Asia Books

The seven stories comprising Shaila Abdullah's Beyond the Cayenne Wall are very consistently written and virtually dripping with poignancy. Ms. Abdullah describes the personal tragedies and conundrums faced by Pakistani women living in a very repressive society. The author has created fictional scenarios based on her real experiences and those of other Pakistani women she has known in the town of Karachi. From her current residence in Austin, Texas, Shaila gives the reader a ride in the front row seat of the emotional rollercoaster reflecting the plight of many Pakistanis. The text contains numerous mentions of food items common in Pakistan, and a convenient glossary has been included in the back of the book. With its cover graphics created by the author, Beyond the Cayenne Wall presents a nice, touching, professional introduction to the author's home culture.

Although it is an exquisite little package, Cayenne Wall leaves a bit to be desired in its proofreading. The typo count is far too high to honestly earn five stars in a review. If the book had contained four-hundred pages, the comma omissions, etc., would have been acceptable, but anyone should be able to present a clean product of one-fourth that size.

Aside from the typos, Beyond the Cayenne Wall is an outstanding first book from a new author. The stories are carefully composed and memorable in style. The individual predicaments these characters find themselves in will stay with you long after you have finished reading this short book. These women were each backed into a corner by an unrelenting culture in a land of familiarity to the author. Shaila Abdullah has definitely done her homework in the accurate cultural translation of reality into fiction.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends BEYOND THE CAYENNE WALL as a beautifully written although very hard to read collection of stories that will keep you totally absorbed.

While its cover image may intimate things exotic, soft & gentle, all the stories are raw & unbridled in how they get to the core of these women's emotions & how their cultures' traditions chafe on their hearts & souls.

The descriptions of the land these women love are luminous & yet we quickly become privy to the terrible culture clashes & the despair & sheer brutality of their everyday lives.

Beyond The Cayenne Wall is the highly personal and deeply intimate collection of author Shaila Abdullah's conceptual short-stories. Abdullah presents the cultural chasm between the east and the west with her intuitive writings of individuals finding themselves despite their socially set barriers that they inspirationally overcome throughout the eye-opening stories of fate, alienation and solitude. Beyond The Cayenne Wall is a superb read for students of literature, culture and sociology because of its deftly written engagement into the world and life of the alienated foreigner.

Beyond The Cayenne Wall tells 7 short stories of women we think we've seen, but never really heard about. Shaila Abdullah introduces us to Pakistani society on a number of levels. She tells stories about urban women, rural women, pampered women, hardscrabble women, educated women. Ms. Abdullah uses simple but powerful imagery interspersed with Urdu to generate the inclusive quality of "being there". At the root of the stories are the cultural burdens women bear. Although the setting appears exclusively eastern, oddly enough, the struggles, disappointments, joys, and sorrows of these women transcend borders. Pending marriage, difficult conception, in-laws, and tradition are issues we can all relate to, and doing so through the prism of eastern culture only makes us richer for it.

I truly enjoyed this collection of short stories, and devoured them in one setting. Reading about the determination of Tannu, the fierce protectiveness of Dhool, the revelation of Minnah, the stoicism of Shiwali, the persistence and horrible discovery of Minal, the grief of Mansi, and the redemption of Nyassa brought all of this into sharp relief. In today's climate, we often see the eastern world against the backdrop of war and conflict. We never see the more mundane aspects of everyday life that fuel so much of the other. What I appreciated most was the view into everyday life that tends to be overshadowed and outright forgotten in today's political climate.

Although the women are not always successful, they are always triumphant. Even when circumstance conspires against them, and fortune turns its back, each of these women demands and receives small victories. Be it the mockery of a quickly hidden glance, the silence of hidden passion, the damning knowledge of a bully's frailty, each story illustrates that sometimes the best part of victory is-modesty. It has not been since college that I remembered reading about feminism around the world. Sometimes, it is very easy to believe that our kind of feminism is the only kind. Feminism isn't only about working outside the home and sitting in front of the classroom. Sometimes, its as much about what is still going on inside the home, and what kind of classroom. Sometimes it is about bouncing back as opposed to striking first. I think these stories make an excellent addition to any woman's library, and I heartily recommend them.

Reviewed By: Angela Hailey, Black Butterfly Review

Abdullah weaves the lives of women living in Pakistan with contrast to the Western culture. She captures the inner feelings with great depth. "Beyond the Cayenne Wall" is able to portray each woman's struggles and then find her own inner peace within the societal paramenters.

Abdullah writes well as she articulates each character and draws the reader into the realm of the woman's life.

RUSS and BLYTH CARPENTER.
The Blessings of Bhutan
Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2002. v, 186 pp. Colour plates, notes, glossary, index. US$24.95, paper.

It is rare that one has the chance to review a book so inadequate that one is hard-pushed to find a positive word to write about it.

The Blessings of Bhutan is, most unfortunately, such a book. One cannot imagine why University of Hawai'i Press, an otherwise reputable press that previously released the charming Painter's Year in the Forests of Bhutan by A. K. Hellum, has now published the Carpenters' recycled clichés and Orientalist imaginings. The authors start out on a hapless tack "... visitors often feel altered by Bhutan ... their inner selves are stirred ... [and] many come home with a nagging feeling that they
were at the edge of learning something important, something primary" (p. 1). With this Conradesque backdrop in place, Russ and Blyth Carpenter enter the Heart of Lightness with their readers in tow. Their account of travelling and working in Bhutan is so personalised that those of us who have never visited their home in the USA wonder why they so frequently refer to it: "Bhutan reminds us of Vida, Oregon. Our hometown has a store ..." (p. 7).

