kapuscinski's experiences in Africa.
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster. From Amazon: "A masterly portrait of a society in the grip of imperialism, A Passage to India compellingly depicts the fate of individuals caught between the great political and cultural conflicts of the modern world." British manners, exotic adventures, and cultural conflict? Sign me up! I just hope this one delivers more than Howard's End and A Room With a View.
Memoirs by Pablo Neruda. This is another book that I bought a long time ago and haven't managed to read yet. I'm a fan of Neruda's poetry, and I enjoy a well-written memoir, so I have high hopes for this one. Though he was born in Chile, Neruda traveled extensively, spending time in Burma, Ceylon, Java, Spain, Mexico, Russia, and Eastern Europe. Along the way, he made friends and acquaintances with artists, politicians, and other luminaries, including Federico Garcia Lorca, Pablo Picasso, Che Guevara, and even Gandhi--how could this possibly be boring?
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