Destination: Vietnam
Perhaps books like this should come with a warning–“Dinner may be late and laundry will remain dirty.” Once I started The Headmaster’s Wager, I was reluctant to stop for minor interruptions like answering the telephone or eating dinner. It plunged me into an unknown world. I cared deeply about the characters. To add to the impressive credentials, although the author has written other books, this is his first novel. Continue reading Fast-Paced Book:Love and Loss in Vietnam
Destination: China
Books: The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester
Red Azalea, Empress Orchid, The Last Empress, and Becoming Madame Mao, all by Anchee Min
A Guest Post by Betsy Bolding
I traveled to Hong Kong both before and after the English surrendered the territory to China. It is a magic place where skyscrapers spread neon light like peacock feathers in the night sky, and the black waters of the bay show them off a second time.
I enjoyed my visit to Taiwan, which seemed more Chinese than Hong Kong, but I have not been to mainland China. Taiwan can be taken as China in miniature with a little of the landscape, some rural ambiance, a museum full of some of the best relics of China’s past, and bustling cities fighting pollution. It even has a miniature stage set of all the major sights of mainland China for tourists to wander through. However, if I ever get China on my schedule, I have some excellent reading suggestions to add to the traveler’s library from my good friend Betsy. Continue reading One Man and Two Women and Travel to China
Destination: Cuba
Book: Monkey Hunting
by Cristina Garcia
Perhaps with Fidel Castro fading from the scene and a new administration in Washington, D.C., Americans will finally be able to travel to Cuba to see first hand what many have only read about in books.
If you are planning a future trip to Cuba, you have a good reason to read Cristina Garcia’s Monkey Hunting, (2003) which covers more than 100 years of Cuban history. She introduced me to a culture of Chinese-African-Cubans that I never knew existed. Cuba has long been on my wish list of destinations, so this book was a must-read in my library.
The major theme of the book–racial identity–fits right in with a major cultural discussion in America today. Barack Obama, widely described as the first black president, more accurately is the first obviously mixed-race president. I say ‘obviously’ because nearly everyone in this country carries some such mixture in his or her genes.
Callers to the NPR show, Talk of the Nation last December divided sharply on whether Obama’s self-identification as black does biracial people a disservice. You can listen to the program or read the transcript by following the link.
Garcia’s characters, four generations of a family that combines Chinese, Cuban and African strains, deal in various ways with the way people identify them and the way they choose to identify themselves.
Two lines of questions that I invite you to pursue in the comments here: Have you been to Cuba or is it on your wish list?
What are your thoughts about racial identity of mixed race people? Are we ready to eliminate those boxes all together?
Please leave a comment and continue the discussion on the newest addition to the traveler’s library.
