5 comments about Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train Through China.

1. the author went to China with a rather simple-minded purpose--to prove wrong the "we can always fool a foreigner" saying. Well, he's succeded, although i suspect anyone THAT intent on finding "prove" can succede. This book is the work of a BITTER, self-righteous man who is not only satarical and uncompromising, but appearantly proud of it too. I absolute do not recommend this book.



2. I do not travel much (unfortunately), except in my lazy chair, with P. Theroux. I love the way he describes the people he meets, the way he critisizes local authorities etc. He's not an xenophobic, but neverthless, stays American. He travels by train, and describes the scenery, the other travellers, the landscape, the buislings etc.



3. As a reporter, Paul Theroux is a great novelist. He treats his subjects as though he's reviewing their lives as performances. I've never read such a distant account by someone who spent so much time in a place. There are lots of stories of train meals. Where are the stories of family life, of children, of education, and health care? This is China from the dining car window, which wouldn't be so bad if it didn't go on for 400+ pages.

   Maybe he doesn't write those stories because he seems contemptuous of everyone he meets, whether Chinese or not, from his fellow travelers to dinner companions. Perhaps interacting with such persons distracts him from all the magnificent books he's reading on the train (we get to find out about them all, it seems). Hey, Paul, if you wanna read in peace, stay off Chinese trains.

   This is also a period piece, which is odd, considering the book is only 11 years old. I grew weary of the post-Cultural Revolution discussions, for example, and the constant references to Mao's thoughts (Hey, I read some of the book--lookit!). With the luddite's love for steam engines (the Chinese stopped building them the year his book was published) and quill pens, Theroux seems unable to imagine a modern China flexing its military muscles and engaged in the World Trade Organization. For all his accounting of Chinese history, he seems only able to grapple with the past two decades with much authority.

   This is a highly descriptive and most unhappy account of a long and arduous journey. I can't imagine Theroux enjoyed the work. I can't say I much did, either.




4. I find Paul Thoreaux to be an excellent writer, even though he seems a little pessimistic sometimes. He has way of looking beyond the glittering surface of things and telling it how he sees it. There is nothing fake about his work. He captures the concept and the depression of the poverty of Warsaw and Moscow wonderfully, and depicts China's issues and complaints wonderfully. He is perfect at seeing through culture and gender to the pain that lives underneath. He is a wonderful, honest writer, and so far I am loving his book. I could almost believe that I had been to some of the places he traveled.



5. Paul Theroux is one of those authors that I find myself returning to again and again over the years. Though my own days of careless travel seem to be largely behind me, it is pure pleasure reading Theroux's cynical and insightful views on foreign travel and culture and his encounters with fellow travelers and locals never fail to amuse. RIDING THE IRON ROOSTER does not disappoint.
   
   As in all of his travel books, the most interesting and engaging character often is Theroux himself. Fussy and pretentious at times and never romantic, he is also refreshingly judgmental, while generally avoiding the chauvinism common with Western writers and travelers. Like Somerset Maugham, he is a man of the world, yet unlike Maugham, his biases and complaints are personal rather than nationalistic. We can usually identify with his trials and frustrations and share in his annoyances.
   
   The Chinese are a curious and foreign people and I have always found them difficult to relate to and inscrutable. Theroux perfectly captures the feeling of strangeness that being amongst them evokes, though oddly enough it is the Americans and Europeans he encounters who come off seeming like the representatives of the truly alien culture. Theroux spends an entire year traversing China and immersing himself in the local culture, and by the end of the book I find myself understanding, or at least tolerating the Chinese more and the Americans less. I have found out during my own travels that the most severe form of culture shock comes from returning to your own country after a long absence.
   
   Jeremy W. Forstadt

No comments about Try Cracow and the Carpathians.

No comments about Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India: Being a Revised and Enlarged Edition of 'Indian Life, Religious and Social'.

No comments about Old China in Historic Photographs (Dover Photography Collections).

1 comments about Walking to the Mountain: A Pilgrimage to Tibet's Holy Mount Kailash.

1. If you have always wanted to know what travelling in Tibet is like, then this book is for you. Wendy Teasdill takes you with her as she travels from Lhasa to Mount Kailash in western Tibet. Written in an anecdotal form, it takes you on a journey of several hundred kilometers. You will be right along with her when she camps out under the stars, haggles for a ride, fords ice-cold rivers, stares at the mountain in awestruck wonder or enjoys a cup of tibetan tea in a yak-hair tent. A humourous, realistic account of travelling in Tibet, this book is a delight! You will enjoy the journey, whether is a means of re-living your own journey, as it was for me, or whether it one you intend to make or even if you choose to be an arm-chair traveller. Enjoy the trek!

No comments about SHANGHAI TOURIST MAP.

1 comments about A Photographic Guide to Birds of China Including Hong Kong (Photoguides).

1. This book was very helpful when identifying birds of Hong Kong. The color photographs of each bird were clear and extremely helpful, and the descriptions helped me distinguish similar species if I was still in doubt after seeing the picture. The range maps seem accurate, and the book's small size makes it very portable and convenient to carry. The only drawback was that several species I saw, some fairly commonly, were not listed or pictured, so I was unable to identify them at the time. Overall, I would recommend this book for someone wanting to identify Hong Kong birds.

