Harry Alverson Franck (1881–1962)

I don't know why I bought this book. It doesn't even contain a chapter on
the Dutch East Indies. The closer it gets is the Malay Peninsula and Siam.
In "A Vagabond Journey Around the World,"" Harry A. Franck tells how he, a young university man, without any money except what he earned on the way, made a journey around the world. Impelled by the instincts of a literary vagabond and gifted with the truly Yankee trait of being at home wherever he found himself, Mr. Franck acquired experiences that have enabled him to give a remarkably vivid picture of native life in strange corners of the world. His trip led him through most of Europe, through Egypt and Palestine, Ceylon, Burma, India, Siam, and Japan. The story is told in a simple, vivid way and is supplemented by snapshot views from a kodak.

He was not presented to kings, czars or emperors, nor dined at any of the royal palaces. And so Mr. Franck became a part of the working class population in every village, city and country through which he passed, living their life and learning more about the character, and the hopes and aims of the workers than a tourist would have garnered in twenty journeys.

There is only one way for the American to know the Chinese, the Burmese, the French and Germans and that is by becoming one of them. The artificially prepared stage settings before which tourists gape, and which travelers have been wont to erroneously call "local color" did not interest Mr. Franck. But the question of earning his bread and butter, as well as lodging, while in a particular locality was all important, and so, from very necessity, Mr. Franck was compelled to live the life of his ever-changing environment. He learned the view-point of the working class in the countries through which he passed.

He slept and ate and tramped with "hoboes" of every land and creed and color. Sometimes he had a little money. Very often he had nothing but the rags on his back. He tried his hand at every kind of work that a clever all-around American fellow could dream of, he bluffed his way through seemingly impossible barriers, he slept cold and hard many a night, and went hungry many a day. But he saw the world— the workers' world from almost every angle and nation under the sun and he had a "vagabond's" royal good time doing it.

In writing of his friends, the "hoboes," Mr. Franck says:

"But whatever his stamping ground, the tramp is essentially the same fellow the world over. Buoyant of spirit for all his pessimistic grumble, generous to a fault, he eyes the stranger with deep suspicion at the first greeting, as uncommunicative and non-committal as a bivalve. Then a look, a gesture suggests the worldwide question, 'On the road Jack?' Answer it affirmatively and, though your fatherland be on the opposite side of the earth, he is ready forthwith to open his heart and to divide with you his last crust."

There is no "fine writing" in Mr. Franck's story. It is just the simple, vivid narrative of his experiences and adventures, supplemented by snap-shots of the workers of the world and conditions under which they toil—but its simplicity and vividness set the reader's blood a-tingling. Readers will find the classic "A Vagabond Journey Around the World" the one of the best book of travel ever published.

This book originally published by The Century co., in 1911, has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting.… (altro)

Franck decided to travel the world - not in style - but as a working man. He took jobs on ships, on farms, walked on foot or begged rides in cart, and made it all the way around the world. Written in/around 1910, this is a fascinating look at the world during that time. Franck boldly went into places most travelers never see and dived into the culture and peoples around him. He learned to speak the language, to adjust to the customs and to live according to what came his way. A marvelous travel book!… (altro)