Glorious Adventure

by Richard Halliburton

"The Glorious Adventure" was Halliburton's second book, and details how he set out to follow in the path of Ulysses, as described in the Odyssey. The resultant book does not have a dull page. It details how Halliburton roamed the Mediterranean Sea searching for adventure and romance, both of which he was happy to report were still in abundant supply.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Adventure, Greece, History, Memoir

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Writer, Lecturer, and World Traveler, Richard Halliburton published numerous books during his short lifetime. During his world travels, he visited exotic locales such as the Taj Mahal in India, climbed the Matterhorn, flew across the Sahara desert in a bi-winged plane, and swam the entire length of the Panama Canal. He also roamed the Mediterranean Sea retracing the route followed by Ulysses in Homer's Odyssey and crossed the Swiss Alps on the back of an elephant in a recreation of Hannibal's expedition. Halliburton died (or, more accurately, disappeared) in March 1939 as he and his crew attempted to sail a Chinese junk, the Sea Dragon, from Hong Kong to San Francisco as a publicity stunt. The vessel was unseaworthy and went down in a storm around March 23-24, 1939. His body was never recovered

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this aloud to all the kids -- ages 5-16. We found it to be adventurous, entertaining, and such, but found it hard to believe Halliburton met that many females on his journey who were willing to go along with his schemes.

[Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Halliburton was quite the character. I've read some of his letters to his parents in the Princeton University Archives regarding his travels to Greece to research this book, and so I have an idea of when his narrative departs from the truth. That it occasionally does, but most of his adventures are firmly grounded in his own ambition and ability to see the 'romance' in every landscape. Halliburton's travels offer a last gasp of the Romantic aspects of the 'age of exploration' —before tourism/globalization turned most charming old world localities into key chain stores.

[Boy Blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Halliburton travelled long before the dark words "American Tourist" had villagers bolting their doors and extending their siestas indefinitely, all while holding their fingers up in the shape of a cross.

Yet he is still distinctly American, he has the swagger, the charm, the confidence and your enjoyment of the book will rest entirely on whether you like his personality. As much as this is a book about tracing Ulysses journey from Troy back to Ithaca and his beloved Penelope, it's also a story about Halliburton trying to find himself.

He has a talent to cast his endeavours in that same mythic language that fills The Odyssey and delights the reader. He manages to do this while never abandoning his sense of humour.

There are numerous times where you can feel his story veer off the beaten path of truth and into the same tangled undergrowth of myth that The Odyssey itself is shaped from. His ability to evoke his surroundings is another of his talents and in an age without easy photography his words still make you want to jump on a plane and visit these stunning locales (or at the very least furiously search them online).

Halliburton seems a more joyous, less literary, and less dominant Hemingway. Halliburton seeks to test his limits, Hemingway seeks to demonstrate his mastery. Halliburton seeks answers in the great unknown, Hemingway just looks to conquer it.

Many years later Halliburton would be come famous for his final missive sent while attempting to cross the Pacific from Hong Kong to San Francisco in a Chinese Junk.

"Southerly gales, rain squalls, lee rail under water, wet bunks, hardtack, bully beef. Having a wonderful time, wish you were here, instead of me." It was Halliburton's last dispatch.

The Chinese junk he had commissioned and all its crew were lost without a further trace at sea. The message sums him up better than any eulogy ever could.

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This whole book is a cautionary note, warning unsuspecting parents of what may happen if they choose to read to their children. In Halliburton’s case, his father chose to read epic Greek literature to him—forever sparking his imagination and thirst to experience the world. Storytime with his father would turn him into an “incorrigible romantic” and tether his soul to a life of brazen travel.

I preferred Halliburton’s first book “The Royal Road to Romance” though his curiosity and lust for adventure are all here in this one too. “The Glorious Adventure” does feel a little lighter on adventure and heavier on Greek mythology. That said, I am inspired by Halliburton’s adventuresome spirit and am always exhilarated by reading about a time when travel meant soaking up majesty and really experiencing places and expanding your vision of the world—long before Instagram spoiled world heritage sites by turning them into places for selfie fashion shoots and notches in one’s brag-worthy travel belt. While most of us are mere travelers, it’s refreshing to read how Halliburton chose instead, to be an explorer, and visit the world to experience it.

[Anna Sircova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read, but such nice, vivid descriptions of the places the author visited in Greece and various adventures he experienced. Lovely storytelling. It was nice recap of Homeric work, and it was also interesting to ‘see’ how those places have changed since the current author was traveling reliving the Homeric world. Seemed to be much easier , more open borders and people compare to 21st century. We can’t reexperience Homeric world, but unfortunately we can’t relive Halliburton’s world either any more.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. It's light-hearted and funny, yet offers a good amount of Homeric history. Halliburton's writing style is what sold it for me:

"As I had stuck to blubber and champagne at Taormina and left Helios' precious cattle strictly alone, the Sun God had no reason to be wroth with me, nor Jupiter to use my Malta-bound ship as a target for lightning practice. In consequence, the voyage was utterly dull,—so dull, in fact, I was sorry I had been so virtuous."

"Seven years! What a long time to live with a goddess. It is no wonder Ulysses was so disconsolate. Goddesses have absolutely no sense of humor. They never laugh delightfully. In fact I never heard one laughing at all. They are usually big healthy women who go around wearing bronze helmets and carrying spears,—and that would get on any man's nerves. Of course Venus was a welcome exception to this. She had curly hair, and a beautiful complexion, and feminine allure. If SHE had been in Calypso's place, Ulysses probably wouldn't have grumbled so much. But including even Venus, I think goddesses would be a deadly bore after a week or two. I'd prefer Jimmy any day."

Two small things bugged me: Halliburton occasionally hopped between the Greek and Roman names of the gods, and I wish he would've just picked one. Also, a map would've been awesome! But overall, a quick fun read.

[Ian Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, I love Halliburton. No one has or had a vision like him, he can find the magic in everything. This should be a companion piece to The Odyssey or at least get a paper back to read while you travel Greece.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Halliburton's first book, The Royal Road to Romance so I decided to read his others. I recommend Royal Road but, if you need a trigger warning, there is a lot of racism.

The description inside the front cover of The Glorious Adventure says: "He followed to the end the fabulous trail of Ulysses, with only Homer for his guide and the The Odyssey for his book." No, he didn't. If you want to read THAT book, try The Ulysses Voyage by Tim Severin. Although, Halliburton states at one point that his luggage consists of a toothbrush, a safety razor and 8 translations of The Odyssey, I think he consults the books only twice. He follows Ulysses' voyage more or less but I don't remember Ulysses taking the train or hitching a ride in a Rolls Royce.

Halliburton also has long imaginary conversations with statues of goddesses. He answers for them.

For about the first half, The Glorious Adventure was still a very enjoyable read. Halliburton is a colorful raconteur in the style of William Powell in those Turner Classic Movies. In the second half of the book, it seems like he went off topic a lot. At one point a whole chapter sounded totally fabricated.

My notes:
Page 27. This book was published in 1927 but I would have sworn that I never heard anyone use the word "efficacy" in a sentence until 2020. Page 36: He uses "inefficacious" in a sentence. I'm sure this is a first for me. Halliburton did graduate from Princeton after all.

Page 178. "[Leon] ... taught me to yodel and smoke hashish." Not that I'm really surprised that Halliburton smoked weed. I'm surprised that he told us. Except for his visit to the grave of Rupert Brooke (another chapter that wandered off topic), Halliburton has been channeling Bertie Wooster more than Lord Byron.

[Jimmy Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up after reading "The Royal Road to Romance," Halliburton's first effort. I enjoyed the idea of travel for travel's sake, regardless of funds - although some of his ideas, such as ignoring local laws for his own purposes, were a little off-putting. I thought I would give him another chance with his second book.

In "The Glorious Adventure," written approximately two years later, Halliburton retraces, as much as possible, the steps of Ulysses in Homer's Odyssey (underscoring the impact of the classical education of the early 20th century). Although I was compelled to endure Homer in high school (when one is least suited to appreciate it), my most memorable experience was film based, and I have to admit that it's difficult to compare Halliburton's writing to watching Brad Pitt wield a sword (no matter how poorly done the movie is overall). So in all fairness, perhaps I'm not the best suited to appreciate the fundamental premise of the story.

