Review of COME TRAVEL WITH ME and my Cameras
Posted: 18 Jun 2021, 20:43
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "COME TRAVEL WITH ME and my Cameras" by Terry Turle.]
Come Travel With Me and My Cameras is a memoir and travelogue. It was written by Terry Turle. The book tells the story of the author’s childhood and family life before exploring his exciting photography career. The Turles lived in England before moving to Australia aboard the SS Orcades. The author had a penchant for photography ever since he was a child. When he grew up, he created a company called Lloyd Buchanan Photography. Eventually, his photography progressed from taking photos of people to creating videos and films. Terry traveled extensively to exotic places such as Timbuktu, Turkey, Egypt, and India. Many of his videos can be found on YouTube. Through this book, readers will meet locals from these places, see photos from Turle’s travels, delve into history, and become immersed in many adventures.
This book was informative. Culture, geography, and history are three of my favorite things to learn about, so I appreciated the author’s insights into these subjects. Turle stated that Egypt was the first country to create glass. I liked looking at pictures of the ornate glassware that he photographed. I also learned that Mashrabiya windows were specially designed to prevent onlookers from staring at women. I was surprised to learn that this actually contributed to their safety. Turle transported me to the Goreme Valley in Turkey where strange rock formations resembled fairy chimneys. He explained that this was due to the erosion of volcanic ash. Neither have I heard of this place nor seen it, so I found this to be extremely fascinating.
Although the book contains educational and fascinating content, the writing was choppy and confusing at times. Sometimes, phrases were written instead of sentences. The lack of quotation marks made this book a chore to read. Moreover, the dialogues weren’t separated. Instead, they were sometimes placed in narrative paragraphs. Other errors were present too. In my opinion, there were too many characters to keep track of as Turle seemed to mention nearly everyone he met on his travels.
After some time, reading this book became a bit monotonous. Turle wrote very positively about most of his experiences, but it seemed like Turle tried to shield the reader from learning about certain parts of his life, such as the discord between him and his first wife, the romance with his second wife, and his daughter’s mental health struggles. I would have liked to read about how these affected his sons and his career. Photography is an art, and our ability to express ourselves through art is normally affected by our experiences and emotions. Unfortunately, Turle didn’t elaborate on these matters. Including more about these would have made the book more interesting. It would have helped readers to connect with the author too.
Turle’s photographs were a nice addition to the book. Honestly, I expected to see more photos since the book’s title hinted at this. I was disappointed when I discovered that some of the photographs were repeated, such as those of the rock formations in the Goreme Valley and King Tut’s death mask. It would have been superb to see some more of Turle’s work.
In conclusion, I rate this book 1 out of 4. I think the informative aspect was the only positive thing about this book. Come Travel With Me and My Cameras has the potential to become an enjoyable read if some of the aforementioned things are addressed. Most importantly, it needs to be professionally edited or else readers will have a hard time reading it. Once the issues have been resolved, I would recommend this book to adult readers who like memoirs, traveling, and photography.
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COME TRAVEL WITH ME and my Cameras
View: on Bookshelves
Come Travel With Me and My Cameras is a memoir and travelogue. It was written by Terry Turle. The book tells the story of the author’s childhood and family life before exploring his exciting photography career. The Turles lived in England before moving to Australia aboard the SS Orcades. The author had a penchant for photography ever since he was a child. When he grew up, he created a company called Lloyd Buchanan Photography. Eventually, his photography progressed from taking photos of people to creating videos and films. Terry traveled extensively to exotic places such as Timbuktu, Turkey, Egypt, and India. Many of his videos can be found on YouTube. Through this book, readers will meet locals from these places, see photos from Turle’s travels, delve into history, and become immersed in many adventures.
This book was informative. Culture, geography, and history are three of my favorite things to learn about, so I appreciated the author’s insights into these subjects. Turle stated that Egypt was the first country to create glass. I liked looking at pictures of the ornate glassware that he photographed. I also learned that Mashrabiya windows were specially designed to prevent onlookers from staring at women. I was surprised to learn that this actually contributed to their safety. Turle transported me to the Goreme Valley in Turkey where strange rock formations resembled fairy chimneys. He explained that this was due to the erosion of volcanic ash. Neither have I heard of this place nor seen it, so I found this to be extremely fascinating.
Although the book contains educational and fascinating content, the writing was choppy and confusing at times. Sometimes, phrases were written instead of sentences. The lack of quotation marks made this book a chore to read. Moreover, the dialogues weren’t separated. Instead, they were sometimes placed in narrative paragraphs. Other errors were present too. In my opinion, there were too many characters to keep track of as Turle seemed to mention nearly everyone he met on his travels.
After some time, reading this book became a bit monotonous. Turle wrote very positively about most of his experiences, but it seemed like Turle tried to shield the reader from learning about certain parts of his life, such as the discord between him and his first wife, the romance with his second wife, and his daughter’s mental health struggles. I would have liked to read about how these affected his sons and his career. Photography is an art, and our ability to express ourselves through art is normally affected by our experiences and emotions. Unfortunately, Turle didn’t elaborate on these matters. Including more about these would have made the book more interesting. It would have helped readers to connect with the author too.
Turle’s photographs were a nice addition to the book. Honestly, I expected to see more photos since the book’s title hinted at this. I was disappointed when I discovered that some of the photographs were repeated, such as those of the rock formations in the Goreme Valley and King Tut’s death mask. It would have been superb to see some more of Turle’s work.
In conclusion, I rate this book 1 out of 4. I think the informative aspect was the only positive thing about this book. Come Travel With Me and My Cameras has the potential to become an enjoyable read if some of the aforementioned things are addressed. Most importantly, it needs to be professionally edited or else readers will have a hard time reading it. Once the issues have been resolved, I would recommend this book to adult readers who like memoirs, traveling, and photography.
******
COME TRAVEL WITH ME and my Cameras
View: on Bookshelves
. It is sad that they are not so numerous, however I still have the cultural content as an incentive.