5 comments about Trespassers on the Roof of the World.

1. Although extraordinary geography was the best natural defense the Tibetans had against foreign invaders, it can also be the sole reason that lures many a traveler, visitor, and tourists to Tibet to date. Of course, religion, spirituality, culture, art, and life on the high altitudes in the most extreme of climates are other reasons for venturing into this land. In Hopkirk's book, trespassing by foreigners, especially Europeans, was an extension of the Great Game, the struggle between Britain and Russia for expansionism in Central Asia. Military supremacy, a face-to-face encounter with the Dalai Lama, or recognition by the Royal Geographical Society and other prestigious societies at the time was the prize for people from different walks of life--missionaries, soldiers, geographers, naturalists---to venture into this forbidden land. Alas, no matter how well-guarded the country, especially Lhasa, was, the Tibetans' defense was no match to the military might of the British. China proved to be a formidable occupier as soon as the British lost their firm hold on Tibet during World War II. An American pilot was the first intruder from the air---by accident. Nonetheless, relentless trespassing by foreigners was the inevitable truth that many Tibetans must have found hard to swallow.
   
   The book is a masterpiece of historical writing. Starting with Tibet's stupendous geography, the book segues on the origin of Tibetan Buddhism. Eventually the reader is initiated to the challenging craft of punditry, the only way the outside world could glean some scientific information on this forbidden land. If Hopkirk intended to instill wonder and suspense on the reader as he narrates a series of close calls by pundits and disguised explorers from being caught and daring-do attempts by intruders in order to be recognized as the first outsider to set foot on this forbidden land, he has succeeded. With exquisite writing style and a penchant for vivid description of people, places, and events, the book is a highly engaging read. Those who risked their lives and their families to venture into a forbidden land can be easily blamed for folly, but Hopkirk brings out the humanity in them. Every adventure is told so well that can make good reading anywhere and anytime. History reading can't get to be more fun that this!



2. An extensive review of the many attempts to gain access to the hidden city of Tibet. Well done, authoritative, exciting events in the time line of the many documented attempts to gain a look into the mysterious city that has been protected from outsiders for centuries. The reasons from military desires to the hope of finding hidden gold deposits are some of the many exploits of carefully planned adventures presented by Peter Hopkirk. They will keep your interest from beginning to end, guaranteed.



3. Hopkirk stays on top of the world with this book!
   
   Learn about the "real" Tibet[before China invaded]...



4. When it comes to delineating the history of Central Asia and environs, few writers can touch the craftsmanship of author Peter Hopkirk. In his hands, what could easily be boring history, becomes, instead, vibrant excitement. As in his other books, Hopkirk makes these mysterious and fabled lands come alive. In this book he describes the many attempts by adventurers from the outside world to penetrate remote Tibet and its almost-mystical capital, Lhasa. Chapter by chapter Hopkirk ticks off the sagas of these opportunists, some seeking fortune and fame, some on their majesty's (or tsar's) service. In the contest between Tibet versus the world, Tibet scores early and frequently, thus keeping the others out. But eventually, overpowered by modern weaponry, the outsiders win. It's tempting to cast this in terms of good-guys versus bad-guys. But it's not that easy, as the reader will see. What IS easy is declaring this book a fantastic and exciting history of a mysterious land that just wanted to be left alone.



5. Peter Hopkirk is a child of the British Empire, having been to many places where generally only mad dogs and English men dare venture; among other exploits he was a soldier with the late and largely unlamented Idi Amin. As a historian he has made a name for himself as a very capable chronicler of the Great Game in Asia in the 1900s. This is his book about the Western Drang nach Osten, the quest of European, an American, and Japanese explorers to investigate Tibet and its secrets.
   
   Tibet was a backwards and forbidden kingdom ruled my monks under the Dalai Lama; with China, Russia and the British in India keen to encroach on Tibet, the Tibetans were at least equally determined to keep foreigners out; officials who let foreigners get past them on their mad quests for Lhasa were at times decapitated on orders from on high. Hopkirk recounts the stories of the various Englishmen, Indians, the American and others who were intent to be the first to make it to Tibet and sometimes Lhasa, who did so in disguise, in an airplane, behind rifles the Tibetans couldn't match and more (I am frugal with details lest I spoil the stories.) I highly recommend them.