But it's hard not to enjoy Halliburton's enthusiasm for the classic tale, and effort to follow his hero's footsteps, regardless of the weather. And I did appreciate the reference to Rupert Brooke when Halliburton visited his grave on Skyros; Brooke's does not receive the appropriate credit for his sonnets about England's role in WWI that stand to this day.

But unfortunately, I just don't find Haliburton as amusing as he himself appears to. And I don't think it's just a question of humor changing through the years. I love traveling, finding new friends, and going off the beaten path. I don't love - in fact I strongly dislike - endangering others for the sake of my own ideas, treating locals like ignorant savages, or violating local laws because I'm just special and deserve special treatment.

I found the best part of my book to be the dust jacket, which had a list of "other classic books" on the inside. My Bobbs-Merrill Edition from 1927 had a few photos, a drawing between each chapter, and was 334 pages.

[Bryce]

There is a certain macabre romanticism in Haliburton's prose. "Dickie" is entertaining, his gumption is pure kino. However, to a 21st century reader, this story was written against the backdrop of a Europe mortally wounded by the first great war. fascists and communists strangling each across the continent atop a dessicate, smoldering corpse of monarchism and liberalism. Haliburton extricates himself from the entire ordeal.

Allegedly an Odyssean; Haliburton's real contextual position here is an aloof yankee, striving, seeking, and finding himself throughout the mediterranean landscape. He is an anachronism; a Victorian adventurer whose worldview was riddled with bullets at the Somme, buried alive in mud at Passchendale, or drowned before a Gallipolian beach a decade before. I'm not trying to sound depressing, the story is riveting. I am intensely jealous of his perilous itinerary that nowadays would get you either shot or put in a prison cell after the first week.

But Haliburton doesnt merely mirror Odysseus, he is a vulgar, purely self-serving embodiment of the Ithacan. A survivor of an idealistic world that sowed its own seeds of destruction traipsing around the ruins of a fractured ideal. The Bronze Age Greeks never recovered. The Europe Haliburton knew never returned, and after the second world war would only be permitted to recover insomuch as it benefited a colossus every bit as persnickety as the original Olympians, the United States.

[Kelly Sedinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Richard Halliburton, even if he's a colossal anachronism nowadays. He was an adventurer and a traveler and a wonderful writer, who spent his short life seeing everything in the world that he possibly could. In this book he retraces, as closely as he can, the course taken by Odysseus (for him, Ulysses) in The Odyssey, starting in Ithaca and then traveling to Troy and then around the Mediterranean to the places where local legends hold that the various events in the Odyssey took place. Halliburton's writing is full of the usual verve and energy and humor, from his description of his running the first marathon course (but getting drunk while doing it because the locals kept handing him wine) to his swimming of the Hellespont and so on. Halliburton has several companions through his journey (one at a time, and as soon as one departs he finds another), and they provide him with sounding boards for his seemingly daft notions here and there.

As always with Halliburton, one must remember that he was a product of his time, and try not to get bogged down in his occasional sexism and low-key white supremacy. Those things ARE real factors in his writings, though, and they may well be off-putting for some readers.

[Thomas Burchfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely enjoyable travel memoir from the 1930s. Halliburton was a famous band popular travel writer of the time. This book details his attempts to retrace the travels of Odysseus, even finding the Cyclop's cave. It's full of pleasures and gives off a glorious Mediterranean glow. Halliburton was definitely a gay romantic (in the broadest sense of the term), which makes this not a book for the hard-boiled . . . but it just make the rest of us yearn for our own Odyssey.

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A somewhat wild romp thru the lands and places travelled by Odysseus recreated by the famous travel author and self proclaimed lover of geography- Richard Halliburton. Along the way the reader gets a decent retelling of the Odyssey and meets the adventurer’s old and new friends who prove to be the perfect if quirky travel companions. Very enjoyable if not completely believable!

