I’m enjoying the hell out of Granta’s “Journeys” issue (Winter 2017). It poses the question, “Is
travel writing dead?” and provides responses from thirteen writers, including New Yorker contributors Geoff Dyer and
Samanth Subramanian.
Subramanian, in his reply, calls travel writing “the most
fundamental kind of literary work.” I agree, especially if a broad definition
of the genre is adopted, e.g., Bill Buford’s “pre-eminently a narrative told in
the first person, authenticated by lived experience” (“Editorial,” Granta 10: Travel Writing, 1983).
One of the most interesting responses is Colin Thubron’s. He says travel writing contains a vital ingredient that computer programs like Google Earth can't substitute for, namely, “experience on the ground, the traveller’s
raw intimacy with the sensuous texture of place: its smells and tastes, its
street life and conversation.”
That’s what I hunger for, not just in travel writing, but in all writing – “experience on the ground,” “raw intimacy with the sensuous texture of place.” Classic New Yorker examples of it are John McPhee’s “Coming into the Country” (June 13, 20 & 27, 1977) and Ian Frazier’s “Great Plains” (February 13, 20 & 27, 1989).
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