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A lot of the book's best laughs come at the expense of the people he is observing. This is the first of his books that I have read and, based on other readers' comments, may check out another before I pass any final judgments.I'm a sucker for any book that has a map on the inside covers and love travelogues where the author actually travels rather than simply visits. It's not until he reaches Tibet that we see any glimmer of pleasure in his commentary. What bothers me about most of the book is that Troost often prefers to criticize rather than understand.
Troost is funny, observant and an extremely energetic traveler. After a while, the jokes about flying loogies, his ongoing dismay that signs and transit information in Chinese cities are so inconsiderately written in Chinese and his frustration with the massive crowds and dense pollution gets a bit old. Even though I heartily agree with his disdain for the Chinese government's conquest and destruction of Tibet, I am not very comfortable with his ongoing expressions of distaste for modern Chinese culture and customs. He not only avoids the "beaten path" but seems to avoid entire regions that have them.
It's obvious from the start that he has little affection for Chinese cities or their inhabitants. It's often hard to see where the humor leaves off and personal bias takes over.You may want to write this off as a minority opinion, but I just can't escape the feeling that virtually all of Troost's humor comes at his subject's expense. His trips are well researched yet he retains a good bit of flexibility as he travels. There's no denying that Lost on Planet China covers a tremendous amount of territory.
Maarten. Very well done, Mr. To the critics here who feel offended by the author's naïve approach to China, I have this to say: First-time visitors will find this book useful and informative because, they too, don't know what to expect. Maarten's brysonesque wit conveys with brio the raw experience of being lost in a bewildering and ruthless culture without means of communication.
Troost gets an A+. If the book doesn't cover the spit factor in China it fails. I quote, ".I watched the residents of Beijing, young and old, male and even a few elderly women greet the new day with an immense hawk and a resonant splatter." And that wasn't even close to his best descriptive. If you like Paul Theroux you'll enjoy this book. My test for a valid travel/summary of contemporary China is the spit test.
It's a must read for anyone that loves travel and adventure. His experiences are memorable, funny, shocking, and incredible. This was one of the most entertaining and yet informative travel books I've ever read. What I liked most is that the author educates the reader in the most entertaining way and in a way that makes the facts easy to remember.
That said, it ain't great either. I enjoyed "Cannibals:. Save your money and wait for this book to be remaindered at B & N. Troost has some very insightful and amusing anecdotes, some witty commentary and the occasional vision that's stunning.But, the incessant America bashing and Bushwhacking gets old fast.Like so many "Euro-types" he chooses to live in the states and reserve the right to use the country as a punching bag.He claims to understand America and Americans, "its easy to get",but he understands Kiribati far better than his own home. It was refreshing, witty and fun. "Savages" was dreadful.So, it was with mixed feelings that I purchased "China." It's not terrible.
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