Asia Books

I wish there was a 6 star rate!
Love the quality (overall!) of the book! Amazong for inspiration!! This one goes on my special-favorite book rack!!!!

As a collector of, and dealer in Central Asian garments, I have long been fascinated by the printed, cotton linings of these garments. Some of the fabrics are so beautiful, that my customers turn the coats inside out, and wear them in reverse. How delightful to find a book on these fabrics. The book shows many different patterns of fabric, as well as a number of coats, turned inside out, to show the wonderful patchwork patterns. Well done.

This book is not only visually stunning, it is also a fascinating read. This is the first time that these beautiful and unusual fabrics have been given their due recognition both as designs and as an important part of Russian/Soviet history.

while this extravagantly illustrated compilation of Russian printed fabrics from 1900 to 1950 will be invaluable to both artist and collector, it is a visual delight to the general reader as well. The author skilfully weaves the history of the Cental Asian tribal peoples into the tapestry of mass migration and technology which produced stunning roller and block-printed cotton clothing.

This book is stunning in a visual sense. Each print illustrates the creative choices of the Central Asian people and also reflect the influences of the world around them. More than a book reviewing Russian textiles, it records the history of a region of the world that is not commonly explored. So beautifully photographed, one can almost feel the weave of the prints. Cloth is so commonplace we take its history for granted. This book reminds us its importance. Its interesting that a swatch of fabric can weave a story of time and people.

I went to India twice, the first time for 4 months, and sadhus are definetly one of the most interesting people of the hindu world. Obviously their lifestyle is not comprehended by westerners and even less by closed-minded people who probably have never been to another continent with a different culture (as reviewer fro Hawaii); or if they have, they still have'nt learned to respect the differences and traditions among different societies. Since my first trip to India I saw this book on many bookstores there, and after comparing it to many others this is the one with the best pictures of the holly men. Incomprehension should not be a cause of disrespect; actually, this has caused wars, and still does.

The men (and very occasionally women) portrayed in this inconspicuous volume are compelling in the extreme. It is only necessary to gaze at their faces and ash-dusted bodies to fully appreciate the gift of this work. But the author/photographer offers so much more.

As a study in psychology in extremis, the wealth of behavioral detail and description is satisfying. And the diverse, often incredibly imaginative, rituals of self-abnegation are conveyed with tremedous sensitivty and scrupulous balance.

The text is dense, and possibly impenetrable in places. It is academic in its emphasis on getting every possible relevant detail down. So one is met with an avalanche of esoterica upon delving in.

Perhaps the writing assumes a bit of knowlege and sophistication in Eastern ways? But it really doesn't matter anyway. Somehow a sense of what is important filters through after a while. And the photo captions are well-written and fascinating.

This is a picture of a society of devotees who have given it ALL up in order to stay exquisitely near to the timeless, pitiless cycle of death and regeneration that powers all life. The book itself is clearly an act of devotion to that extaordinay commitment.

This is a beautiful book about a bunch of morons. The basic fallacy of this book is that the people written about in this book are "mystic holy men" and that living a life of asceticism and renunciation and smearing your body with ashes and doing a bunch of rituals will bring enlightenment. Total hogwash.

If an ordinary worldly-minded person was to read this book, there would only be two extreme reactions. One would feel shocked and disgusted while the other would be filled with deep admiration for this class of human beings. I belong to the latter!

While reading this book, I felt a great shift of my consciousness to a higher plane. It was as if most of the sadhus were blessing me and were aware that I was reading about their fascinating way of life. It is definitely light years away from the modern world! The pictures of these holy men were simply breath-taking and the authors objective view (filled with subtle humour) of these sadhus is amazingly filled with reverence and a deep understanding of Hindu philosophy.

If one were to visit India, he/she must pay a visit to these holy men. That is the REAL India!

This is one of my favorite books. Just by looking at the pictures I feel as though I am put in a higher state of consciousness. These men - and a few women - are fascinating. The pictures are beautifully done, and the text is very informative and provides information regarding the different groups of Sadhus and their - by our society's standards - unusual practices.