1 comments about Etiquette Guide To China: Know the Rules That Make the Difference! (Etiquette Guides).

1. Any business with regular interactions in China needs ETIQUETTE GUIDE TO CHINA: it surveys all kinds of etiquette routines, from greeting people while on a trip to behaving well in town, in the boardroom or in social situations. Easily-understood Chinese vocabulary accompanies details on everyday expressions, common faux pas, and what rules make a big difference in relations with the Chinese. Every business library - and many a general-interest collection strong in Chinese travel guides - needs this.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

No comments about Everest (The Mountaineers Anthology Series).

5 comments about The Monk from Brooklyn: An American at the Shaolin Temple.

1. Antonio Graceffo deserves nothing but kudos for the risks he took leaving his corporate job and New York to spend more time on an adventurous journey for additional perspective with his journalistic eye, the creative craftmanship of his writing, and his backpack. The verdict on his voyage based on the insights derived from his narratives and his publications should give one brief pause before the resounding yes to purchasing his books.



2. From a personal perspective i found this book informative, humourous, energetic, and at times addictive.
   
   A great story of one mans experiences of living at the shaolin temple, and left me curios to know where he went after arriving in Hong Kong.
   
   Will be looking out for Antonios next book



3. I'm not a boxer or Kung Fu expert, but I do enjoy travel stories, so I read this book hoping to get a little insight into what the Shaolin temple was really like. Antonio doesn't hold back with what he writes about. It is the brutal honest truth of one man's experience in a place not too many foreigners have visited. Perhaps if more people wrote about Asia in this manner, people wouldn't have a preconceived view of what the place was really like.
   
   An interesting, informative and very funny book. You don't have to be a monk or kung fu fighter to get something out of this.



4. Its my understanding that this book came to be from a series of articles that the author did and it certainly feels like one long article. In fact if one does a web search, you will find those articles online.
   
   To be fair, this is a very addictive book and I wanted so much to like it. It is an interesting story and the author does come across as being charismatic, worldly and interesting. I did enjoy his insightful comments about Kung Fu. As I also study the martial arts and live in Brooklyn, I thought there was a lot for me to like but in the end I found it to be a very disappointing.
   
   This book is incredibly repetitive. For example you are constantly reminded that the author feels that rural Chinese are filthy, backwards and self-centered people. That Chinese Kung Fu for the most part is so stuck in its past and glory that it cannot feasibly compete against many of the today's mix martial artists. That daily communication with rural Chinese is repetitive and frustrating and is indicative of their mental capabilities. While I have no problem with someone who tells it like it is after several times it starts to sound like constant complaining.
   
   One of the most frustrating issues with this book is that you never really know who the author is nor his background. On my copy there is no brief biography on the author. It is left up to the reader to piece this together which I found frustrating. For example, you start to get hints that he has served in the arm forces and since he likes to talk about his favorite Navy watch cap, one can only assume he was in the Navy. Nope, turns out he was in Army. Part of the problem is that the format of this book is that of journal which explains why it is so repetitive. It's almost as though you found this diary on the street and are left to fill in the blanks on who this person is.
   
   Ultimately I have to say that I found the ending disappointing and sad not because of what ultimately happened to Antonio but rather because the book ended as abruptly as it started. Again this is because you are reading someone's journal. Certainly the message here is that training at the Shaolin Temple should not be idealized because ultimately you are dealing with a system that is so corrupt, unsanitary, backward and so full of conflicts and paradoxes that it will wear down the most well-educated, open minded and well-traveled Westerner. I give kudos to Antonio for taking on this challenge but I can't say that the story telling was all that great for me to recommend it.



