Reviews (24)

Philosophical tools for a meaningful travelling experience.
Alain De Botton's latest publication, ~The Art of Travel~ is a philosophical investigation, simply written, on the reasons and motivations for why we travel. The book's main thesis is that our lives are dominated by a search for that illusive and fleeting emotion or state known as happiness. Travel, he proposes, is a major activity, amongst many, where we seek-out this state of mind. Travel can possibly show us what life is about outside our routine-filled day-to-day existence. The book examines our motives for travelling, our anticipations, and expectations using the writings of various artists, poets and explorers, providing different and highly creative perspectives on the subject.

Personally, I found the most rewarding and instructive chapter to be, 'On eye-opening Art', using the views and paintings of Vincent van Gogh. Just as instructive, however, is the chapter, 'On Possessing Beauty', drawing on the works of the 19th century critic and writer, John Ruskin. The message from both these individuals are quite similar. One of the tasks of art, specifically painting, is to provide us, the viewer, with new perspectives in which to view the world. Vincent van Gogh's exceedingly original style and use of colour, for example, transformed, for some of us, the way we see a sunflower, a wheat field and a Cypress tree. When viewing these works of art, or any work of art, we are inspired to travel to these places where the artist created, and experience the subject of the works first-hand.

John Ruskin believed that one of our primary needs in life is beauty and its possession. He suggested that the only meaningful way to possess beauty was through understanding it: '...making ourselves conscious of the factors (psychological and visual) that are responsible for it,' (P.220) The way to attain this understanding, he suggests, is to draw and write (word paint) those things and places we come across in our travels that strike us as beautiful. A person sitting down in front of an expansive landscape, and sketching its many features, will discover aspects about the scene that would be invisible to the casual observer. When travelling, take the time to draw and write about those places and things one sees, and the experience will be much richer as a result.

~The Art of Travel~ is a helpful philosophical guide to the budding and seasoned traveller. Where other books on the subject instruct us on where to go and what to see, Alain De Botton tells us how to approach our journeys and some useful tools on achieving a much more meaningful and rewarding experience.

Deliciously Readable philosophy
Alain de Botton's book furthers his exploration of philosophical issues in our every day lives. Travelling for the author becomes a way to discuss our pursuit of happiness as well as they way our expectations affect how we live. While the questions that he raises are sophisticated and he draws on his background as an exquisitely trained philosopher for this book, the narrative is incredibly readable:his anecdotes are witty, the prose flows well, and seemingly a high school freshman could comprehend and digest much of what he is saying.

By no means however does this mean that it is not a challenging and enlightening read. de Botton relates a series of his journeys from comical moments of deciding to travel thousands of miles across the globe from the inspiration of a picture of palm trees to the anxiety we experience when we discover that not only does our destination have palm trees but also dirty streets, traffic, and bureacracy. His personal experiences are sprinkled with insight from other famous travellers from european colonial painters to influential french novelists. The end result is a witty, personal, and thorough exploration of travel and what it tells us about the way we live our lives.

As a side note seeing Alain de Botton read and discuss his work in Oxford displayed his depth of knowledge and comfort in his field. He is truly a philosopher who cares about communicating and discussing ideas about how we can better live our lives in an intelligent and coherent manner for any willing reader which is an admirable task. Do not pass this book up!

Editorial Review

Building on the success of the amateur range of Coolpix cameras, Nikon has introduced the Coolpix 5700 in an attempt to bridge the gap between the amateur and professional markets. This time around Nikon has gone for a semicompact feel, combining an almost palm-size unit with a powerful features one would expect to find on a high-specification midrange digital camera.

The swiveling, swing-out screen on the Coolpix 5700 makes it easier to frame self-portrait, overhead, and floor-level shots.

The Coolpix 5700 comes equipped with an automatic pop-up flash, plus a hot-shoe for additional flash units. The bundled NikonView 5 browser software makes it simple to download, organize, and print images. The package includes a lens cap, camera strap, 16 MB CompactFlash card, AV cable, USB cable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and battery charger. It is compatible with CompactFlash memory cards (Type I or II), as well as IBM Microdrives.

The 5700 allows the use of the viewfinder or the LCD monitor (which rotates through 180 degrees after it's opened out) for framing a picture, providing full freedom of movement and allowing you to capture a picture at any angle--no matter how obtuse. Zoom capability has been increased on the 5700, and the camera features an impressive 8x optical zoom, the results from which are good at all levels and distances. Supporting a maximum resolution of 2,560 x 1,920 (4.91 megapixels), an ISO range of 100 to 800, and a top shutter speed of 1/4,000, this camera is definitely a good all-rounder, providing you with great flexibility under different conditions.

The 5700 performs admirably, producing results way above expectation. Color balance is good, and the overall results are of a very high quality. We did have a middling complaint about its size, which actually feels a bit on the small size. With an extra couple of centimeters added to the bodywork, the 5700 would have felt much easier to handle and control in everyday usage. The position of the camera strap attachment also seems awkward, being as it is located on the upper right quadrant of the lens housing, making it sometimes difficult to gain a good grip when in use.

These criticisms aside, the Coolpix 5700 is bound to be another sure-fire hit for Nikon, balancing the huge 5-megapixel image size against a competitive pricepoint. For those not yet ready to move up to the professional level of 35mm digital SLRs such as the Nikon D100, the Coolpix 5700 proves to be a worthy alternative. --Elly Russell

Pros:

• Palm-sized 5-megapixel camera with a powerful feature set
• Includes sizeable 16 MB memory card--can accept IBM Microdrives
• 8x optical zoom

Cons:

• Could be slightly larger for easier handling

Editorial Review