Two things that I found interesting about this book were: the discussion of rituals done by the Sadhus with the intention of shedding light on the non-duality of life ("life is death, death is life"), and that to the Sadhu "rationality" is not the prime objective in life. The book says that what is considered rational is too grounded in the transient world of appearances to be of concern to the Sadhu. The goal of the Sadhu is to go beyond the world of appearances and duality, and that often means going beyond what the world would consider rational.

This is a group of people that most of us will probably never be able to fully understand, and I certainly do not claim that I do. But I find them fascinating and very inspiring. This book is one of the best documentations of their life and world which, as the book mentions, may sadly be coming to an end due to the influence of the West.

Lin-Liu's style of writing is so easy and inviting. I hope she writes more about travel in China and does a cookbook from her school.

Wow. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I'm absolutely blown away and agree with a previous reviewer that it was hard to put this book down; there were several times when people on the train looked at me while I cackled or exclaimed aloud at what I was reading. Jen Lin-Liu is amazingly straightforward and puts it all out there - some shockers in here! She makes no excuses about her experiences or her own thoughts/actions and poses some interesting, thought-provoking questions.

Her journey is clearly beyond geographic - it's a mix of culinary, cultural, and personal growth. Her description of the different cuisine and her relentless pursuit of their origins translates into her quest for her own identity. The food she discovers and describes had my mouth watering! As a Chinese-American, I find she's hit the nail on the head on many of the personal issues I've worked through as well. It was refreshing (and comforting) to see her journey and they way she went through self-discovery.

I totally want to go enroll in her cooking school myself! And who is this mysterious Craig who has stolen away her heart?! Congratulations to you both and I hope to see more from Jen Lin-Liu!

Satisfying book that is as much about Beijing as cooking; it captures a sort of mix of optimism and sadness that is contemporary Beijing, through Lin-Liu's writing you really see the city as it is today; especially vibrant if you've lived here for any time.

Jen runs a small cooking school in Beijing where you can learn to cook some of these recipes.

The characters, especially Chairman Wang, grow on you; I also liked the brief appearance of Allison Moore.

This book will be enjoyed by anyone who likes to eat. It's a must for anyone who likes to cook, and an absolute must for anyone who wants to enhance the insight gained by reading travel guides before (or after) traveling to China.
The author's writing style places her sitting in your living room, telling you about her adventures!
Gotta run, I've got more Chinese food cooking to try!

Once I starting reading this book, I couldn't put it down. It is the story about a Chinese-American who goes to China on a Fulbright scholarship as part of her journalism career and ends up riding her bike down a narrow street to take cooking classes. The story (both humorous and touching) is told through her quest to learn about authentic Chinese cuisine both past and present, home cooking and high end restaurants. One of the many compelling things about the book are the Chinese people we are privileged to meet. It is a very personal portrait of Chinese people of all ages and classes. One memorable moment is when Chairman Wang finally tells about the Cultural Revolution and how it affected her and the people around her. It is heartbreaking to hear about it, but amazing to see how the Chinese people survived and continued their lives. And of course there are the mouth watering recipes peppered through out the book -- favorite recipes from people the author meets along the way -- Beijing-Style Noodles, "The Best" Mapo Tofu, Tea-Infused Eggs, Smashed Cucumbers, Drunken Chicken, Lamb-and-Pumpkin Dumpling Filling -- the list goes on and on. The recipes are why I bought the book, but got so much more. This is a book that I will keep, cherish and use as a cookbook forever.

...and get a better understanding to not follow fad diets, but instead adopt a new lifestyle. Practical knowledge everyone needs to get FIT and stay that way. RECOMMEND.