5. Graceffo has his moments, but this book reads like a prolonged griping session. The excerpts I had previously read in martial arts magazines suggested that this would be a wry perspective on the Shaolin experience, but reading the book is tough going. Graceffo finds most of the Chinese people he deals with annoying, and seems to resent their presence. This is somewhat odd since he chose to go there, and it is their country, after all. I would also have expected that his time in Taiwan would have prepared him for some of the attitudes he encountered on the mainland.
   He chose to live in the school with the students, but then proceeded to detail the experience as an imposition. Of course two alternatives existed: leave, or at least move to some alternative housing. Traveling there without adequate cash reserves seems to have occasioned most of his misery and insecurity, but it was not as if he didn't have the resources. This failure to plan colors much of his perspective for the rest of the book. Some travel writers do a much better job of adapting to circumstances, so much of this reads like an extended experience of culture shock.
   Not to dispute the author's experiences. I am sure they all happened, but I am not sure the students and many of the people he dealt with deserved some of the criticism they came under here.
   If you are interested in kungfu, you won't find much here, aside from the author teaching his own brand of Brooklyn 'kungfu'. He was apparently not much impressed with techniques he saw there, and frequently made the observation that the kungfu practiced there wouldn't stand up in a street fight.
   Other reviewers have stated that this would have been better suited to appear as a magazine article, and I would agree with that. Even as an article, the gist of this work would probably turn off most readers, except for convicted Sinophobes.
   One would do better, I think, to read Matthew Polley's "American Shaolin", which does not gloss over the discomforts of life in China or shaolin training, but shows that Polley genuinely seems to have made an effort to bridge the cultural gap, rather than retreating into a fortress mentality.
   I suppose that goes to say that both books are more about culture shock and how one deals with it, as opposed to being about the martial arts.
   The other aspect of this book that is somewhat disagreeable is that the author often seems to be touting himself as superior to the Chinese, based upon his income, education, or worldliness. But I often felt as if the author was injecting that persona also to show his readers what a great guy he is. This self-promotion seemed very out-of-place to me, but maybe not to most readers.
   Still, parts of this book are very amusing and interesting, so it certainly rates a look.

No comments about Tibet: A Photographic Tour through the Realm of EnchantmentAs Viewed through the Lens of Sun Chengyi.

5 comments about 36 Views of Mount Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan.

1. When we first moved to Japan in 1998, a friend suggested we read this book. We loved it and passed on the recommendation to all who arrived after us. It is touching and insightful. Ms. Davidson has a wonderful gift of observation, and we found her reactions and reflections to be consistent with our own experiences.
   
   If you want an accurate and eloquent image of the expat life in Japan, read this book.



2. Cathy Davidson's 36 VIEWS OF MOUNT FUJI has become, after a few reads, a personal favorite. At first it would seem to be something of a first-person travelogue, but - like ceratin other classics (Peter Matthiessen's SNOW LEOPARD and Pico Iyer's THE LADY AND THE MONK both spring to mind) - it quickly evolves into something more.
   
   Davidson's impressions of Japan - and of foreigners in Japan (these are particularly revealing) - are stated with great eloquence and economy, and the book steadily shifts towards something more philosophical - how identity can be found or commented upon by unlikely places and experiences. Davidson finds this a fascinating yet disorienting process, and details both quite well.
   
   Davidson works through her illusions about Japan, which are replaced by less romantic realities, and inevitably confornts the same ironies in America, which are viewed in a new light upon arriving home. This takes us to what - to me - was the real heart of the book - a Japanese friend's visit to Davidson's new home in North Carolina, and an illusion-shattering conversation which occurs during that visit. Illusions or stereotypes persist due to (among other reasons) their romance or mythic symbolism, and the projection of those fantasies onto a different culture do give voice to ones' dissatisfactions with ones' own culture, and seeing that examined, recognized, and partially obliterated is in some ways a bit sad and anti-romantic. Her friend (who in some ways sees the exoticism of America as any of us might be wowed by Japan, but also is completely unafraid to point out the b.s. built into both societies) - among other super-sharp observations - does point out that one can also choose to hang on to a few of those illusions - in a highly selective and informed way, and perhaps gain some unique personal insights.
   
   An intriguing and graceful book; I recommend it.
   
   -David Alston



3. Davidson Sensei's book is worthwhile just for the vignettes and anecdotes about a gaijin living in Japan in the 1980's. The book is even better as a discourse and commentary on the relative merits of egalitarian and elitist cultures.
   
   For many gaijin, Japan is a middleclass paradise... safe, clean, polite, orderly, full of giri (reciprocity); an egalitarian meritocracy. The ultimate middle class experience. At first, Davidson falls in love with Japan but by her fourth visit, she sees it as a sad, depressing place. Her discomfort reaches a peak during a stay at her former host University's Practice House, an ersatz model Western home designed to be a laboratory for teaching young Japanese women Western manners, practices and protocols.
   
   The Western, and particularly the American elite's disdain, if not outright contempt for what's left of the middle class is well known. Academic elites, in particular, loath their middle class students (while craving the middle class tuition dollars that pay their salaries). Davidson tells us about her family's failed efforts to participate in the middle class Chicagoland suburbia of the 1950's. She hates all of the mid-20th century middle class symbolism in her Japanese host's Western Practice House.
   
   Davidson moves on to a job at an elite East Coast University, builds a fabulous Japanese house on a beautiful lakeside setting in the country, and leads a live that most Americans can only imagine. Ultimately, the author chooses to participate in the upmarket options that are only available to her in Elitist America instead of the living in middle class Japan. She makes the decision after a blinding flash of insight gained while vacationing in Paris. The point of the book, the moral of the story, fits our times perfectly: Elitism is better than Egalitarianism, (if you are a member of the Elite). What is funny and charming about all this is that Davidson really doesn't seem to understand the implications of her decision until a houseguest from Japan spells it out for her. And in the final chapter the irony that a second Japanese houseguest also has to spell out for her. After her lengthy journey and a long story well told, it turns out that Davidson's fabulous Japanese house is an ersatz Practice House.
   
   No giri.
   
   No Mount Fuji.



4. If you are planning to travel to Japan, particularly for the first time, this is a good book to read, as it is an excellent guide to the complicated cultural differences you are likely to encounter. There are some wonderful anecdotes, my favorite being the story of how Davidson and her husband attended a funeral in the home of people they knew quite well. Nevertheless, they ended up completely confused as to how to behave correctly and mortified by their errors in etiquette. The book is also a wise commentary on what happens when one is so smitten by another culture that (for a time) the possibility of moving and starting one's life over in a new place seems not only desirable but possible. There is a fine section in which Davidson, on a visit to Paris, observes the difficulties of the Japanese tourists who are also visiting the city. The experience provides her with a completely different perspective, tempering her rather idealized view of Japanese culture. That said, the book is too long, and as I read it for a second time, I found myself skimming and skipping through parts like the long elegy for Suzuki-san that appears and reappears like a kind of refrain in the second half of the book. As a memoir, 36 Views is a very serious, sometimes graceful, sometimes ponderous look at Japan, and I occasionally found myself longing for a dose of irreverence.



5. I liked this book. I've been reading a lot of expatriate Japanese travelogues lately and I admire the author for leaving ego and self-indulgence out of the narrative (not accomplished by Katie Kitamura, Laura Friska, Richard Kramer, or Bruce Feiler). I've only visited Japan for a month so I don't know if her observations and interpretation of Japanese society and culture are accurate, but I thought the writing was gracious and thoughtful and her expat experiences in other countries rang true for me. I've lived and traveled in several countries and had many of the same feelings about identity and belonging. I really enjoyed the item about speaking Japanese in Paris because that happened to me when I was in Japan--I would automatically revert to my limited knowledge of French when trying to converse in simple Japanese. It was such a strange thing and now I know that this happens to other people too.
   
   I only gave this book four stars though because I didn't enjoy the latter part of the book as much as the first. There was an elitist tone regarding the building the Japanese house in North Carolina that didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book.
   
   I still would recommend this book however; in my opinion, it's superior to most of this genre that are out there.

4 comments about Struggling in the US? Move to China!.

1. This is an informative and entertaining first-hand account of the author's move to China. I found the story interesting and enjoyable to read. While some parts may not be politically correct, I agree with one of the main premises of the book - that for some people trying to build a career or life in the U.S., there may be many opportunities and experiences to be found in China (whether professional, cultural, personal or otherwise). The author felt dissatisfied with his life, and may a bold decision to change it. It's encouraging to read about his story and the challenges and rewards he encountered. Along the way, the author provides a lot of his insight and information about China, including food, holidays, cost of living, making friends, and learning Chinese.



2. If you want a good real-world book that'll also entertain you, then get this. I stayed up till 3 o'clock in the morning reading my copy the day I got it.
   I'd been living in China longer than the author when he wrote this, but the book helped me discover that I'd overlooked alot of obvious opportunities and good times. Whether you're an expert in Chinese ways or have no interest in China, I would still recommend this book. Williams has a very unique perspective, so everybody can learn something from his experiences. It is as entertaining as it is informative, reading like a good novel, and then there's the added bonus of learning useful information.
   This book could be enjoyed by just about anyone. Williams is like a modern Indiana Jones and and also happens to be a fine writer. I have nothing negative to say. Just read it.
   
   Garth K. USA-China



3. May 2008, was my first visit to China. Read the book June 2008. Wrong, I did it backwards. Now as I read this great book I realize all the funny things that happened was actually me not knowing the customs. I'm lucky I did smile all the time at everyone, as he recommended, as I could see or feel them become friendlier when they saw it. I didn't realize the problems I caused by leaving a restraunt with the chop sticks sticking up from the rice bowl, My Chinese friend ran back and took them down, Now I understand why. Great Book, Great reviews on Beijing and Shanghi. I will re-read before I go again to this great country. Good writer, well written and funny. Hard to put it down. Good job!



4. This might be the most honest and simultaneously most unreflective book I have read about life in China. It is the author's story of coming to China in March of 2006 with little money in his pocket and a failed life as an actor in LA, and how, within a year, he spoke `fluent' Chinese, had plenty of money and women and, well, a great material life. He explains how great life in `China' is (he actually only speaks of Beijing): cops are friendly, streets are safe, all Chinese are nice and warm, there are no taxes, and everyone apparently loves him. He gushes over making 18,000 RMB a month through a combination of being a part-time restaurant host, ESL teacher, sometime actor, and white office prop, and how he can live on 9,000 a month, which leaves him $1,200 a month in savings to buy a home and a car. What else? Other foreigners are rude and mean and pushy and act superior to Chinese, while he gets along with everyone. He lives in Wudaokou with most of the other foreigners, dances at the Sanlitun clubs, and has a great time trying to score Han girls. Though he assures his readers that he magically `knows' China, he does not appear to have a clue that having four different girl friends in a year will not make him cool in the eyes of Chinese people, especially guys.
   
   As stupid as this book is, it is also profoundly accurate. If at one time `failed in London, try Hong Kong' was the mantra for Englishmen, while Americans gravitated to first Japan and Korea and later Taiwan, China today, or more accurately Beijing and Shanghai, are the promised lands for a new generation of white men who for various reasons have failed in their own societies. They of course do not think they have failed, but instead that society has failed them. Urban life in China is cheap, white guys, no matter how ugly or obnoxious they may be, can have passive and younger women, and the cops and authorities do not generally interrupt the party. So, in regard to foreigners - who are overwhelmingly male in a place like Beijing - Williams' account is more or less accurate. Cops do not bother them, some Han girls will sleep with them, most Chinese people will never speak critically to their faces, and life is, compared to North America, very cheap. The fundamental fact that life in `China' is clearly not a paradise for most Chinese doesn't really matter to the author. Then again, this is how colonialism has worked for centuries.
   
   If only the title were, `Failed in America, try China', then Williams would be spot on. The United States does not just export its crappy beer these days (lan dai, AKA Pabst Blue Ribbon, remains in business in China for some mysterious reason), but also its second-rate citizens.
   
   Oh, I know in advance that many people will complain how mean this review is. Whatever; as a Chinese guy in Beijing said to me, "the book sounds like something from the `Arabian Knights'".

No comments about Insideout Hong Kong City Guide (Insideout City Guide: Hong Kong).

No comments about Khon Muang: People and Principles of North Thailand (Beautiful & Educational Books on the Peoples of South China).

2 comments about Insight Compact Guide Hong Kong (Insight Compact Guides).

1. Aimed at the vacationer or business traveller, the strength of this guide is its guided walks/day trip itineraries...and in for a place whose coastline and skyline is forever changing, not to mention its complete change of sovreignty, the more up to date your guidebook the better!



2. I found the guide to be quite good and conveniently compact. My one criticism is that information for a given area is in several different places in the book. For example, there is a section on Wan Chai as a tour, another for Wan Chai at night, another section under excursions, and then Wan Chai restaurants are listed in a fourth section, altho some are included in the previous sections. This made for a lot of page flipping back and forth. This should all be consolidated into one section on Wan Chai. I thought the info was very good, just a lot of page flipping ("Now, where did I see that?")