[Ally Goodwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

travel tales tracing route of Odysseus. very funny and interesting

[Gus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to read! I’ve gone back to re-read several chapters to relive the excursions & spontaneous friendships made along the way

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of Halliburton's best books, but still charming. Worth reading if you're a fan of the Odyssey.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting way to learn more about Homer's Odyssey. Read during morning time with Ellie as part of our geography for y11...krb 4/28/25

[Perry Whitford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspired by the ultimate traveller Odysseus and a few lines of Tennyson which encapsulate the adventuresome Greeks indomitable spirit, Jazz Age american adventurer Halliburton sets off in the footsteps of Homer's hero, to "Sail beyond the sunset...till I die...To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

He begins, thrillingly, with an ascent to the very top of mount Olympus where his small company of companion Roderic and a plucky eleven year old shepherd boy become amongst the first people to reach the summit where they get caught in -what else!- a thunder and lightning storm.

Thereafter he visits Delphi and conjures up some oracular verse through the help of an English poet and an inebriated Roderic; trespasses on the Acropolis after closing time and witnesses the full majesty of the Parthenon in the moonlight; and attempts to run the very same (nineteen, not twenty six mile) inaugural Marathon that Pheidippides ran in 490BC to inform the anxious Athenians that the Persians had been defeated.

He just about manages that with the aid of a few breaks, an injection of some vile wine and a taxi-cab taking him over a third of the way. As if that wasn't enough he then, like Leander and Lord Byron, swims the Hellespont.

Not satisfied with his mythic accomplishments so far, Halliburton next traverses three times around the walls of Troy as Achilles had done with the slain body of Hector in his wake, and as Alexander had done in homage to the hero he claimed to be descended from.

And all this before he even begins the true Odyssey!

By this stage I was already enraptured with the journey and greatly impressed with the author, a true romantic spirit, in love with all the ennobling things of life and with the courage and dash to chase after his dreams and fancies, even into the unknown.

His tone is light and whimsical, yet his passion for poetry and travel is ardent, as is his wish to educate his reader about one of the great works of literature, which he does comprehensibly yet unobtrusively.

As Halliburton begins the Odyssey proper, Roderic is called away but he finds a more than appropriate companion in Leon, a German ski-instructor, violinist and fellow adventurer, who accompanies him on the first legs of Odysseus's circuitous way home, firstly to Jerba in Tunisia, the supposed land of the lotus eaters, then on to the cave of Polyphemus the Cyclops in Sicily.

With the musical German he visits the island of Circe where they are entranced by a sweet singing peasant girl whom they lodge with and compete for her affection, so that 'just as the goddess made pigs out of the Greeks, her black-eyed descendent and disciple, Rosa, made monkeys out of Leon and me'. Leon, truly enamored, leaves Halliburton and returns to her!

As you come to expect from a narrator so full of mischief and fun, new companions are swiftly discovered, and Halliburton braves the rock of the Sirens and the waters between Scylla and Charybdis in the company of an impish english girl with whom he finds real romance.

He then recruits a sexagenarian Calypso with which to play out one of his last stops before reaching Ithaca itself, the home of Odysseus and the final scene of the epic journey.

I knew plenty about The Odyssey before reading The Glorious Adventure, but nothing about Richard Halliburton. What a guy!

A disciple of Byron and Rupert Brooke, both of whom he pays respects to during his Greek jaunt, Halliburton dedicated his life to hunting out the places of legend and literature that fired his imagination as a child, then plunging himself into all manor of daring escapades in homage and emulation of his heroes.

Romantic and reckless, risking life and limb in the name of art and experience at every turn in an age when tourism was still substantially an unregulated leap into the unknown, he did eventually pay the ultimate price for a ticket, that of his own life, perishing in an attempt to sail from Hong Kong to San Francisco.

No modern day travel writer could ever have the opportunity to do what he did the way he did it again, while few could have the savoir faire.

A thrilling journey in the company of an incomparable guide.

[Boris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Halliburton recounts his efforts to retrace the travels of Odysseus with wit, charm and humor. His books are as charming and a fun read now as they were several generations ago in the 1920s and 1930s. I can understand his popularity and how to this day he has a fan base.

Halliburton exaggerates in describing his ascent of Mt Olympus at the beginning of the book; it sounds like a fearsome technical climb when it's more or less just walking up a mountain ridge to the summit. He also represents that it's just him and his traveling companion and a young companion they met in the area that accompanied them when in reality it was a fairly large party of escorts.

In the two books I've read so far, this and "New Worlds to Conquer", there are episodes of Halliburton romancing young ladies which is interesting since Halliburton was homosexual. Misdirection or covering his tracks?

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

What at lark! Adventure traveler Richard Halliburton sets out in 1926 with a camera, toothbrush, and eight different translations of Homer's Odyssey, intent on retracing Odysseus' mythic footsteps from fallen Troy to Ithaka. Along the way he climbs Mt Olympus, swims the Hellespont, spends the night in Polyphemus' cave, scales Vesuvius and then Stromboli, and generally shows himself a really good time. He approaches travel as a sustained publicity stunt, and casts himself, in some pretty goopy purple prose, as a Rudolph Valentino of the road. The adventure is riveting ... the romance is a farce. Still, Halliburton's enthusiasm, energy, and high spirits make for some entertaining reading. If he ever met setbacks, he certainly didn't dwell on them, and though he's always at center stage commanding our complete attention, he's not brooding, mean, or snarky ... in fact he's pretty superficial, but in a fun and rollicking sort of way that makes The Glorious Adventure (1927) a quick, fun read.

[Amerynth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Halliburton is certainly one of the most interesting "travel writers" I've had the pleasure of reading. He spent the 1920's abroad on romantic adventures and "The Glorious Adventure" is no exception. After sitting board in his living room, he decided to embark on a chapter by chapter journey following Homer's "The Odyssey." His adventures are certainly the madcap variety -- filled with crazy ideas helped along with a bit of alcohol. He never takes himself too seriously and his writing style is terrific -- he injects enough humor to keep the story light and interesting. Really wonderful reading -- especially in the first few chapters, where his adventures are particularly hilarious. A wonderful book!

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic voyage across the Mediterranean in the wake of Odysseus' timeless adventure! Halliburton cleverly weaves his quests, quasi-pilgrimage with moments of the Homer's classic and sometimes blends the two into humorous anecdotes. Loved every page of this book from the summit of Mount Olympus to the Parthenon, the wakes of Hellespont, the swirling vortex of Charybdis, to the summits of Stromboli and Etna, and finally to Ithaca to rescue his beloved Penelope, not to mention countless isles and sirens in between!

Strongly recommend this book to all who love adventure, humor and Homer's classic, not to mention traveling vicariously through Richard Halliburton's gallivanting through the Mediterranean!

Enjoy!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone needs to read at least one Richard Halliburton book. I love his writing and adventures. Halliburton was an explorer in the 20s and 30s, he died while on one of his travels. He's a mix of Indiana Jones and F. Scott Fitzgereld. Reading his books you get a taste of a time long gone, when the world was not as small as it is now. Every new continent, city, town and mountain held new wonders and only the bravest would explore.

[Libby Ames · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm afraid I never finished the book (it had to be returned before we moved). However, what I read I enjoyed. I think I will try it again after I have read The Odyssey. Since Halliburton was following the path of Ulysses, I think I would get more out of it knowing more than just the Cliff's Notes verion of the story.

[Tecklis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Příjemné připomenutí Odyssei. Autor nepřestává překvapovat nečekanými nápady a jeho popis italských reálií jsou uchvacující. Jeho líčení osobité a naplněné hyperbolami a vtipem.
Kdo nezná Odyseu asi nepochopí, pro příznivce řeckého nedobrovolného cestovatele srdcová záležitost.

[Keith Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book from my great grandma after she passed. When I first picked it up, I didn't think it would interest me, as it wasn't the type of book I normally read, but it really hooked me. The way he describes everything makes me want to go to the places he went to and experience them myself.

[Josh Kienzle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another great adventure book from Halliburton. This is a raw tale of true unplanned adventure that spans the globe. You can't put it down.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

By that I mean people who love travel, not people who are lovers while traveling.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Another wonderful tale where Richard Halliburton follows the tale of the Odyssey and goes everywhere Ulyssess did--brilliant!