I'd give this book six stars if I could. Why doesn't Amazon have six stars? They should have a six-star rating for when you feel absolutely magnanimous. Anyone with an ounce of fat around their midrift would create a six-star rating. Anyway. I'd give it six stars, and each star would represent the ten pounds I've lost as a result of this book. That's right -- I've lost forty pounds! And never felt better in my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you K. Colton. Anyone who squirts whipped cream on bacon can see that Miss Colton (may I call her Katharine?) is solely, heroically responsible for the exquisite recipe of style, information, encouragement, and good sense that informs this useful, intrepid, necessary (dare I say magnificent?) literature of self-actualization. For that is what occurs when one sheds the outer layers matter what your weight. But anyway. Great book

I agree with the other 5-star reviews I've seen. This is this well written, sensible guide without the hype and false promises of the typical "diet book" (and the price is a real bargain as well). I'd recommend it to anyone.

This is by far the best book on dieting I've ever read. Not just a diet but a whole new healthy way of eating. So far I've been able to lose 60 pounds by following the sensible eating guidelines in the book. These guidelines are flexible enough so you don't feel deprived. Anyone who is serious about loosing weight and feeling good at the same time should give this a try.

Thank god this book doesn't have the same jokey, smarmy tone of those Complete Idiot's Guides. It's totally accessible but not "dumbed down" or condescending, and it's packed with good, realistic advice. Most important, the author has a great attitude about weight loss: do it for your physical and mental health, not because you want to look like a Vogue model. Her advice hits the mark.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone planning a trip to the Everest region. Loved the book, only wish I could get a hard cover version.

Some years ago, I travelled through Nepal, but didn't take as many splendid photos as Tim Hauf, the author of Solu-Khumbu: The Trek to Everest. His book brings all my own travel experiences back most vividly, as well as simultaneously taking my breath away. The author's diary notes bring the physical hardships of travelling in those remote areas precisely up front and personal (to say the least regarding "GI" interruptions!). It was a treat to view his photos, as they made me feel I was walking right along side of the author, seeing and feeling with all my senses all that those haunting and mesmerizing mountains and Nepal's friendly people offer to the Western trekker. I'm too old, now, to attempt that kind of travel, but I open this book and lo and behold, I'm "on the road, again."

Kudos to Tim Hauf, and a heartfelt "thanks for the memories".

The author has captured, perfectly, the land and people of eastern Nepal. This is a photo journal one can read over and over with great pleasure.

My husband and I made the trek to Everest three years in a row and like another reviewer said, Tim took the pictures we wish we'd taken. We started out treks in Lukla and the pictures made us wish we had started in Jiri. The text is excellent, but the photos are incredible. They show just what the trek is like and we've gone thru the book several times since we received it, reliving the three most memorable vacations of our long lives. I would recommend this book to anyone who has made the trek and to anyone who would like to!

This is a personal tale of the approach to Mount Everest rather than the often told climb of Everest. In this the author gives the reader a feeling of the Himalayan people, the livestyles of those generous and courageous helpers to the trekker. By sharing his own story of trekking alongside his gorgeous photos, Tim gives the reader a personal excursion without the toil. The reader celebrates the end of those 29 days of trekking as a heroic act that he also has just completed. I can't recommend this book highly enough, and I am not a trekker!

This work is thorough, but at the same time simple and concise. It is essentially a collection of documents that relate to important events in Chinese history with short background sections introducing most works and longer introductions when a new period of history is covered. I believe that this is currently the most complete single volume on the market as it runs from the early 1600's all the way up to 1989, covering the Qing Dynasty, its collapse, the Nationalist Revolution and later the Communist Revolution, up through the ideas behind the Tienanmen Square demonstrations and the modern reevaluation of Confucianism. If you only want one volume on modern Chinese history that focuses on the sources, I think this is probably the one to have.

This book gets the majority of its bulk from direct translations of actual Chinese texts, and as such it is an indespensible tool for any student interested in Chinese religions and philosohpies. There is very little input on the part of the editors and I, personally, was very thankful this. It can be dreadfully difficult trying to find sources that aren't mired in thousands of pages of theory and speculation, and sometimes a person just needs the root text! An awesome book.

