Tales This Side of the Elysian Fields

Tales This Side of the Elysian Fields
by Trevor W. Harrison
Published by Shadowpaw Press
Review by Toby A. Welch  
$24.99 ISBN 9781998273249

Few things are more entertaining than an engrossing travel book; that definitely applies to Tales This Side of the Elysian Fields. 

Harrison crisscrossed the globe during the 1970s and 1980s and shares those experiences with us in this book. He was based in Canada during those decades but traveled around North America, Greece, India, Spain, and countries that surrounded the Himalayan mountains, among others. Each location brought a fresh batch of adventures and a slew of interesting people that crossed his path. 

My favourite of the fifteen stories is Harrison’s time spent in Barcelona, Spain. During his month there in March 1973, the modernist revolution was underway although the country was still experiencing an authoritarian regime under Francisco Franco. It was a fascinating historical time to relive through Harrison’s words. And in an interesting twist, Harrison recounts a return trip to Barcelona in 2022 and what a different place it is now, in so many ways. 

I was a bit confused by the title. What the heck is an Elysian field? It turns out that when Harrison was in high school, one of his teachers wrote on his report card that he “wandered the Elysian fields.” And, as Harrison explains, “I wanted nothing so much as to leave home, to physically wander, to go – somewhere.” Hence the title!

One of the things I valued most about Tales This Side of the Elysian Fields was the reminder of what life was like during those two glorious decades, the ’70s and the ’80s. Born in 1972, I grew up during that time and loved the trip down memory lane. Air travel at that time, heck travel in general, was a whole different beast than it is now. Security was almost non-existent. People talked to one another, even random strangers, as we didn’t have the comfort of our cell phones to retreat into when we had thirty seconds to kill. It was a glorious time in our history and I cherished the reminder of those days.

I loved how Harrison’s writing evoked so many emotions, something I don’t find enough of in travel books. For example, his words as he described his journey through a pass carved out of the Himalayas: “We either had to make the journey then or wait until noon the next day. Our driver, more foolhardy than wise, was bent on continuing. What followed for the next one-and-half hours was a truly frightening ride, offset by scenes of spectacular beauty that briefly caused us to ignore death’s hovering.”

For history buffs and people who like reading about others’ travels around the world, I can’t recommend Tales This Side of the Elysian Fields more emphatically. Stepping outside of your own life and into another even just for a few moments is eye opening! 

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM