5 comments about Windows on Japan: A Walk through Place and Perception.

1. When you take a walk in the cool Fall air, and you let your thoughts swirl around some theme that is on your mind while a song runs through your head . . . it feels refreshing, often leads to new and fresh insights into whatever is on your mind, and can end with a new outlook for yourself. In a way, that is the experience you get from reading Bruce Roscoe's unique book about Japan, Windows on Japan: A Walk through Place and Perception. This book allows you to explore thoughts and experiences about Japan from such likely suspects as Commodore Perry and Lafcadio Hearn, to some surprise appearance of Shirley MacLaine and Paul Theroux. It touches on some Japanese people's discomfort or embarrassment when dealing with foreigners, to how easy communications and relationships can begin here when a common ground is found, like the shared love of a dog. The book is both critical of, and inspired by Japan. Some surprises are also uncovered by the author on his walking journey, such as the International University of Japan where diverse students, living in an international community made up of over 50 nationalities, are found amongst the Koshihikari award winning rice fields. The book offers bits on the history of the Niigata to Yokohama region, some startling present-day findings, and suggests a visit to this often overlooked region of Japan is a must.
   
   I live in Niigata, as a foreign female, and enjoyed reading about the areas around my home from a very different approach. I also found much of his references fun to ponder! I share many of the authors experiences including the some-times difficult task of making friends. Though I might like to challenge his feelings that many Japanese are a bit foreigner-phobic, or cold to foreigners. I wonder if a lone walking foreigner would be immediately and warmly accepted in the country side of any land . . . But do find out what happened to him when he found a dog to pat. Enjoy!



2. In "Windows on Japan", Bruce Roscoe takes us on a journey starting from the "rear" of Japan in Niigata, over the Japanese Alps and then through the bustle of Tokyo to the port of Yokohama. During this soujourn, he takes us not only on a mystic walk through the heart of Japan, but also on a tour of the philosophical graffiti written on the walls of his heart.
   
   To be honest, when I began reading the book I wasn't sure if I would like the format -- one chapter typically covers his trek through a little-known area of Japan, while the next would survey his thoughts on Japanese cultural issues. Nevertheless, I soon got used to his style and found myself enjoying the book immensely. As an aside, I live in Niigata City, so I had a particular interest in his views about many of the places in where he walked.
   
   Roscoe does not write with the whiny, judgmental tone of many Westerners living in Japan. He writes instead with respect and integrity. Where he sees corruption, discrimination or injustice, he says so, but where he finds beauty, sincerity and flashes of the transcendent, there he writes truly memorable prose.
   
   I was filled with both respect mixed with envy for Roscoe's experiences, because he walks quietly and effortlessly into the lives of earthy barmaids, subdued jazz aficionados, stale government workers, crabby cooks and passionate Buddhist Priests. His knowledge of Japan and the Japanese language is deep as it is admirable, and this allows him to be very much something of an insider dressed foreigners' clothes. Roscoe is one who can show us that the Japanese are no more inscrutable than those from other island cultures (such as New Zealand with its own dirty laundry of war crimes against Japanese) or cultures who treat the world with an island-like mythos (such as America, who corporately is committing acts of torture in defense of an imaginary war that is disturbingly evocative of the Japanese rhetoric from the 1930s).
   
   A couple of places in Roscoe's book have left an indelible mark on my own thinking. One was his conversation with Japanese cultural authority Donald Richie, in which he noted that "Japan upsets puritan moralists...those who believe in a wrong way and a right way" (pg. 52). How true. I have seen this in the lives of many foreigners who struggle with Japan and who have not yet made Roscoe's mental journey. I must admit that I too have had my issues with this, but Roscoe's attitude of openness throughout the book suggests a non-judgmental way out of that mental prison. In addition, when he writes of nationalism, Roscoe states, "I don't believe that anyone is a Japanese or a German or an American. We should strip these accreted coatings as we strip peeling paint from wood, leaving only the grain and texture of our native timber to show through. The coatings seem always seized upon to impress that one people are inferior or superior to another, with no good and frequent fatal result" (pg. 214). Such thoughts are certainly threatening to the elites of various countries who would want their respective tribes to toe the line uncritically. That is why I found myself liking Roscoe's book even more the longer I chose to mentally travel with him through Japan.
   