I'll make this short...For anyone interested in Chinese history, literature, or culture, this volume is an absolutely essential collection of primary sources, and includes prefaces and explanations by China scholars. There is no one better than de Bary, and this new edition includes everything from the 1960 edition up through the Jiang Zemin era.

This book is a collection of readings dealing with ancient Chinese history, especially focusing on philosophy and religion. The readings are organized into chapters related to various stages in Chinese history. Early chapters cover antiquity, Confucius, Mo Tzu, and Taoism. Then comes Confucian tradition, the Legalists, the Imperial Order, the Universal Order, and the Economic Order. This is followed by the Great Han Historians, Neo-Taoism, and Buddhism. This volume is rounded out with the Confucian revival and neo-Confucianism. Each chapter begins with a short introduction essay that introduces the context and events of the time and goes to a selection of original texts on the topic at hand. At the beginning of the book is a chronological table of Chinese history from 2852 BC to 1849 AD that highlights various events in Chinese political philosophy.

This book is a great resource for the serious student of Chinese philosophy and culture. The essays and readings provide a unique window into Chinese thought. The authors assume that the reader will have a basic familiarity with the overall picture of Chinese history, and provide many details and insights into why history took the course that it did. I found the reading selections, drawn from such documents as the Analects of Confucius or historical documents like Ma tuan-Lin's Introduction to the Survey on the Land Tax, particularly illuminating. To find so many documents such as these presented in English, together with essays that explain their context and importance, is invaluable for the serious Asian studies scholar.

This book is excellent for anyone wanting to read primary source information. It is a great help for any college student or proffessor interested in the Chinese Culture. I highly recommend this to any one who is interested in Chinese history.

We have lived in Tokyo Japan for 2 years and just recently received this book as a gift. My family and I love it. The book explains a lot of things you will experience in a Japanese restraunt, in shops or just out walking in the city. Things that have been a mystery for 2 years have been explained, with pictures even. We liked the book so much that we have purchased a couple more copies as gifts for other Americans coming to live in Japan.

Not only is this book helpful for people about to visit Japan, but as someone about to leave this wonderful country after 3 years, Ms Reynolds book is one I'll cherish as a souvenir of my time here. Her drawings are amazingly observant and accurate as well as humorous. I look forward to seeing more of her work.

Not only is this book helpful for people about to visit Japan, but as someone about to leave this wonderful country after 3 years, Ms Reynolds book is one I'll cherish as a souvenir of my time here. Her drawings are amazingly observant and accurate as well as humorous. I look forward to seeing more of her work.

Betty Reynolds, an American artist who lived in Japan for six years, is NOT squeamish about sushi-or any of the other Japanese foods she lovingly illustrates and describes in this slender but well-packed sketchbook of culinary adventures in Japan.

With her bright watercolors and good-humored descriptions, Betty Reynolds brings back happy memories of many dining experiences in Japan: how to recognize a restaurant by the signs outside the door, the etiquette of eating sushi (and which of the decorative leaves are edible!), slurping noodles the Japanese way. She goes on to do the same for tempura, yakitori, sukiyaki, and dozens of other Japanese foods. Many uniquely Japanese experiences are portrayed: stopping by a Japanese pub (izakaya) where strangers are assured of a warm welcome; the joys of yatai, the open-air food stalls that show up on streets in evenings and at festivals; the pure bliss of unwinding at a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn); picnicking at a cherry blossom-viewing party in the park; attending a sumo wrestling match; even how to grapple with a Japanese toilet.

A keen observer, Ms. Reynolds is enough of an "insider" to go beyond the obvious in delineating a myriad of Japanese foods, and enough of an "outsider" to remain objective in recognizing the kind of only-in-Japan zaniness that occasionally crops up (sweet potato ice cream, anyone?). Each food is identified with hand-lettered descriptions in English, Japanese roman-ji (the Roman alphabet) so you can pronounce it, and kana (the Japanese syllabary) so someone Japanese can read what it is.