Their rambling anecdotes come across as impressionistic accounts from a journal, and are surely more suited to family archives or a Christmas letter home to friends than to publication as a monograph by an academic press. The authors trade in stereotype and are partial to a disparaging kind of anti-intellectualism, embodied by the statements:

"only a masochist would want to know the names of all the languages spoken in
Central and Eastern Bhutan" and "Bhutan's geography changes from challenging to
nearly hopeless" (p. 8). As if this were not disturbing enough, their hagiography of the kings of Bhutan as embodying "wisdom, strength, vision, and selfless behaviour" which they "daydream about the United States borrowing" (p. 9) is surely at odds with the sentence handed down by a previous king who had a citizen "whipped with peach branches until he convulsed and fell unconscious" (p. 18).

While this book has no scholarly pretensions, and readers would do better to travel to Bhutan with the Lonely Planet guidebook, the lack of engagement with issues that affect contemporary Bhutan, such as the activities of Indian rebels along the southern border or the plight of the Lhotsampa refugees (Bhutanese Hindus of Nepali origin) is simply negligent.

In only one place are these issues touched upon, and then shrouded in euphemism and dodged in an amateurish and unconvincing way: "Many of the things we could say here about the southern problem would be out-of-date by the time this book is published" (p. 168).

In short, this book fails to deliver at all levels. The obvious delight the authors have in Bhutan is marred by their thinly disguised condescension: "in our view, the Bhutanese do not understand the insidious and destructive consequences of television" (p. 174) and platitudinous generalisations such as "we have no hesitations about the essential intellectual capability of the Bhutanese people" (p. 169). At best, perhaps the Carpenters could recycle their text for an in-flight magazine on Bhutan's national airline.

MARK TURIN
University of Cambridge

This meaty little book is informed by the experience of the authors'numerous visits (including working trips) to Bhutan, extensive research, and the wisdom of many lively but respectful conversations with Bhutanese friends. Gorgeous color photographs by the authors supplement the vivid, lucid writing. There is intrigue in seeimg how these two self-described linear thinkers are gradually changed by confronting an intuitive culture with a Tantric lifestyle and a heritage of both Tibetan Buddhism and the remnants of the pre-Buddhist Bon religion. What will be the effect of television, which has only now entered the culture, on this relatively isolated culture? What do monks do all day? What does it mean to measure a culture by its Gross National Happiness? Why is Bhutan known as Little Switzerland? These are among the many questions the Carpenters answer. One could not have better guides to this intriguing country.

"The Blessings of Bhutan" is a personal and fascinating compilation of very short, and very readable, essays (or "sketches") about authors Russ and Blyth Carpenter's experiences and understanding of Bhutanese life. The book is separated into eight parts covering Bhutanese culture and geography; ancient Bhutanese religion and its relationship to Buddhism and Bhutanese archery; Tantric Buddhism; Bhutanese art and medicine; reincarnation (especially as it applies to the environment); sexuality in Bhutanese culture; women in Bhutan; and the Carpenter's reflections on Bhutan's policy of "Gross National Happiness" and on Bhutan's future. The book also has a very useful glossary of terms that makes reading much easier as well as a recommending reading list.

The authors' love and admiration of Bhutan and Bhutanese people is very apparent in their sketches. While many things about Bhutan can easily baffle a tourist (like the almost contradictory sexual attitude of the Bhutanese or the concept of "Gross National Happiness"), they explain these things in terms of the Bhutanese culture. I found the book extremely easy to read and engaging, and appreciated the experiences the Carpenters shared as well as the facts. You can read the book back to front or just skip around and read about which aspects of the culture you're interested in.

This is the first book I have read about Bhutan, and I'm glad I got it!

The Carpenters' book is not the first one that I have read on this magical Asian kingdom but it is definitely one of the best summaries out there. The authors succeeded in bringing the abstract closer to us; they offer an easily digestable, very interesting and engaging reading about Bhutan. What is even better they bring up further topics of interest and discussion that may make you look for more reading on the country itself, some of the characters from Bhutanese history or Buddhism in general. However, if you would like to find out more about tourist destinations in Bhutan I recommend that you get Pommaret's book or the Lonely Planet guide, as this book is more about the spiritual side, the soul of Bhutanese people and its manifestations in everyday life, religion and culture.

Absolutely one of the best books that I have read on the country of Bhutan. After reading several chapters, I was ready to travel on one of the tours to Bhutan, which are led by authors Russ and Blyth Carpenter.

I purchased this book because, as an expat who lives in thailand, it seemed like a great idea. Overall, it's an easy read and certainly has quite a few shares of laughs. However, quite a large portion of the book is devoted to her doomed marriage to a horny jerk- something I really didn't sign up to hear about! Her adventures, although I feel for her, were also not quite as adventurous as I expected- and while I commend her for making a trip to the mall to buy underwear interesting, it's still just that. Same thing goes for eating in reataurants, taking public transportation, and getting a massage. Her bad experience with the hospitals make me grimace as well- I have had fabulous healthcare in bangkok and would hate for anyone to confuse Pattaya a few years back with modern hospitals in thailand.
All in all, I would love to sit down with her and have a few drinks and relive the quirks of living here, but can't say I would reread the book.

