Ida Pfeiffer

Ida Pfeiffer circumvented the globe in 1846 and wrote her second book about this trip. Pfeiffer demonstrated incredible courage traveling alone, facing down any number of dangers. She rounded Cape Horn while experiencing many storms and rode with various caravans through what is now Iraq and Iran. Despite her amazing story, I found her descriptions superficial. We expect the casual racism, but it is still off-putting. Of course, some of what she witnessed was off-putting to say the least. I, too, would have qualms about eating a dish that had been pre chewed for me, but at other times, she makes broad judgments about people she barely knows. She also seems to have been very willing to simply walk into people's houses and at one point she enters a church while a funeral is in process and kneels by the deceased's wailing mother! She does explain that this was unwitting on her part, but it is part of a pattern of behavior that often veers into the thoughtless and self-centered. While this book is worth reading for its descriptions of places like Yalta when it was a small village, she does not explore below the surface of what she sees. She is rather like a 19th century Instagram tourist!… (more)