Just leafing through this yummy, entertaining book makes me hungry. As I write this review, I'm itching to catch the next plane to Japan (or at least go out to the nearest Japanese pub)! This book is a great introduction to the wealth of Japanese cuisine, a fine gift or memento for travelers to Japan, and useful even to identify items-and wow the chef with your knowledge-at your local sushi bar.

I LOVE sushi (my wife HATES it! :-), but there is much about eating sushi that I didn't understand....until I read this book. Wonderful pictures and great explanations for all things Japanese.

I've never been to Japan, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of this book. But the previous Amazon reviewers seem to attest that this book is fairly accurate.

If you are interested in Japanese culture (and especially sushi!) - you'll like reading this book!

This is a great book. It describes the slow descent of humanity into an abyss.

Pin Yathay's biography is a unique dramatic and shocking report on the Red Khmer regime in the 1970s in Cambodia.
It contains an excellent first-hand account of the disorderly evacuation of Phnom Penh after the Red Khmer victory in the civil war. After the evacuation, the whole country was turned into an experiment of totalitarian economy (no money, no private property, spying on everybody). The main ideological aim was equality at any cost, not freedom, except naturally for the members of Angkar (the Organization) themselves.
The whole system resulted in murderous labour camps with hundreds of thousands of deaths from hunger, exhaustion, torture and summary executions of 'enemies' of the system. A terrible shame for humanity and for the ideologically pure left.

The escape to Thailand reads like a nail-biting but bitter thriller. It was a real and, for some family members, deadly escape, not fiction.

Apart from its uncontested historical value, this book should be read as a warning against the madness of pure ideologists, who, once in power, accept without the slightest remorse millions of human casualties in order to implement their maniacal policies.

For a more political (national and international), economical and social analysis of the Cambodian history and the Red Khmer regime, I recommend the works of David P. Chandler and Ben Kiernan, as well as William Shawcross's 'Sideshow'.

this book should really help all of us appreciate our lives. It is amazing what he and his family went through! I could not put this book down! BY the way, does anyone have any recent info on the author? It would be interesting to see what he is up to now, and how his life is going, and if he ever contacted his son Naweth, or obtained any information.

This tragic biography traces the story of an educated man and his family in Phnom Penh. Subjected to the indescribable barbaric cruelty that the Khmer Rouge inflicted on its own countrymen, the writer provides the reader with their sense of hopelessness that gripped their nation less than 30 years ago. His hardship and ultimate triumph is the very definition of human survival and the will to survive. Anyone wanting to gain a better understanding of the plight of the Cambodian people under the Khmer Roughe MUST read this book. I can guarantee that when you finish reading this book you will undoubtedly take a moment to think about humanity itself.

Pin Yathay's amazing account of his ordeal under the Khmer Rouge is truly unforgettable and deeply moving. He was a successful engineer who had gone to college in Montreal and had a big happy family in April of 1975 when everything about his world changed forever. At first he and other members of the family didn't believe that anything was going to happen with the new rulers in power (after all, he had supported the Khmer Rouge against the opposition leader Lon Nol and believed they would give Cambodians a better life). Even when they were forced to evacuate Phnom Penh soon after the takeover of power, he didn't believe that anything horrible would happen to them. Most of the people forced onto the road believed that this would merely be a temporary evacuation and that before long, once the political situation became stable, they would be allowed to return home and be put to good use working for the new regime.

It wasn't long before the true intentions of the Khmer Rouge became known. In their ruthless fanatical quest to purgue the nation of anything smacking of the old regime, they took away anything deemed to be "imperialist," even something like the registration for a car, a pair of glasses, or certain types of clothing. Their hatred of all things "imperialist" was so irrational and fanatical that they would even throw away or destroy things like cars or foreign money, things that could have been very useful to them in their position of power or quest to supposedly reform the country. Although Thay hid his true background from them, fearing execution or imprisonment if they knew how high-ranking he'd really been, he and his family were still deemed "New People" (as opposed to the "Ancients," or peasants, who were left alone because they hadn't lived or worked like "imperialists"), and therefore sent from work camp to work camp in the forests and jungles, made to work the land and do other backbreaking hard labor. Hunger, disease, and fatigue soon began to take their toll on the people in these work camps, and before long only he, his wife Any, and one of his sons were left. He and his wife made the incredibly difficult decision to leave their surviving child Nawath behind in a hospital, in the care of an older woman who promised to look after him, so that they might escape and live, and then one day be able to return to Cambodia to look for him.

