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Books on Tour

  • Gregory David Roberts: Shantaram
    Without a doubt one of the best books I have read on the trip. Made me think of going to India for a long time... a hefty tome but a real page-turner that will make you wish for more, as a Amazon reader put it "Shantaram is one of those books that you wait to find for five years, even a decade. You know how it is. You read a really great book and, on coming to the end page, immediately want to find another book just as good to fill its place. So you go out looking for such a book, but cannot find it. You look for a week, then a month, then months turn to years, and finally,5 to 10 years later, you finally find a book that is a really great read." or yet another "900+ pages and I was hooked the whole way through. Particularly interesting and poignant because the story is based on the author's own experiences. While the writing itself is not consistently good (some descriptive passages rather akin to what I would expect of a high school student who is trying too hard) there are page corners I've folded over to mark passages that struck a powerful chord with me; this book contained very beautiful commentary and reflection on human life and struggle both simple and extreme. Parts of the story were so exciting that I couldn't turn the pages quickly enough. The simple raw human voice that comes through this book is captivating." So go out and get it - its Australian so do not wonder too much if you have not herad about it before... (*****)
  • Marguerite Yourcenar: Yourcenar : Oeuvres Romanesques
    Lost this book three quarters of the way into it, at the main bus station of Rio... Memoires d'Hadrien is one of my favourite books, even more fascinating in the original French than even the excellent English version. The other novels in the volume differ but I found them all full of food for thought and pleasurable. For all you French speakers, this is a very highly recommended volume. (*****)
  • Bao Ninh: Sorrow of war
    (****)
  • Björn Larsson: Il porto dei sogni incrociati (Drömmar vid havet)
    A first for me, reading a book in Italian, and very curious to have done it from a book originally written in Swedish. Although the subject matter of the novel is funnily enough very appropriate, bringing together – as it does – the lives of four characters from different corners in Western Europe. I picked this up in Puerto Natales – as unlikely that may sound – and the use of the contraposition of life at sea and land – used throughout the book – seemed particularly relevant to this port-town. A good read for several reasons. The author manages to bring together the spirit of XIX century adventure novels with the XX century angst / psychological portraits very successfully whilst at the same time offering an easy read, without falling into ready made formulas or stereotypes, which would probably, have been very easy. Reading in Italian gave it a touch of exoticism that gave an added flavour to the text. The novel apparently was received with rave reviews when it was first published in 1997 and I imagine that the Swedes amongst you have heard of the author. I not I would recommend without any doubt reading the original, although any good translation will be worth it too. Very appropriate to my travels, for sure, providing a juxtaposition between the happy-go-lucky, carpe-diem Captain and the all-too-European four main characters. (****)
  • Maruja Torres: Amor América: Un viaje sentimental por América Latina (El Viaje interior)
    Este lo encontré en una vieja librería de segunda mano en Puerto Montt y me hizo gracia que una periodista que escribe bastante para El País haya pasado por los mismos lugares que he cubierto en mi propria traversía por Sudamericana (aunque ella con el propósito de subir hasta la frontera con los EEUU en tren). Empieza justamente en Puerto Montt! Un estilo periodistico, pero disfruté mucho con sus descripciones y observaciones a veces dando realmente en el clavo. Fácil de leer en un par de tardes y muy complementario a todo lo que estoy viviendo. (****)
  • Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Vintage Contemporaries)
    Excellent short book with a 15-year old autistic narrator but full of twists and turns that make you smile and frown at the same time! Pick it up if you have a chance, it will hook you from the first page. (****)
  • Peter Robb: A Death in Brazil
    An interesting work by Peter Robb which I picked up in a book-buying spree in Melbourne. I felt it was time to remember a little more of my experience of Brasil and this book has an interesting mix of travelogue, history, recent politics and culinary descriptions to feed all those scattered pieces that in combination give you a feel for the country. I had already read - years ago - a previous book by him "Midnight in Sicily" which was also written well and at the same time informative on those pieces of "soft history" as it were that get lost between the "serious" volumes of national/regional history and the current affairs/newspapers/gossip journals that may come your way. This time Robb weaves a story following several themes - the structure of Brazilian society, which really means how slaves were bought, brought, used and then "liberated"; the story of Fernando Collor - president from 1990-92 - and his right hand man's story (PC) of rags to riches and death through influence, mafia and violence, mixing interesting facts and his own observations on culinary delights from the Noreste, Brazilian literary figures and Lula's rise to power. It is a personal and subjective account of all these - and more - at times bordering on the sensational - easy to do with a country such as