4 comments about The Marching Wind (Equestrian Travel Classics).

1. Although The Marching Wind was written in the late 40's, this non-fiction story is still very intriguing in today's world. It relates the story of traveler/explorer Leonard Clark and his yak caravan journey through Tibet. Clark convinced the Chinese Nationalist leaders that he could find them an escape route through Tibet as the communists approached. At the same time, Clark plans to measure a mountain in Tibet that is reputably higher than Everest.
   The book is written as a detailed travel log of the expedition through the wilds of forbidding Tibet during incredibly cold weather for which none of the modern equipment used for extreme weather is available. The caravan is constantly on watch for the fierce Ngolog tribe members reputed to be highly aggressive and murderous. It is a well written and exciting story.



2. I noticed this book on my parent's book shelf when I was growing up. My 5th grade class had studied Tibet and I always meant to read it. Well, many years later, I finally got around to it and it turned out to be a rather interesting book. What makes it interesting is this glimpse at the many different people who make up the vast area of Tibet.

   The author, Leonard Clark, is a rather archaic type of fellow to read in the 21st century. It's somewhat akin to reading about a 19th Century explorer 50 years ago. The man, fresh out of World War II intrigue in this general area of China, decides that he wants to explore the area of a sacred mountain. The name of the mountain is Amne Machin and it is located deep in the thinly explored areas of Tibet. Mr. Clark briefly explains the background to his quest and, before we know it, he is on his way to Tibet with a mere $1200 to finance his travels. He is an odd sort of fellow who reminds you of a middle-aged bachelor British nobleman who explores for a living. His rare reflections on life indicate a rather detached point of view.

   We sense his quest to find and measure the height of Amne Machin although I didn't feel particularly excited about this aspect of his travels. I was most interested in the many different tribes of peoples and their remoteness from the rest of the world. Many of these different tribesmen are Mongols who date back to the original Horde. Mr. Clark has convinced the local military leader of the need to find an escape route from the unstoppable advance of the Red Chinese. Thus he is able to explore this lawless area accompanied by a small army. Mr. Clark is an astute observer of the many different tribes, flora, fauna, customs, topography and travails of the area. I found myself shivering with him in the many blizzards he seemed to encounter. I also found myself wondering if I, too, could survive on the various forms of food and drink that he subsisted on.

   This book didn't exactly grab me once I started reading it. In fact I kept it at the office and would read a bit of it several times a week during my lunch break. It left me wondering about whatever happened to these many tribes of people rather than wondering whatever happened to the author.




3. This is truly a well-written, great adventure. Although I think that Clark embellishes the dangers of his trip, you definitely get a good feeling of the difficulties and potential threats.
   (Immediate post WW-II period, during Chinese Civil War). Basically, it details Clark's expedition to explore Amne Machin, which he suspected to be higher than Mt. Everest. The probable real mission was however to map the region and prepare for a retreat of the defeated Chinese Moslem/Nationalist Army through Tibet. In any case, it makes for exciting reading, and Clark is a fine writer, with a good sense of humour and insightful comments. He's not a scholar, but a true adventurer; nevertheless, he seems to exhibit detailed knowledge over many subjects and appears to be an astute observor.
   I first read this book (hardback edition from the 1950s) some 30 years ago, and was quite pleased when I discovered that LongRiders has re-issued in paperback form. The paper and binding seems pretty decent, and the only real negative is the poor quality of the photographs, which are not reproduced on glossy paper. The other minor quibble is the fact that since this is a reprint, an introduction/retrospective would have been useful. This could have included some info on the fate of the author (he died under somewhat mysterious circumstances in the late fifties in South America) or Amne Machin (it's not higher than Everest) or even some info on the Qinghai region today. But again, these are minor points that shouldn't detract from a great story...



4. The formal reasons for Clark's 1949 journey in Qinghai (surveying uncharted mountains; archeological excavations; and aiding escape of Nationalist Chinese) may be mere rationales for his archaic 19th century-style expeditions. But the former OSS major certainly found adventure, with arduous conditions, bandit raids and political machinations recounted in melodramatic but serviceable prose. "Marching Wind" has useful ethnographic and scientific data from eastern Greater Tibet, though some critics doubt its accuracy. Clark briefly enjoyed fame because his flawed calculations suggested that the Anye Machin range had peaks higher than Everest, but the bulk of the book holds up better. Its main value may lie in detailing the tensions between the end of "old" China (already vastly transformed, as the presence of foreign devils like Clark confirms) and Chinese efforts to avoid or adapt to the impending Communist new order. The story often alternates between the anxieties of officials and communities loyal to the Guomindang, and the routine--not timeless--activities of people for whom epochal changes in China proper seemingly had little relevance. Despite use of a station wagon (no kidding) in the early stages, this Equestrian Classic will find readers among the growing number of trekkers to these remote regions. Owen Lattimore's slightly earlier travels and writings offer a substantive contrast to Clark's rather self-absorbed, but still worthwhile, account. G. Rowell, "Mountains of the Middle Kingdom" assesses Clark and other explorers of China's Far West, with many stunning photos.

No comments about The Geography of Tourism and Recreation: Environment, Place and Space.

No comments about An Account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet.