There are some writers who defy categorisation – listeners, accessible, principled, strong on research. The Irish travel-writer Dervla Murphy who has just died at age 90 was one such. She was one of my favourite writers – covering the globe on her famous cycle rides – particularly countries (for me) such as Cuba, Gaza, Russia, Yugoslavia and Transylvania. Her accounts were highly political – she didn’t just talk with people, she listened to them. She had done her homework on the places she visited and wrote fascinating accounts – totally sensitive to the context and, on that account, so unlike most of such visitors.
The book which perhaps
best embodies her careful research was probably “Through the Embers of Chaos – Balkan
journeys” (2002). I have a lovely first edition of "Transylvania and Beyond" (John Murray 1992 - with a superb jacket) from one of the Bucharest 2nd hand bookshops...
An amazing woman https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2022/may/25/dervla-murphy-an-appreciation-of-the-great-irish-travel-writer-who-has-died-aged-90
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