So It Goes

Translated here for the first time into English, this collection of shorter travel writings from the golden pen of Nicolas Bouvier covers journeys undertaken in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. In the Aran Isles in mid-winter, he glories in the extremities of the wind outside while inside, feverish, he is enchanted by local tales which hum like a kettle on the fire. In Xian, he pays homage to the civilised brilliance and understatement of his guide, while in Korea he experiences the unchanging beauty of the Buddhist temple at Haeinsa and is marked forever by his climb of volcanic Halla-San. And the roots of his interminable curiosity and amusement are traced back to his childhood reading, and to the bitter war he conducted at the age of eight to rid himself of his arch-nemesis, Bertha.



Nicolas Bouvier was born in 1929 near Geneva. Although he was an exquisite traveller and the greatest Swiss travel writer of the 20th century, he was not a restless character, and died in Geneva in 1998. In 1953 he set off to meet a friend in Yugoslavia without waiting for the result of his degree. The account of the journey they made to Pakistan was published some eight years later, as The Way of the World. Bouvier continued to travel and write throughout his life and is revered as a stylist.