Great River Cruise Reads

Whenever I cruise, I like to fully immerse myself in the experience. It’s a process that starts well before I actually set foot aboard any airplane or ship, and involves extensive research about the itinerary, the ports that I will be visiting, and of course, prepping all the necessary information for our Live Voyage Reports.

But I’ve found one of the very best ways to get myself revved up for that upcoming voyage is to read a book.  Fiction or nonfiction, books can aquaint you with a place like few other forms of media can, capturing a fascinating place – or an entire period in time – with remarkable ease.

Here are a few of the books I’m reading in advance of my next Live Voyage Report, aboard Tauck’s Swiss Jewel from Budapest to Prague:

Prague Fatale – Philip Kerr

Prague Fatale. Photo courtesy of Amazon

I only discovered British author Philip Kerr last year, and I am disappointed I didn’t discover him sooner.  I can plow through his engrossing stories about German detective and reluctant Nazi Bernie Gunther with astonishing speed. It has nothing to do with my abilities to read; it all has to do with how deftly Kerr brings back to life European locations like Berlin, Nuremberg, Vienna, Munich, and Prague.  Kerr’s novels span the years before, during and after the Second World War, and Prague Fatale has Bernie in the famous Czech city during the fall of 1941, investigating the murder of Reinhard Heydrich. Like everything in Kerr’s novels, the characters and locations around Bernie Gunther are all real, as are the situations he finds himself embroiled in.  Although fiction, his books provide an astonishing look into these areas during the Second World War.

Traumnovelle – The Dream Story – Arthur Schnitzler

Dream Story. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia / Creative Commons

This one’s not for the faint of heart or the easily-offended.  The 1926 story Traumnovelle by Arthur Schnitzler takes place over two days in Vienna during the early part of the last century. The protagonist is a successful doctor named Fridolin who has his world turned upside down when his wife confesses to him that, on a recent trip to Denmark, she fantasized about a young Danish military officer. Fridolin’s world spirals out of control as he descends into the depths of Vienna’s subculture.

If this all sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because Traumnovelle formed the backbone of the 1999 Stanley Kubrick movie, Eyes Wide Shut.  The book is far better than the movie, but what I like about it is the picture it paints of Vienna during the first half of the 1900’s – as a city of importance, intrigue and mystery, a reputation it still holds to this day.

Budapest Noir – Vilmos Kondor

Budapest Noir. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia / Creative Commons

Billed as the first Hungarian Noir thriller, Budapest Noir takes place in the Hungarian capital in 1936. Like many of Philip Kerr’s novels, Vilmos Kondor’s debut novel deals with some of the conflicts facing Budapest in the run-up to the start of the Second World War. Zsigmond Gordon is a crime reporter who is plunged in over his head after a tip-off about a young girl’s murder threatens to unravel everything he thinks he knows about Budapest – and himself.  A great read.

Do you have favorite books to read before a cruise? Let us know! From the Deck Chair will return tomorrow.