Dodie is my friend and I learned many things I never knew about her.
I knew she was fun, a great story teller and a wonderful person.
Her book made me laugh, it made me cry, but most of all I have an even
deeper appreciation for who she truly is. I read the entire book on a plane flight from coast to coast and believe me the flight went quickly.
I even caught my husband reading it. No one can take a serious situation
and make you enjoy reading about it like Dodie. Thailand was not a place I
wanted to go, but the trip was worth it with Dodie.
Nancy Metty

Nancy Metty

Living abroad in Thailand is not always all it is said to be as author Dodie Cross quickly realized. The result of her near year-long adventure? A "laugh out loud must-read memoir" called A Broad Aboard in Thailand An Expat's Misadventures in the Land of Smiles.

When newly widowed Dodie first met and became involved with Dick, she had no idea what lay in store for her. When Dick is offered an incredible job opportunity in Thailand, there is no question that Dodie wanted to go along. Pushed into a quick marriage, the two soon set off for lands unknown.

Their first experiences in Thailand were luxurious. If only the same could be said for the rest of her stay. Dick and Dodie are soon moved into a new company-owned home and begin to realize very quickly that this wonderful opportunity came with some serious strings attached.

Dodie is fortunate to find many allies and friends. Faithful Pon, Dodie's live-in housekeeper and friend very quickly earned a place in Dodie's heart, as did the "beautiful orphans" Dodie considered herself fortunate to work with at the Pattaya Orphanage. The ladies from the Pattaya International Ladies' Club (PILC) also played a large part in comforting Dodie and helping her to keep her sanity but at the same time were part of an on-going problem Dodie had with the boss' wife, Mrs. Anorexia or Mrs. A for short (named changed to protect the guilty).

While the area and the friends Dodie made would endear Thailand to her forever, problems followed her almost from the beginning of this fateful journey. The primary problem Dodie faced was Dick. Dick suffered from an addiction and had, at times some extreme issues. This would be a large part of their undoing. Competing with Dick for "problem of the trip" was the insufferable control freak Mrs. A. While not an employee of The Company, Mrs. A issued many rules regarding nearly every aspect of the lives - both public and private - of the employees and their wives. To cross Mrs. A or to break one of her and her husband's rules was to earn an instant trip back to the States. Unfortunately for Dodie, she and Mrs. A were at cross purposes almost constantly. Medical problems, a near fatal accident and probably countless blunders in dealing with the Thai people all plague Dodie as well.

This memoir, though thick, is very difficult to put down. Dodie Cross has achieved a great accomplishment: her readers will feel an almost immediate connection to her. They will feel her anxiety, her stresses, her amusement and most certainly with groan along with her at the mere thought of Mrs. A. Mrs. Cross is to be applauded for this outstanding book.

A Broad Abroad In Thailand: An Expat's Misadventures in the Land of Smiles
Reading this book was like having your best friend return from an extended experience abroad and having her share this period of her life with you. It's fresh and alive, and you feel as if the author is talking to you and only you. As good friends do, she tells you everything, knowing full well that she can trust you and that you will understand, and that you will love her no matter how her story ends. She shares the humor, the anger, the frustration, the disappointment, the health hurdles and the corporate politics involved in her own personal life as well as the sounds, the smells, the language, the culture, and the natural beauty of Thailand. When I finished reading this book, I felt as if I had been there with her. She's a wonderful story-teller! Get her book, put on your jammies and curl up on the couch for a delightful few hours of laughs.

Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (12/07)

"A Broad Abroad in Thailand" promised to be a book that I could relate to in several ways. Being an expat myself, I always find what other expats have to say about their new countries fascinating; I've always considered myself a broad and I absolutely adore Thailand. So at a first glance I found it hard to imagine that the book could live up to my expectations...

Having read a fair number of books about expat life and experiences, I mostly found them quite imbalanced and superficial. Granted, most of the authors were rather young, but in the majority of cases I was just not overly impressed by them. Dodie Cross' "A Broad Abroad in Thailand" is definitely an exception. The author never tries to hide the fact that she was no spring chicken when she headed to the Land of Smiles, which certainly gives an interesting spin to her observations. We get to learn more about orphanages and healthcare than we do about beach parties and bars, which in my opinion is a nice improvement. Ms. Cross also nicely balances the funny-to-hilarious misadventures with more serious issues and her `who-could-ever-understand-those-habits' moments with her obvious admiration and respect of Thailand, its culture and its people.

Ms. Cross' memoir begins with a hasty marriage to a golf instructor, which is needed in order for her to be able to accompany him to his new position in Thailand. Although she is not totally certain that marrying Dick (and oh, what an appropriate name for him!) is such a great idea, she decides to go forward with it. Their move to a new country is very eventful - as those moves tend to be... Very soon she is battling not only a badly cracking marriage to a sex addict, but also countless rules and regulations imposed by the wife of Dick's boss, the overpowering Ms. Anorexia. Ms. Cross would rather get to know her new country and meet the people, but all such attempts are considered by Ms. Anorexia as against the rules. Then along comes the near-fatal accident on the infamous Sukhumvit Highway - which truly is at least as bad as described by Ms. Cross as well as a bladder surgery with unexpected results. Dick is not thrilled by Dodie's restored virginity, the boss is not thrilled by Dick and Ms. Anorexia is just generally not thrilled with anything, particularly not with Dodie. Such is the sorry state of affairs overall, which will only lead to more trouble. You will, however, have to read the book for yourself to learn how Dodie resolves the situation.

Having seen that Ms. Cross has also lived in New Orleans among other places, I will definitely keep an eye out for a book about those experiences. According to the little addendum, she is already working on one about her life in Iran, so I can only hope that the New Orleans one will be next. As for "A Broad Abroad in Thailand," I found it well written and very enjoyable. If you need something to brighten your day, just read one of the funnier chapters, maybe the one about mastering the use of Thai toilets or the joys of buying underwear in a strange country. You will feel so grateful that you do not have to deal with any of this that your day will immediately improve. Great read for expats, expats-to-be, wanna-be- expats, travelers and just about anybody else with a sense of humor.

