Alle Wegen Naar Rome (All Roads To Rome) by Jan Blokker Jr. - reviewed by Samantha_kathy

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Alle Wegen Naar Rome (All Roads To Rome) by Jan Blokker Jr. - reviewed by Samantha_kathy

Dette emne er markeret som "i hvile"—det seneste indlæg er mere end 90 dage gammel. Du kan vække emnet til live ved at poste et indlæg.

1Samantha_kathy
mar 21, 2011, 4:17 pm

My review of this Dutch book which doesn't seem to have an English translation. It's non-fiction, but not of the usual kind I read. It's a travel story, which made it hard for me to review. I'd be happy to hear any comments on it.

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Alle wegen naar Rome (All Roads To Rome) by Jan Blokker Jr. (2009)

This book is the story of Jan Blokker who went from Amsterdam to Rome on foot. It’s not just a travel story, but also a history story. As Jan travels, he takes in as much history as he can along the way, in fact, he planned his route to go through several places with some historical significance (large or small), because he is interested in history.

Each chapter is a piece of the journey. At the beginning of the chapters there is a small detail map of the route he took, so you can place him on a map. The beginning of the book has a larger map of the entire route. I found it to be a very nice feature. What can I say? I like maps.

The author describes the environment in such a way that I felt like I was walking the route as well. In fact, when I got to the end, I had the fanciful thought of walking to Rome myself. Just for a moment, mind you, but that’s the kind of book it is.

What I didn’t like was the fact the sometimes he names people that he meets up with, clearly familiar people, relatives or family perhaps. But aside from first names, there is no explanation for who they are. I was confused and couldn’t always figure out who they were to the author.

During the book, the author talks about the scenery, people he meets, the history of where he stops, and memories. None of it are in any particular order, except that his journey is written about chronologically. The book felt more structured when he entered Italy and started walking along the via Francigena, a classical pilgrims route. While the entire book was enjoyable, the latter part really was the best of the book.

2readafew
mar 21, 2011, 4:30 pm

I like it other than your review feels it ended about one or two sentences to soon.

3Samantha_kathy
mar 21, 2011, 5:17 pm

Wrote a final recommendation at the end, hopefully this will give the review a finished feel.

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Alle wegen naar Rome (All Roads To Rome) by Jan Blokker Jr. (2009)

This book is the story of Jan Blokker who went from Amsterdam to Rome on foot. It’s not just a travel story, but also a history story. As Jan travels, he takes in as much history as he can along the way, in fact, he planned his route to go through several places with some historical significance (large or small), because he is interested in history.

Each chapter is a piece of the journey. At the beginning of the chapters there is a small detail map of the route he took, so you can place him on a map. The beginning of the book has a larger map of the entire route. I found it to be a very nice feature. What can I say? I like maps.

The author describes the environment in such a way that I felt like I was walking the route as well. In fact, when I got to the end, I had the fanciful thought of walking to Rome myself. Just for a moment, mind you, but that’s the kind of book it is.

What I didn’t like was the fact the sometimes he names people that he meets up with, clearly familiar people, relatives or family perhaps. But aside from first names, there is no explanation for who they are. I was confused and couldn’t always figure out who they were to the author.

During the book, the author talks about the scenery, people he meets, the history of where he stops, and memories. None of it are in any particular order, except that his journey is written about chronologically. The book felt more structured when he entered Italy and started walking along the via Francigena, a classical pilgrims route. While the entire book was enjoyable, the latter part really was the best of the book. For those who like travel stories, I’d definitely recommend this book.

4readafew
mar 21, 2011, 5:22 pm

Yes, I like that more.

5jseger9000
Redigeret: mar 22, 2011, 3:58 pm

Here are a few suggestions:

1st sentence, 1st paragraph: This book is the story of... maybe replace 'is' with 'tells'.

2nd sentence, 1st paragraph: You use the word 'story' twice in the same sentence.

3rd sentence, 1st paragraph: I think you could cut that in two at 'In fact'. Also, I'm not sure if you need the very end because he is interested in history at all. It is sort of repeating the earlier info.

2nd sentence, 2nd paragraph: You use the word 'map' twice. And I think the word detail could maybe be cut.

1st sentence, 5th paragraph: During the book is a funny phrase. Maybe replace 'During' with 'Over the course of' or something like that?

2nd sentece, 5th paragraph: I think you should cut 'are' and 'about'.

You should never see 'it' and 'are' next to each other and the word 'about' feels unneeded.

3rd sentence, 5th paragraph: Should Via be capitalized? That I don't know for sure. Just a thought.

'Pilgrims route' should be 'pilgrim's route'.

I hope I didn't go too overboard with my recommendations.

6Samantha_kathy
mar 23, 2011, 1:36 pm

Not overboard at all! As for Via being capitalized, it wasn't in the book, so I chose to follow that. I've implemented the changes, and changed the latter part of the review a bit to make it more clear what I really thought about the book.

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Alle wegen naar Rome (All Roads To Rome) by Jan Blokker Jr. (2009)

This book tells the story of Jan Blokker who went from Amsterdam to Rome on foot. It’s not just a travel account, but also a history story. As Jan travels, he takes in as much history as he can along the way. In fact, he planned his route to go through several places with some historical significance (large or small).

Each chapter is a piece of the journey. At the beginning of the chapters there is a small map of the route he took, so you can place him geographically. The beginning of the book has a larger map of the entire route. I found it to be a very nice feature. What can I say? I like maps.

The author describes the environment in such a way that I felt like I was walking the route as well. In fact, when I got to the end, I had the fanciful thought of walking to Rome myself. Just for a moment, mind you, but that’s the kind of book it is.

What I didn’t like was the fact the sometimes he names people that he meets up with, clearly familiar people, relatives or family perhaps. But aside from first names, there is no explanation for who they are. I was confused and couldn’t always figure out who they were to the author.

Over the course, the author talks about the scenery, people he meets, the history of where he stops, and memories. None of it in any particular order, except that his journey is written chronologically. The book felt more structured when he entered Italy and started walking along the via Francigena, a classical pilgrim’s route.

While the entire book was enjoyable, the latter part really was the best of the book. There were more things happening than just walking. For the first time, Jan Blokker really struggled, physically and mentally. He also had a bit more contact with people, although he tried his very best to avoid it.

For those who like travel stories, I’d definitely recommend this book, if only for the feeling you’ve walked the route yourself. But don’t expect either a fascinating look into history or an in-depth look at the places the author passes.

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