   As with any book, there were weaknesses. I think "Windows on Japan" should have concluded with Roscoe reaching Yokohama. However, he backtracks to Niigata. To me this somehow seems to go against the flow of his journey, though his reasons for returning are understandable. There are also a number of typographical errors in the book, which were probably unavoidable, but I can't help but thinking that the proofreaders at Algora should have redoubled their efforts before publishing this excellent book.
   
   Despite these minor shortcomings, I would highly recommend "Windows on Japan". The book is not only a peek into some of the little-known areas of Land of the Rising Sun, it also has the potential to pry open a window into one's own heart as they reflect upon the deeper implications of Roscoe's thoughts and experiences.



3. What most impresses me is Bruce Roscoe's very calm and measured writing. His observations are offered without favor or malice. In other words, I feel I can trust him as a writer.
   
   Walking makes one contemplative, and that is the feeling the book has about it. Roscoe looks at each place he visits through its geography, history and people, as well as the music and the art he came across, and sometimes through writings about Japan by other writers old and new. It is not, as he explains, meant as a travel guidebook. He walks through ordinary scenes of everyday life and offers intelligent insight and observations on Japan. I don't think the book is meant to be a very personal and intimate account of his trip, in the sense of focusing on his own inward journey, but rather to open windows on Japan.
   
   Along the way he discovers that, when in trouble, the most helpful Japanese are young students and older women. Along the way he faces rejection by a bar owner and by inn keepers. You will find out what he had to do to get to the other side of tunnels - there are so many in Japan - without being squashed by passing traffic. His chance meeting with a journalist at a jazz bar leads to an introduction to people who knew a woman, a former Geisha and the model of Komako, the heroine in Nobel-prize-winning author, Kawabata's book Snow Country. He also talks about his attempt to becoming naturalized Japanese.
   
   The book has two chapters on Paul Theroux. Any reader of Theroux's books will be interested to learn about his tedious prejudices against Japanese. Anyone who is interested in reading about Japan will find these chapters very interesting for their stimulating subtext on things such as race, history, personalities, writing and so on.
   
   I found the book to be intelligent and balanced reading. The author's clever, dry humor often put a big grin on my face. There are no huge revelations about Japan in the book. Yet, it reminded me how much more, even for a Japanese, there is to see in my country.



4. It's been a couple of months since I read 'Windows on Japan', and it's hard to know just which box to stick it in. I wish I could recommend to a lot of people, but I feel there are few who would fully appreciate it. I've had a strong interest in Japan for many years now (I currently live there), and the thing I appreciate most about it is that it rekindled my desire to know more this place, and to not take my surroundings for granted. I will be recommending it to others, strongly but selectively. Perhaps the most meaningful indication of its value to me is that it's one of the few books on my shelf that I definitely intend to revisit, to pick at the left-over meat on the bone.
   
   One section that stood out for me was the chapter on Featherston (a small New Zealand town) and the Japanese POWs who were shot dead there in 1943. This book brings the whole affair out into the open, and for that chapter alone it was worth buying. Perhaps this could help to raise awareness of what went on there, and perhaps even generate further and fuller coverage of the Featherston...um, `incident'. Well, OK then...massacre.



5. This book joins a short list of titles by authors who find they can learn a lot about a country by walking across it. In this case the author intersperses his descriptions of what he sees, hears and senses with asides on what others, including Oscar Wilde, had to say about Japan. The result in most cases is insightful and charming. He eventually loses his way, however, diverting to look at, among other things, a revolt by Japanese POWs in his native New Zealand. The book also suffers from lack of editing in terms of style, grammar and typos. And the laminate on the cover eventually peels off. Still, readers will appreciate the effort to penetrate the miasma of Japanese culture and society far off the beaten track.

No comments about Dubai Red Tape.

5 comments about The Scariest Place in the World: A Marine Returns to North Korea.

1. Man... Talk about crabby... Everyone else who's reviewed this book so far here don't seem to be impressed. But I always enjoy James Brady's writing and this book was no exception. It's a memoir, of course. The underlying theme of the book is the march of time and how one looks back at -- or in this case, returns to -- a specific geographic place where youthful impressions were made, ideals died or changed... Where a young, unsure Marine officer discovered he did, in fact, have what it took to lead Marines in combat.
   
   Those looking for edge-of-your seat combat with Marines gunning down on-rushing human waves of Chinese infantry will be disappointed. This book is more like a love letter to youth and to the Marine Corps. And taken in that context, it's a fine book and a satisfying read.



2. The Scariest Place in the World by James Brady. Published by St. Martin's Press 11 April 2006. Paperback. ISBN 0312332432.
   $14.95US.
   The Scariest Place in the World is the latest missile by James Brady to remind the world that the Korean "Police-Action" should not be limited to a paragraph or two as in the recent history books.
   It was a "real" war, fought by "real" men, who "really" died leaving empty chaits at many a table around the world.
   The book is written speaking of the realities of war in a "tough-love", macho, politically incorrect style that will jar the reader awake causing them to remember those three years (1950-53) of warfare in which 37,000 American service men and women paid the ultimate price to stop the onslaught of communist aggression.
   Captain Brady tells of his indoctrination in the United States Marine Corps which contributed in forming the basis of his love of the Corps but more so the love of the men he served with, partied with and fought with.
   The book is a journey back in time, (remindful of "The Viet Journal" by James Jones), through the rigors of basic training providing backbround for stories for one's children and grandchildren that deserve to be told.
   There are biographical sketches of Senator John Chafee, Maurice "Mack" Allen, John Fitzgerald, Nathaniel "Taffy" Sceva, et.al., which are written lovingly as a tribute to the lives of these men and the women who loved and supported them. The memory of the funeral of Senator Chafee must have been most difficult to attend as it was a memory.
   The book is not devoid of humor as at times Brady's telling of an incident brought on a chuckle or two. But it would have had to been exerienced to understand the reason for the chuckle. In the same vein, a tear was shed at times by the memory stirred.
   The unabshed emotion(s) of the author are as open as any I have read. Brady doesn't mask his love for his compatriots-in-arms, expressing his love not for dramatic flare, but to tell them and the world "This is how I feel and it is also the Raison d' etre for the book".
   James Brady dedicated the book to all who fought in Korea and provided to those who will not make the journey back a return from the comfort of an easy chair.
   It is an easy read and thoughful. Try it!



3. As a previous reviewer I thought that Brady's book would be more of a focus on the DMZ and perhaps show some insight into "the scariest place." I did enjoy his war time reminiscences but that wasn't why I purchased his book. I didn't particularly care for his 'how he belatedly was awarded the Bronze Star,' and chumming around with colonels and generals at galas and such as it sounded like 'how great I am after all.' Oh, and by the way, Senator Chafee was my CO. I got tired of Mr. Brady selling his earlier pub,"The Marines of Autumn" (which is a fine read) but in particular I did not like him pimping (perhaps a bit too strong) his "The Coldest War." There are sections of the book where he cites this book seemingly every other page. After awhile I started to feel a bit sorry for Mr. Brady which is too bad as I'm sure that he was a fine officer for his Marines of Dog Company. It's an ok book for what it is but it really isn't about "the scariest place."



4. I loved this book. I served in Korea with USMC during the exact same time frame. It brought back many memories



5. I bought this book as a xmas present for my grammpa, he was a marine who fought in Korea the same time the author did....He is half was through it, and he is really enjoying it. Can't say enough good things about it!

5 comments about Running a Hotel on the Roof of the World: Five Years in Tibet.

1. Le Sueur told about his stay in Tibet - with great sense of humour & ability to put things in perspective - what must have been nevertheless quite a strain on a person's moral. Even so that it seemed appealing, though one knows better as one gets further into the story. A relaxing way to get to know the country; and this way only the strong-minded ones still want to go; & not the weenies who can't miss out on luxury items!



2. I took this book on holiday and read it from cover to cover in one go! You cry with laughter at this guy's English sense of humour but the really clever thing is that you also learn sub-consciencly about the situation in Tibet. You end up falling in love with Tibet and the Tibetans and want to go there yourself. (Although if you're afraid of flying read this book before you book your tickets!). There's a lovely romance story that picks up half way through the book. It leaves you curious as to what happens next, so I hope he writes some more.



3. If you were to cross National Geographic, Bill Bryson and Fawlty Towers, then I'm sure that this book is what would pop out at the other end.

   Covering the author's 7 years working in the most unlikely Holiday Inn in the world - in Lhasa Tibet - this is a real treat. From the rains of dead flies at a banquet to the bizarre Miss Tibet contest in the hotel swimming pool, back to the dead guest who nobody seems to be able to get rid of, and encountering various smells, accidents and infestations on the way, Le Sueur emerges as a Basil Fawlty for the 1990's, tackling each catastrophe with crossed fingers and invention in equal measures. It's genuinely hilarious, and more so because it isn't the product of a comedy writer's brain, but an account of real, if at times surreal, events.

   Le Sueur is a very likeable protagonist who not only brings us the humour found in trying to run a top class hotel in a communist coutry cut off from the rest of the world, but also explores the effects of China's rule on Tibet and its people. What prevents the politics of the book becoming staid and stuffy is Le Sueur's naive angle - he sees the Tibetan situation in the same way that any other ordinary person might, with a mixture of fascination and outrage. It's clear he has a great deal of love and respect for Tibetans, and writes in a highly acerbic tone about their relationship with the Chinese. But at the same time, he is not afraid to show his downright frustration with both the Tibetan and Chinese staff in the hotel who it seems, will never understand the basic principles of customer service, or even hygiene.

   It's a nice balance, and the book works on both the levels Le Sueur is obviously trying to explore. The humour is so abundant it's ticklish, the anecdotes are so interesting, you won't want to put the book down; in short, "Running A Hotel" is a very entertaining read.




4. I enjoyed this book thoroughly for the author's sense of humour. What a sigh of relief reading a book about Tibet discussing issues which aren't related with the human rights issues. This is a travelling book, a book of observation which continues on the tradition of Bill Bryson & Jan Wong (of China Blues' fame). Still, we learnt a lot about the country by reading between the lines. I have read countless of books about Tibet & China & most of them were about how the authors survived their ordeal. Cliche`. Here, we also read about the author's ordeal but of a different kind. We were brought behind the scene of an international hotel & I'm adamant that most hotel operators haven't removed 200+ dead rats from their hotels before, rode in their hotel vehicle which were devoid of suspensions & driven in break neck speed by their driver who hardly spoke any English, etc. There's so much to be written but it's better to let the prospective readers discover for themselves what a wee gem this book is. I finished this book in 2 days as I couldn't afford to put it down. Damn hilarious, compatible with the Fawlty Tower as claimed, & truly a memesrising experience. Keep up the good work!



5. I bought this book on my last day in Hong Kong after finishing a stay in China. Alec Le Sueur writes about experiences that were identical to mine. I sat in the lobby of the hotel waiting for the bus to the airport laughing until I almost fell out of my chair, much to the consternation of the hotel staff. If you have been to China or are thinking about going READ THIS BOOK! Mr. Le Sueur provides excellent insight into an amazing part of the world.

2 comments about Early Mapping of Southeast Asia.

1. Black and white and color maps accompany extensive text references in this survey of early maps of Southeast Asia. While this might prove a very specific guide for Asian collections, cartography and art libraries will also want to consider its value: Suarez provides an excellent history of the region and its geographical importance, examining the history of its representation and exploration.



2. The idea that we live in an "information economy" is much less of a novelty than the computer geeks and business gurus would have it. For proof, consider "The Early Mapping of Southeast Asia," a history of economics, ideology and adventure masquerading as a gorgeous coffee table book.
   The key piece of information was the route to the fabulously (and actually) rich Spice Islands. The story of how Europe evaded the Moslem blockade and reached both India and the undiscovered Americas in the 1490s has been often told. Seldom, however, has the Europe-Southeast Asia story been told from such a comprehensive viewpoint as Thomas Suarez'.
   He starts at the very beginning. At a time Christian maps showed a simple T inside an O to divide the three continents, several Southeast Asian societies were drawing their own maps inspired by religious cosmology.
   The Thais called these maps of the universe cakkavala, but other peoples had something similar. At the center, instead of Jerusalem, was Mount Sumeru, the link between earth and heaven.
   In Europe, Ptolemy speculated that Africa curved around to meet the Asian mainland, which would have made the Indian Ocean into a closed sea like the Mediterranean. As a result, for centuries no one considered traveling around Africa to the Spiceries. (It appears no one considered whether the outside of this mythical barrier might have been worthwhile to reach.)
   Ptolemy's barrier had its skeptics, and some correct information was available in Europe, primarily itineraries (like Marco Polo's) rather than maps. But it proved difficult to separate the reliable from the misconceived.
   As Suarez shows, Europeans eventually figured out that there were two big peninsulas jutting south from Asia, India and Southeast Asia.
   But because of confusion, which only increased when Columbus discovered the Americas, some geographers decided there were three peninsulas. Others moved Asian cities as far as the coast of Peru.
   It didn't help that Columbus struck the biggest concentration of islands in the New World. Europeans already knew Southeast Asia was full of islands. So for quite a while, the West Indies were believed to be the East Indies.
   Until the Portuguese actually got there around 1500, Europeans were sadly mistaken about even the biggest features of Southeast Asian geography. For centuries, Ceylon and Sumatra were confused, and some mapmakers doubted the existence of Java.
   However, once the science-minded Europeans arrived, the situation cleared up dramatically. In about a century the major questions were resolved. During the same period -- 1500 to the late 1600s, printed maps started replacing manuscript charts. (Most old maps and prints that survive today were bound in books or atlases. Loose sheets tended to be destroyed.)
   From an early date, some Southeast Asian kings took a sophisticated interest in Western mapping, but many of them held a completely different idea of political boundaries.
   In an odd twist, the sovereigns in Thailand, especially, took up modern scientific mapping as a defense against British expansionism through Burma in the 19th century.
   The local kings, says Suarez, did not have a concept of definite political borders. Big states exercised decreasing levels of control over more and more distant dependencies, signified by more or less regular payments of tribute, not lines on paper.
   If the locals were puzzled by the strange habits of the British, they learned quickly.
   Suarez says it was a mistake on the European maps that helped Thailand evade colonial conquest until the Japanese came in 1942. Because longitudes were uncertain, both the British and the French thought Thailand was much narrower, east to west, than it really is. So small, it was not worth conquering.
   "Early Mapping of Southeast Asia" is both an eye-popping and an eye-opening book. It has lots of maps, many in color; and lots of curious adventures, surprising discoveries and seldom-heard tales from the eastern side of the east-west divide.
   It has a splendid companion, 'The Early Mapping of the Pacific,' which I have also reviewed.

1 comments about Fodor's Indonesia, 2nd Edition: Where to Stay, Eat, and Explore, Smart Travel Tips from A to Z, Plus Maps and Co lor Photos (Fodor's Indonesia).

1. This book is a great disappointment. I have just returned from a visit to Bali and Jakarta and found this book to be almost totally useless. In fact because the book contains advertising from MCI and American Express I think that it could be possible that only establishments (retuarants and hotels/resorts who remunerate Foder's get mentioned in this book. Specifically the information on Hotels and restuarants in Bali is so skimpy as to be laughable. Also applies to restuarants in Jakarta. I got mich more information by searching the web. All in all, don't waaste your money on this book.

No comments about Christopher Columbus: Sailing To A New World (In the Footsteps of Explorers).

No comments about Excursions in the Interior of Russia: Including Sketches of the Character and Policy of the Emperor Nicholas, Scenes in St. Petersburg, &c.. Volume 1.

No comments about Culture Shock! Borneo: A Guide to Customs & Etiquette.

2 comments about Scoop-Wallah: Life on a Delhi Daily.

1. Scoop-Wallah

   Reading Justine Hardy's Scoop-wallah, an alternatively hilarious and pensive account of her hacking days as a features writer for the New Delhi daily the Indian Express for about a year, is to realize that good writing about India keeps coming out regardless of, or perhaps because of, the country's status as "a functioning anarchy," to borrow a famous phrase from Daniel Moynihan, a former U. S. Ambassador to India. Justine Hardy is a clever writer. She does not claim to be writing about all of India. She is writing just about New Delhi. Her portrait of New Delhi has all the anomalies that one expects in such a book. There is a raja's son who has no kingdom to rule and his satrapy in the flophouse where the writer resides. There is a newspaper editor, her boss, who is unable to understand references to April Fool's jokes in spite of his Anglicization. His name, as transliterated in the book is "Sourish," perhaps a version of "Suresh," meaning the god of gods in Sanskrit. Sourish Bhattacharya will consider for publication only such of Hardy's writing as can be considered fictionalized features, not hard news. When Hardy rants about her missing slides, telling him in London a lost or stolen slide fetches up two hundred pounds, he feigns indifference. Then there are the usual gang of culprits: charlatan gurus, rickshaw drivers salivating over the experience of driving a white woman to her destination trying hard to catch a glimpse of her white skin in one of their many mirrors, fops who decry colonialism and hold her responsible for all Britain's crimes without taking into account she hadn't even been born when Nehru's somnolent words announced the birth of India on the midnight of August 15, 1947, dreaming social workers who want to show off their good works. Our writer does not fall in love with New Delhi, but she likes it very much, notwithstanding its unsettling attachment to dust and defeat. She tries to fit in. She wears Indian clothes; she tries to learn to speak Hindi. Of course, her attempt to speak the language always identifies her as a foreigner, a fate she tries hard to avoid. Of course, she speaks Hindi only to those who drive her around or make tea for her. Good intentions don't matter. British administrators also learned regional languages just so that they could tell their servants what to do. Not much goes right for her. Indians are notorious for trying to sharpen their English skills on visiting foreigners. They don't want the visitors to speak the local language, partly because they think it is not polished enough. Thus, it is not surprising that Hardy runs into scores of Indians who want to show her that there remains a British presence in India in the form of English remade in the nuances of native languages. English is the language of power. "English is still the currency of the social establishment. The socialites of Calcutta, Bombay and Delhi may swirl their saris and stand proud in their national dress . . ., careful copies of the sartorially patriotic Nehru, but still they speak English. Their feet are silent speakers too, shod in English shoes, black Oxfords to match the aspirations of language."

   Much as I enjoyed the book, I am not able to formulate its readableness in anything other than its fictionality. I believe that the book reads like fiction because everything novel that the writer experiences turns into interesting. In her moments when she stops pretending to be amused by New Delhi's transmogrification by globalization Hardy writes passages which indicate that she can indeed free herself from her self-imposed obligation to remain unsettled by her Indian experiences. Hardy turns from being an entertainer into a Blakean observer when she lets her pen rip the calm surface of her humorous meditation and speak of the mimic men and women, living an opulent life style which is more a parody of life in New York or London than one truly free of sexism as exemplified in arranged marriages and dowry extortions. Her Kiplingesque analysis of the horror of AIDS in India, often brought home to well provided-for wives by ambitious, much-traveled entrepreneurial husbands, the government's denial that the disease is widespread, the government doctor's refusal to treat AIDS patients are perhaps the best part of the book.




2. Justine Hardy is a British journalist who decided to take the plunge and work on a Delhi newspaper. Her book covers diverse topics such as a visit to the Dalai Lama, toilets (or the lack-thereof), Slum education, organic farming and polo.

   The prose is easy to read, and both funny and sad. This is essentialy a travel book. It won't change your life, but if you have any misconceptions about the Raj still being alive in India, this might cure you. A great book to take on holidays, about ordinary people and how they live int in India today - a world away from western Europe and America.