I bought this as a gift. It turned out to be a delightfully helpful little guide for the recipients.

I just moved to Shanghai a month ago and bought several books beforehand to familiarize myself with the culture and etiquette. A friend of mine gave me this one as a going away present. I read it on the plane over (cover to cover - it's a short book) and it was the most candid and informative books on China that I've read so far. Larry writes in a story-like format so it keeps your attention and helps you retain the info better. The encyclopedia-like guide books just don't keep me engaged after the first few chapters. His amusing anecdotes help portray Chinese life and accurately describe the people, customs and culture. I would highly recommend this book to anyone visiting or moving to China. I've convinced my family and friends to buy the book to help prepare them for the culture shock when they visit.

I just returned from my first trip to China, so this is not a theoretical review of how helpful the Herzberg's book is. I began using their tips from the moment we set foot in the Guilin airport. (It's empowering to know where to find the toilet paper!) We encountered various situations that should have been strange to me, but weren't. Some of my fellow travelers wondered how I knew what I knew. I don't know what guidebooks they had read, but they clearly didn't contain the same down-to-earth, real life info that the "China Survival Guide" does. (The book gets bonus points for being small and for being written in a truly entertaining manner.)

This guide to China is easy to read, entertaining, but most of all, extremely useful. It contains all sorts of information about and tips for navigating the everyday situations that a traveler will find themselves in such as standing in line, ordering at a restaurant, using taxis, traveling on trains, managing squatty potties, crossing the street, finding a hotel, navigating the crowds, going to a hospital, and most importantly, doing all these things in a polite and culturally acceptable way. It contains many amusing antidotes from the authors' travels which help prepare the Americans for what they will find odd about China and the Chinese, yet at the same time presents the warmth, generosity, and beauty of the Chinese people. This guide contains much information not found in the typical guidebook and is an absolute must for anyone traveling to China!!!

This is a very useful little book that picks up where most sight-seeing guidebooks leave off. The section on customs is invaluable. We learn how to be polite (take and offer gifts and even business cards with both hands) , where to be assertive (those people aren't cutting ahead of you in line - there is no line!), and when to bargain (not my strong suit, but now at least I know to start at 20% of the suggested price).

The section on the Chinese language is unusually comprehendible. The authors, who have taught Chinese for years, make basic communication surprisingly easy. This has become the book I send to China-bound friends who have no previous Chinese language experience.

China Survival Guide contains lots of good information on a wide range of subjects. With the authors' personal (and often self-deprecating ) travel stories woven throughout, the book is a delightful way to get inside contemporary Chinese culture and equip ourselves for the variety of situations that we may encounter in our own travels.

Stunningly beautiful photos ... well-organized chapters ... plenty of information on many aspects of Chinese culture. I gave this book to my 11-year-old nephew for Christmas, so he will begin to appreciate that China is very much more than a supplier for Wal-Mart!

Taoism is the heart of Chinese culture. This is what makes Chinese different from Westerners. One cannot understand Chinese culture and Chinese elite without understanding Taoism. ---By the author of Warren Buffett and Tao Te Ching: A Modern Investor and an Age-Old Philosophy

I will summarize the reactions and comments from 3 different generations with different experiences.
1. Our parents' generation who live in China but visit US occasionally - This book has a different perspective about China. It is not how we view it, but it also strikes a cord with us because it combined something old and something new, or in another word, a new perspective on both new and old things.
2. Our generation who lived in China until college years and then lived in the US afterwards - Great introductory book of China. It is simple and it is mostly from a Westerner's perspective in terms of how the history, architecture and cultures are described - a very good one indeed. It is certainly missing a lot of information, especially about the culture and the ways of life in the northern part of China where tradionationally held a stronger influence in the country. But we also agree that this book is an effective introduction.
3. The kids who are born in the US and managed a visit or two to China - Curious. Tell me more. Is that really how you lived, Mom and Dad?

So overall, it is a wonderful book to read and many great photos to look at.
As much as it feels complete, it is only a simple slice of China and you can only take one slice at a time.

Well scrubbed look at current life but a well done historical look still, a great read and beautiful to look at. Just don't ask too many questions about political freedoms.

I visited China earlier this year on business, so I was intrigued when I came across this book. When I opened it, I was not disappointed. This book celebrates China and its variety of culture, art, landscapes and rich history with beautiful photography and educational text.

The beginning section of the book draws you in with page after page of beautiful photographs of different landscapes in China, sprinkled with verses from Chinese poetry (translated to English, of course). It makes the reader aware of the varied landscapes (snow to desert, mountains to plans, forest to fields) that make up the vast country of China. Truly a treasury of photos!

The next section explains Chinese history, complete with a timeline. The information is provided in titled short paragraphs and articles so it is easy for the reader to get a glimpse of the history and read quick pieces for more detail. Small articles include items such as "The Grand Canal" and "The Boxer Uprising". All are sprinkled with old photographs and pictures of paintings and artifacts.

The most delightful section of the book is "A Day in the Life" which is a collection of stories about daily life of particular people in different areas of China. There's the life of a student in Shaanxi, a Chinese herbalist, a Buddist Monk, a Cricket Seller, and a farmer, just to name a few. The photos and text provide a window into the lives of the people of China to let the reader see life from their eyes.

There is also a section on Chinese Culture, which includes articles on philosphy and religion, painting, literature and Chinese opera.