Brazil which is indeed an almost limitless source of shocking, real-life stories, but are only part of a greater reality and, in my opinion, should not be cofused with it. Robb concentrates on the Noreste region, which in many ways exemplifies the "deep Brazil", its origins as it were. A little like the Deep South or New England for the USA or the Home Counties for England... if thatis not strechting the concept a little too far. I enjoyed it, above all, for the glimpses of Brazilian reality I missed during my stay there and, at the same time, all those things which reminded me of the country - the food, the beaches, the language, the people. A little nostalgic - already! - but an eloquent and entertaining book, even for those who haven't been to Brazil. For Brazilians it might be a little too one-sided and "just a foreigners view" which at times it is, but for the same reason might enlighten them as to what is sometimes so surprising from their country to an outsider. A thoughtful, if by necessity incomplete, compilation of "further books of interest" at the end is certainly welcome. (****)
  • Bruce Chatwin: What Am I Doing Here
    I picked up this collection of essays in Melbourne and after reading the first few pages in the bookshop knew that I would want to read the rest. Chatwin is well known for a number of travel books, amongst which “In Patagonia” which I also purchased at the same time. Here he gathered a collection of writings he made over a 20 year period, before his untimely death - at the age of 49 - in 1989. The quality of each entry varies, necessarily, somewhat but it most certainly contains some real gems - being caught up in a mock coup d’etat in Benin, historical anecdotes of Chinese Emperors searching for Arabian horses or searching for the remnants of the family of Brazilian slave traders in Dahomey. A clean-cut, no-nonsense style punctured by dry humour made the reading very attractive and easy going - he must have been quite a character. A very definite line to bring across a story in a few pages and manages to do so with remarkable ease, certainly something to be kept in mind in one’s own writing! A very pleasant book and bound to bring a smile to the reader. (****)
  • Ayn Rand: The Fountainhead
    This volume has quite a bit of history behind it, in at least two meanings of the word. I first came across it up in Lake Titicaca. Tom, from South Africa, was absorbed in its reading and couldn’t praise it enough. Now, for a book to take you away from the breathless site of the sun going down over this particular Lake from the hights around Copacabana was quite a compliment. It is also a “modern” novel, although written in the 1930s – published a little later – and with an overtone of pushing its own particular philosophy on life, no less, through the medium of a story. The action takes place in 1920s-30s New York City, with a great architect as protagonist and Rand using the architectural milieu as a proxy for the world of Man in general. There are four main characters, the four parts of the book named after each of them, each of which would seem to embody particular symbolic elements that the author wished to bring across to her readers – ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ in essence. The underlying theme is the triumph of the individual over inherent or externally imposed limitations and an indictment against the poverty of soul of most men. Rand is very much the elitist who cannot fathom “the common good” being sufficient justification to smother individual ability and action. Rather, she argues that it is of supreme importance for all individuals to realise their inherent potential, however difficult and arduous the task may be, and not waste their lives kowtowing to what they might be expected to do or have imposed on them to carry out. The novel mixes the philosophical and story-driven narrative in equal parts, at times reinforcing each other but also allowing a certain parallel reading. The characters do seem rather loop-sided or even excessively ‘artificial’ on occasions – although this can help bring across the more philosophical’ slant of Rand’s message. The plot tends to race along, making the 700 plus page tome less weighty than it might seem at first, it can lead down rather incongruent side tracks that clash to a certain extent with the philosophical moorings of the novel but not disastrously. Whatever its faults, the book remains a tour de force and whilst possibly a little rigid in structure and approach for those over 35 (my age showing here!) I am quite positive that it could be a real inspiration for individuals particularly in their twenties, speaking as it does of the dangers of compromising oneself too far for the sake of “acceptance”. A great read – thanks to Tom for the recommendation. (****)
  • Graham Greene: The Quiet American
    (***)
  • Henry Kamm: Cambodia : A Report From a Stricken Land
    (***)
  • STEVEN PRESSFIELD: Gates of Fire
    This one is pretty much your straight forward beach-novel, with the slight difference of being an historical one with the battle of Thermopylae at centre stage. The Spartans are the Goodies - not normally cast in this role, and subject of much bad press by Athens in antiquity - and the Persians the Baddies. It is nevertheless a bit of a page turner and retained my attention for longer than I usually manage with this type of book. Not much in the realm of women roles, a lot of gore and detailed descriptions of military training and battlefield blood and glory. Did fill up a few historical lacuni, but of course you can never be too sure how accurate these books are. Fun to read about Ancient Greece though, good incentive to look further prior to my travels there... (***)