The account of Thay's arduous trek through the jungle and into Thailand is incredibly powerful and compelling, a true testament to the will to survive. After he was left alone, he knew he had an obligation to all of his lost loved ones to live, to testify to the world about what was happening in Cambodia, so that their deaths would not have been in vain. It gave him the courage and strength to live even after he ran out of lighter fluid and food supplies and had to resort to eating the raw meat of animals such as tortoises and bats, and to escape again after being recaptured by some Khmer Rouge near the border. And all along the way, the dying words of his father, ordering him to stay alive, urged him on even when succumbing to the elements or his hunger and fatigue might have been a welcome relief. This book is both excellent history and a moving story of survival against the odds, and, when it comes to books about this era in Cambodian history and this particular genocide of the 20th century, is as good a place to start as any.

Very nice stories. My son was born in Vietnam so I bought a bunch of books with a Vietnam theme for his library. These stories are great, regardless if your child is from Vietnam or not, or adopted or not.

We really like this book because it has a section in the back for "older" readers. We also enjoyed the front part for "children"

Great book for little ones about the Vietnamese New Year. The embroidered illustrations are phenomenal.

My 2 yo loves this book, on the 1 Mouse plans a party page we talk about all the people she will invite to our party and by the end she cheers Happy New Year (in Vietnamese) with me. She was enchanted by Lunar New Year this year, and this book has been a wonderful way to help keep it alive for her. We are not Vietnamese and we love this book.

This is a great book for preschoolers to teach about some of the activities related to the Vietnamese New Year and its celebration. The embroidered illustrations are quite intricate. I highly recommend this simple, yet informative book.

Stephen Bezruchka has prepared a valuable and complete guide to trekking in the Nepal / Everest region. The book offers practical advise from years of personal experience for anyone thinking about a trip to the area. Bezruchka also creates a much needed ecological awareness and offers substantial insight into the culture of Nepal. The book is much more than a travel guide and just plain interesting. I don't often give books five stars, but this work was beyond my highest expectations - a labor of love. Highly recommended!

This is the book that first opened my eyes to Nepal and its culture. It's much more than a guidebook: it has a sensitivity and compassion for its subject that is almost unique in the field of travel writing. It doesn't coddle you with if-it's-day-three-this-must-be-Namche route descriptions, but lets you find your own adventure and gain profound insights along the way. It also has an extensive medical section.

This is the most fantastic travel guide I've ever used and the only one you will need in Nepal. Bezruchka's love and respect for the Nepali people is evident in every line and will enhance your journey to Nepal as well. We followed his advice and had a much richer experience for it. We watched other tourists who didn't follow his advice being laughed at and ignored. The language book and tape that you can order were incredibly helpful, way better than any dictionary. We were able to converse competently which made a huge difference in our experience. Don't bother with the Lonely Planet guide, which just tells you how to get through the country as cheaply as possible. There is so much more to experiencing Nepal than saving a buck here and buck there.

While the completeness of Bezruchka's guide cannot be faulted the tone and style certainly don't compare to Jamie McGuinness's book on the same topic. In comparison this book was quite a chore to read especially since it is peppered with sermons on globalization. An extremely capable guide but there are good alternatives you may find more enjoyable.

Fifteen years ago I started my trekking company's operation in Nepal with information from this book! The trek descriptions and the information on organizing a trek offer all the nuts and bolts. The background information is fascinating as are Dr. Bezruchka's views on poverty and culture shock.