The last segment of the book is entitled "Architecture" and contains pieces on various types of building styles, both old and new. From modern buildings such as the 88-story Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai to an old Buddist Monastery in Hebei, this chapter contains a wealth of information and beautiful photography. The Jin Mao Tower is truly stunning inside (I wish I had gone to see it while I was there!). The Couple's Garden is typical of the gardens in Suzhou that I visited while there. One of the most beautiful places shown in called the "Temple of Heaven" with colorful painted decor and detailed stonework.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about China and its culture. It is not only informative, but makes a beautiful "coffee table book"!

This book is set about 200 years after the events described in the diaries of Sei Shonagon and Lady Murasaki (and tale of Genji), however, this memoir reveals a world fossilised, doing it's very best to imitate the 'elegant' world shown in Lady Murasaki's masterwork Tale of Genji. What comes across is a very conservative society, and if you weren't told the dates of the events taking place you would believe they were set in the 10th or 11th century.

The writer of this memoir is a very independant and sensual woman - who took her lovers regardless of the consequences. The second half of the memoir details her travels around Japan's sacred shrines as a nun later in life. Lady Nijo constantly finds on her travels that the world outside Hein-Kyoto has changed since the days the poems she learnt at court as description of Japan's famous sights were written. Some of the old 'famous' sights have gone and she finds new ones to fill their hole.

If you've an interest in these old Japanese diaries and memoirs, this should be added to your list. It's a later, and lesser known book, but worth the effort of reading.

This is a moving and remarkable autobiography.
First, there is the quality of the writing itself, full of beautiful short poems ('A hidden love and tears/enough to form a river-/were there a shoal of meeting/I would drown this self of mine'), comparisons ('my years had passed as quickly as a racing horse glimpsed through a crack') or metaphors ('life is more fleeting than a dream within a dream').
It confirms Lady Nijo's saying that 'the most important accomplishment for a beautiful woman is the ability to write poetry'.

Secondly, there is the extraordinary eventful itinerary of Lady Nijo emotionally as well as physically.
Emotionally, she cannot forget her father ('I shed tears of longing when I recall the care my father gave me') or her first lover at the age of 14 (the Emperor).
Physically, she gives birth before her 18th birthday to two children from different fathers and in her later life struggles for survival.

Thirdly, it gives an interesting look at court life in this period: drinking, singing, playing music, competition between the concubines and promiscuity showing general human characteristics ('She complains that I am treating you as an empress' or 'This road is too easy to be interesting').
But this book also paints aspects of commom life: the fact that many children are taken away from their parents, religious customs or prostitution.

Fourth, it gives a general impression of the importance of religion and psychology: the mighty influence of the karma principle ('I am convinced that this unbearable passion is simply the working out of some karma from the past') and the importance of dreams ('I just dreamed that I turned into a mandarin duck and entered your body').

The overall tone is melancholic ('No matter how many tints the autumn leaves reveal, once the wind rises they do not last long').

K. Brazell's translation as well as her notes are excellent. I would have prefered an afterword instead of an introduction which reveals already the fate of the author.

This is a truly moving tale, not only for Japanese scholars.

How can it be enjoyable to read a biography of someone who lived in the royal compound of the late Kamakura emperors of Japan? That time is so different from modern times, and the Japanese cultures is ineffably foreign to most of us. Yet Lady Nijo's "confessions" or autobiography is so ably translated by Karen Brazell that this book reads as if it were a character in Clavell's "Shogun" coming to life and discussing her private life (though "Shogun" is of course set in a different time period in Japanese history.)

The Kamakura court had almost a pathological nostalgia for the Heian imperial era, and the court structured every detail of custom and behavior to reproduce the glories of the past. Lady Nijo is brought into court at age 14 on the wishes of the emperor, who essentially makes her a concubine. She takes part in court life for many years but, since her father passes away and her relatives are few, she lacks the behind-the-scenes influence that would be needed to elevate her to empress. Thus she never marries and even has a number of outside affairs, strangely tolerated by the emperor.

We see these events dimly as if through a silk veil. Nijo, which is not even the lady's name but is a designation of where she lives, tells us of affairs, of being in and out of favor in court only in oblique comments. But we get detailed scenes of entertainments, poetry contests, clothing and a sense for the playfulness and utter uselessness of the Japanese aristocracy of the era.

Eventually, Nijo is mysteriously banned from court (she protests she does not know why, but we certainly can guess who is behind it all) and she becomes a Buddhist nun. This gives her the freedom to travel widely, and she does so, more than a woman of that time might ordinarily be able to do.

This autobiography is so readable and gives such insight into the Kamakura era that I'd recommend it to any student of Asian history, but I'd also recommend it to anyone who enjoyed either "The Tales of Genji" or even "Shogun." The translation is so wonderful that this ancient story reads like a modern novel.

For such an intresting book its extraordinary so few people have left a review. Anyways, much of the court we see in the novel through lady nijo's eyes is truely fossilized as one reviewer said before, they even go so far as to try and copy musical concerts after those written about in Genji, and theres a great many allusions in the narrative to the tale of genji. The diary itself is extremely enjoyable to read, poigant at times, as for instance when she runs after Gofukakusa's funeral procession barefoot down the street until she loses sight of them. Other times its extremely funny, Im pretty sure Sei Shonogon mentioned the holiday where the women get slapped with sticks, the same was true with Lady Nijo, except she got revenge on the retired emperor by sectioning off the halls and setting up other ladies to keep an eye out for him, when he comes, they descend and all start whacking him with these sticks for revenge. after that there was a huge uproar withen the court that the women actually smacked royalty around. Overall Lady Nijo is very real, and very human in her writing, it makes for an intresting literary and historical read of the Kamekura age. One thing i personally enjoyed was that Lady Nijo was not as vain and condescending as Sei Shonagon, for instance when shes a travelling nun, Nijo actually speaks with commoners, ex-prostitutes, etc etc.