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Sunday, May 08, 2005

Saigon

A quick post from Saigon, quick because it seems that if I wait to have time to write about what is going on with a little length to do it all justice, it ends up not being written at all! I have had to shorten everything I wanted to say about Laos - which was a fabulous place looking back - and having left Cambodia a few days ago I have still to sit down and write about it all!! But it has been a sobering experience visiting a country whose people ave gone through so much suffering until so recently.

In any case, I did wanted to say that I have had a bit of a change of plans and finally decided to cross over into Vietnam although my initial plans didn't include a visit to this country, mainly because of a lack of time. I am still short on that one - my flight to Europe (Helsinki) is on the 20th of May - but it was only a 6 hour bus trip from Cambodia's capital (Phnom Penh) and it seemed like a pity to be so close and not take the opportunity.

Saigon - or Ho Chi Minh City as it is officially known nowadays - has been quite an eye opener. I haven't seen anything quite like it since Bangkok really but I would probably vote Saigon as a nicer place to visit in many respects... The French buildings are still maintained and above all the urban layout - large avenues, parks and whatnot, is faithfully conserved. There is a dynamism and spark in the air that I have not really observed in such intensity elsewhere in Southeast Asia and makes me think of what parts of China might be like now, although I have not been to that part of the world.

The plan is to travel up to Hanoi - the capital in the far north, about 1,700 km away - by bus, stopping in about five places along the way, making it the speediest and most "touristy" visits of a country yet, but I guess better than nothing. The heat is pretty oppressive still and the rains are slowly arriving, not refreshing ones, just making it all more humid and sticky! I didn't expect looking forward to a cool Helsinki and Baltic States in May, but I am.

The trip - at least the world-wide globetrotting part of it - is slowly coming to the end. Barely a couple of weeks here and by early June I will be visiting friends and family in London and Spain, which will really feel like a kind of ending. I was a little hesitant as to what I would be feeling by this stage a few months ago, but now I can say that 12 months away from home is probably enough, and as much as I have enjoyed moving from one place to another throughout this time and having completely different experiences almost every week all good things must come to an end and in many ways I am reconciled with that now...

Since I have been so incapable of updating the Blog during the last month I will probably try to make shorter entries making them certainly more frequent! but I have learnt to stop promising or expecting too much and simply get on with things! It is also true that the last few weeks have been particularly intense travel-wise leaving little time for pause and reflection!

I will be leaving Saigon today, after 3 days, head north to DaiLat and from there travel almost everyday until Hanoi. I'll keep you posted! :-)

 

Sunday, May 08, 2005 in Vietnam | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)