Nijo's autobiography is another wonderful chapter in the literature of Japanese classics. And, like all true classics, it paints a picture very much like some women of today.

The book is not organized as a story, or even as a particularly strong description of events. Instead, it's a first-hand description of moments that roused especially strong feelings, positive or negative. Nijo (not her born name, but the only name that has come down to us) wrote this book late in life, so the literal truth of events often seems layered under decades of nostalgia. The first passage, for example, takes pains to draw a teenage girl, tearful during her first nights in the emperor's bedroom. 'The lady doth protest too much' - that is about the last time we see her hesitate in accepting a man's overnight company.

After her heyday in court society, Nijo retreats and finally takes vows as a nun. She takes the robes and duties of nun in full, but her thoughts never settle into that role. I don't mean to say that she in insincere. Still, a part of her never lets go of the happy times in court. Although she carries out her religious duties, she keeps coming back for another look at the people and rites she loved. Gradually, the people from her youth move away and pass away. The court was all she knew; in the end she doesn't know even that any more. It's like the woman whose greatest day was being prom queen. Now in her forties, she lives by remembering a time and place that doesn't remember her.

Nijo conveys a pervading shallowness. She spends more time describing some outfits than the children she bears. She could have moved closer to the inner imperial circles; the retired emperor publicly acknowledged her first-born as his scion. Nijo never had aspirations so high, or never realized what could have been open to her. She was content for the child to be brought up elsewhere while her life drifted on as before.

The irony of the final sentence may be the happiest moment in the book. "... I have been writing this useless account - though I doubt it will long survive me." It has survived nearly seven hundred years. There is no real point to this book, but that is part of its charm. It is just a look at one woman's world and at the woman herself.

Mei Mei has the happiest hens in China: she pampers them. But hen Daisy is not happy: she faces bullying from the others and when she finds herself lost and away from home, she must remember the attitudes of her fellow hens in order to survive. Brett's warm drawings are a beautiful embellishment.

Daisy Comes Home was a really good book. I would give this book five stars. There is alot of chinese calligraphy in this book. If you can read the calligraphy, this would be a good book for you. The story was about a runaway hen who is found by the nine year old girl owner. To find out more read this book.

Jan Brettýs latest book, Daisy Comes Home is a charming book for young children. The story takes place in a rural village in China along the Li River. A young girl named Mei Mei is known for having the healthiest and happiest hens in the village. She carries the eggs from the hens in a basket that says ýHappy Hensý into the village to sell. The story begins by looking back to the time when not all of Mei Meiýs chickens were happy. Even though Mei Mei fed them treats, gave them fresh hay for their beds, and bathed them, the one called Daisy was not happy. The reason being that all the other hens always picked on her and were very mean to her. They always pushed her off of the perch so she had to sleep on the cold, hard ground.
One night, she had had enough of this and found a market basket near the river bank to sleep in. She fell right to sleep and did not notice the river creeping up the bank. The basket floated away, with Daisy in it. She woke up when the basket started tipping and realized that she was had floated away from home. As she traveled down the river, Daisy had to defend herself against a dog, a water buffalo, and red-tailed monkeys. Her ýHappy Hensý basket ran into a fisherman claimed her and took her into the village to sell.
By this time, Mei Mei had looked all day for her lost hen and decided that she must go into town to sell the eggs from the other hens. She carried the ýHappy Hensý baskets into town and arranged her place to sell the eggs. A friend told Mei Mei that a fisherman had carried one of her baskets into town with one of the hens. She rushed off to find her missing hen and told the fisherman that Daisy belonged to her. The fisherman said that he found the hen so he got to keep her. Mei Mei called to her hen and Daisy ran to her upon hearing the familiar call. The girl ran home with the hen as fast as she could.
One would assume that the other hens would be glad to have the missing Daisy back home, but they tried to treat her as they always had. Daisy had learned a lot on her adventure and could now defend herself. She flapped her wings, pecked, and pushed the other hens back; they could no longer push her around. So, she was given a place to perch alongside the rest of them. Now, all six of the hens are healthy and happy.
The beautiful pictures in this book also tell the story. The full spread beautifully depicts the main idea on each page. Not only is the main idea told, but the audience is allowed to peek into something else that is occurring or is about to occur through small windows in two corners of the page. For example, on the page where the Daisy bumps into the fisherman, a small picture of Mei Mei getting ready to go to the market is in the left corner of the page and a picture of the fisherman holding up the hen to sell is in the opposite corner. This cleverly gives the reader something more to think about and he or she follows the main storyline.

This wonderful story would make an excellent addition to a classroom of young students. The gorgeous pictures and charming tale would captivate the minds of young children as they learn about the importance of standing up for oneýs self, the need to be kind to one another, and the importance of looking after those one cares about.

Jan Brett has woven together intricate illustrations with an exciting story as we float with Daisy the hen down the Li River on an unexpected trip. Daisy's encounters with a dog, a water buffalo, a pack of monkeys and a fisherman are interesting and life-like - no talking animals here! As Daisy and Daisy's owner Mei Mei make their way to the marketplace, the mountainous scenery changes often. Look carefully and you will see the mountains become dragons and snakes, chickens and monkeys. The marketplace illustrations feel authentic and up-to-date and the wonderful colors and hustle-and-bustle feel adds to the story's tension for an exciting reunion! Brett's illustrations are wonderfully layered with Chinese textures and materials from china pattern designs to bamboo screens. Beautifully illustrated and skillfully told, Daisy Comes Home is sure to be one of those favorites that asks to be read over and over again.

My 5-year-old daughter and I read this with a great deal of delight. The story is exciting, and what makes it very special is its authenticity. Daisy isn't a human-like character, she does only real hen things; Mei Mei isn't a super-clever, cutesy ethnic character, she's a young Chinese girl who loves her hens. Together, they overcome the scary, vulnerable situations they find themselves in just by doing hen and little girl things. All of this with fascinating, rich illustrations of the Li River region of southern China that are also very true to life. A tale for the heart and a treat for the eyes.

A great book for those that love traveling and want to learn about some things to look out for when traveling. It is filled with humor and describes the reality of traveling to a remote area. It is a great read for those that have traveled and also for those looking to travel. The elephant polo part is filled with more humor and gives in inside look at a rare sport played by the wealthy.

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.

i've been reading Antonio Graceffo's storys and books and i enjoy them all, i really recommend buying this book its really worth it. His adventure is very intresting, many facts and funny conflicts. also check out his book "The Monk From Brooklyn" i say its a very good book... and to mention all the negative post with one star rating is obviously the same person. you can tell by comparing all his/her negative post.

It may be difficult for us to understand why a successful investment banker from New York, chooses to risk death and danger by crossing the world's second largest desert. However, when reading Antonio Graceffo's story, everything starts to become very simple and clear why he'd to do such a thing.

This is a story of one man's own challenge, to cross the Taklamakan Desert from North to South alone, although unachieved by men before. It allows us Westerners to gain insight to not only an experience we may never visit or encounter but also types of cultures and people we never imagined could still exist.

What's appealing about this story by Graceffo is his writing style as being ordinary and informal with snippets of dialogue to assist you in getting the `bigger picture'. For a less intellectual but entertaining read this is ideal. Antonio's genuine character, blatant or funny statements and honest thoughts all provide a fuller engagement with his journey.

Most people love a good story of knowing how a human overcomes something serious or survives danger. This is a story of survival from the extremely high temperatures, constant dehydration and consistent physical pain. This one man isolated, travelling nature's danger zone, riding miles on a strange impossible to ride three wheeler bike is remarkable.

I became so engrossed in this story, my curious self questioning can this guy really make it? Is it really possible for a human to survive such ordeal? Throughout the journey there are times when he feels as if he can't go on. By great will power and determination he becomes a hero and completes his mission.

The descriptions given are detailed enough to provide great visual imagery for the reader and therefore makes the reader feel as if they were encountering the journey with Antonio also. The various types of village people which he stumbles upon his journey provide an intriguing aspect to his story. You just never know what type of person he will meet next, some of these people pretty much save his life, and some of the conversation exchanged between them helps the reader gain insight to a completely unfamiliar culture we likely don't know enough about. It's very thought provoking meeting these characters in the book because it highlights the extreme different lives we lead. e.g. the Ughyur construction foreman Antonio meets randomly while travelling across the Taklamakan. The foreman earned in a month the equivalent to what a pair of sixty US dollar boots would cost. There are many people which appear in Antonio's travels which lead very simple lives living on what we would class as nothing, some are not even aware of what a camera is? It really makes you wonder how we are all a part of the same world.

I recently emailed Antonio and asked a series of questions referring to his book "The Desert of Death on Three Wheels".

He is currently living in Cambodia, writing articles about families and people living in poverty. He wrote the following to me in response to one of my questions:

"In the west we have no idea of true hopelessness and desperation. Most recently I did a story about sick people gathered in a temple where they believed the monk could cure them. They were desperate and poor and ignorant and uneducated and infecting each other. More than one thousand people living on top of each other in an area about three times the size of a football pitch.
What can I say to sites like these? They sadden me. There is so much humour in a lot of my stories. But that is often my way of dealing with the sadness I saw the previous day."

The Desert of Death on Three Wheels also has an added bonus story, it's about his trip to Thailand, where he plays for a team in a rather interesting sport called elephant polo. I won't go into great detail of what happens, or what kind of story to expect but I can guarantee you it is an extremely funny read. Filled to the brim, of course, with Antonio's witty and comic comments in reflection of his experience. Antonio does actually raise awareness for these elephants by fighting in a boxing match. He is a boxer as well as a writer! It is clear from my response from my online interview with him, that he really does care about the places and people he visits from around the world. He has a very unstable financial income writing about poverty, wars and the corrupt governments he encounters when travelling.

The Desert of Death on Three Wheels is an entertaining great story about a man who is compassionate about people and the places he visits. He converts his travel experience into a story overcoming what may seem the unobtainable. Everybody loves a good story don't we?

© Vanessa Hyde Nov 2005

An honest account of an adventure through a place most people would never have even heard of. The bonus story about Antonio's participation in an Elephant polo tournament is also an interesting look at a sport generally only enjoyed by the disgustingly rich. I really enjoyed these stories, and would recommend them to anyone interested in travel writing, because you won't have read anything else quite like them.

Travelling with Michael is to say the least exhilarating, fun, adventurous and a journey of discovery. While many can only dream of actually making the trip, Michael Palins' books are the next best thing. It's not just where he goes, but how he does it and perhaps most importantly: seeing it through his mind's eye, which needless to say can make humor out of nothingness. All you need is to relax and have the urge to increase your imagination. A wild but educative ride!

Michael Palin does it again with Full Circle. Starting in Alaska Michael travels anti-clockwise around the rim of the Pacific Ocean visiting countries as diverse as Russia, Korea, Viet Nam, New Zealand, Colombia and the west coast of North American. He tells of his adventures getting to and exploring some fantastic natural wonders, visiting a Russian gulag with a former inmate, the relief of Japan, the Vietnamese reactions to a westerner, the biggness of Australia and the hardworking people of South America. The section on the United States is short and not always sweet. Palin is taken aback by the physical bigness of Americans, and rush, and loudness. By the time he reaches Canada and attends a "lumberjack" fair (no singing Mounties included!) he really "wants to go home". We also learn a bit about how the series and book were produced, his wife Helen and their children, and that being on a job for the BBC doesn't always mean smooth sailing! Michael's friend Basil Pao took the photographs - he also joined Michael on "Around the World in Eighty Days". I can highly recommend this book and not only to fans of Monty Python - it doesn't end how you might expect!

As always Palin has produced a great travel book and series... this I found better than his "80 Days". The other thing people might find interesting about this travel book is that it takes us to some places which are hard to reach even in this day and age, so this is the only way we can know them.

Also suggested- "Hemingway Adventure"

Full Circle is just as good, if not better then his othertravel/comedy books. It is simply magnificent.

I've seen the 10-part Full Circle tv series, and I had a serious addiction from the start. When it ended, I went through a withdrawl period. I silently rocked myself in a chair in my room repeating "I must get the book,... must find book...must read book." I've got it now and I'm back on a Full Circle high. The book goes into details that they never had time for on the series. It tells you everything that you would have noticed had you been in Japan or Australia or Chile.

Ahh... I can imagine myself right now on the streets of China getting a massage from a blind man.

This is an amazing book, by a wonderful author. I would highly recommend reading it.

It was by accident I discovered this book, but how fortunate it was! Murphy did not just ride a bicycle from Ireland to India, impressive in itself, but she lived and laughed and played with the Prince's and Peasants she met through out her journey. Her descriptions of the people she meets and the ancient lands she cross are simple and magical.

Some of her experiences seem to belong to fairy tales, other's remind's one of Arabian Nights, and at other times, it seemed Murphy was whisked into Tolkien's land of Middle Earth with fierce and gallant warriors on horseback.

I will quote a couple of passages which highlight her sense of humor and observation.

"...But it was worth it all to rise gradually from that fertile, warm valley to the still, cold splendour of the snow-line, where the highest peaks of the Hindu Kush crowd the horizon in every direction and one begins to understand why some people believe that gods live on mountain tops."

"...when suddenly I came on the most unexpected sight-a playing field complete with twenty-two youths and a soccer ball. I know very little about soccer, but enough to know this is how it is not played. No one ever moved about trotting speed, no one ever tried to tackle anyone else, the referee never used his whistle, the ball was never headed and the two goalies sat crosslegged between the posts most of the time, looking abstracted. The real excitement from a spectator's point of view was caused by the fact that one side of the field had a sheer drop of 200 feet, so that the main object of all the players was to keep the ball from going into the ravine rather than to kick it between the posts."

What a find! I'm amazed Dervla Murphy is not much better known. She has such an appealing vigor and zeal for adventure, combined with an acute eye for cultural observation and a rich capacity for description. Dervla takes one of the most audacious trips I've ever heard of, and undergoes some of the most harrowing and arduous of trials with non-showoff-y courage, such as when three heavy objects that turn out to be wolves fling themselves at her on a dark deserted road in the Balkans, or she is awakened in the middle of the night to find a "scantily dressed Kurd" standing over her bed. (In both instances her pocket pistol dispatched the dilemma without further ado.) Not only are these accounts riproaring, but she so warmly and affectionately describes the so-called "undeveloped" cultures she grows to know as she passes through remote stretches of Afganistan and Pakistan, that she quite awakens a First World reader to the narrowness of our outlook.

I first read this book in the sixties in grade school. I bought the reissued edition, rediscovering it by coincidence. Ms. Murphy's journey in the early sixties is, if anything, more fascinating to read today in light of the changes in the Middle East since she travelled there. Her independence and cheerful acceptance of different cultures is refreshing. This book was written prior to the 'me' decade, and while intensely personal, lacks the self-preoccupation that more recent writers practice.

Additionally, unlike so many bicycle travelogues, this book doesn't focus on the author's bicycle! The focus remains on the journey, which renders it excellent reading for all, not just bicyclists.

This is a timeless read and one that can be revisited with pleasure.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Murphy's humor, tenacity and bravery are awe inspiring. She's attacked by wolves (or possibly wild dogs), wakes up in a tent after going to sleep out in the open, fends off an attempted rapist and has many other thrilling adventures. In one instance, when there are nefarious characters about, she is advised to booby trap her inn bedroom's doorway with empty bottles. In her journal, she calmly notes that emptying bottles is the one thing she's really good at.

I couldn't help feeling sad while reading this book. In 1965, when this book was published, most people were probably unfamiliar places like Kabul and Jalalabad. Now, of course, in the wake of the post-9/11 bombing of Afghanistan, Kabul is a household word. Turns out, that city was once breathtakingly beautiful, as well as the country around it. Murphy's trek takes her through Afghanistan at a time when the USSR and the US were vying for control of this country. The Russians were busy providing electricity and importing goods, while the Americans seemed to approach this ancient country with the intent to raze the traditional culture to the ground and replace it with a modern one. One wonders if, if both countries had never meddled with Afghanistan, there might never have been the Taliban? In any event, this book takes the reader back to a truly relevant experience of the not-so distant past.