Stanley Stewart (1) (1952–)

Loved this book.
Partially because I recognized quite a few things of the Soviet insanity, the way a newly formed republic is trying to cope with the years of occupation, russification an dpartly because I just loved to read the story about the journey, spiced with little historical sidesteps to Dzhengis Khan, to Monk Wilhelm, that put the way Mongols live more into perspective.

I'm sure (although I'm VERY interested in that part of the world) I won't make the journey Stewart made, the way he made it.
1. I don't ride horseback (quite crucial to his trip)
2. I have hay fever (that's VERY inconvenient when riding on a 'sea of waving grass'
3. I dislike the taste of sheep ( and almost all intestents, no matter what animal they originate from).

Nevertheless, reading this book was like going on that journey together with him and I found the companionship very pleasant!… (más)

What do I read after finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? I didn't pick up another book for a few days after finishing. I came across Frontiers of Heaven in, of all places, a gift shop on the south side of Olympic National Park. Why there was a book about travelling in China there I don't know...but it looked interesting.

Stanley Stewart seems like a professional traveler and storyteller. I enjoyed this book because I felt like I was being read a bedtime story about the wonders of lands far, far away. He begins his journey in Shanghai. He begins his journey mesmerized by the public tai chi exercise, and watching an old man dance with an invisible partner. He meets the old man, who is the first of interesting individuals he talks with in this book.

He seems to have a real yen for chatting up complete strangers. He speaks with people about how life has changed in China: for instance, Shanghai was downright cosmopolitain in the 1920's. The old man dancing was quite the debonair chap in those days. Communism, the Great Leap Forward, the recent years in which China has opened up to the rest of the world...we get to hear about it all through Stewart's conversations. It was very interesting to hear about how people in the eastern provinces of China viewed land "beyond the mouth" (beyond the Great Wall). Going there was akin to going to the moon. Being sent to live there (such as during Mao's time) was akin to exile to Siberia.

I love travel books, and I enjoyed this one quite a bit. There was travel, good descriptions, history, conversation, everything. I'd definitely recommend it if one was looking for loiterature* about China.

* "Self-deprecating and wry, Stewart is a gifted amateur in the classic tradition of Patrick Leigh Fermor; indeed, he seems to have no particular objective other than to observe and enjoy. This is not travel with a purpose; it is pure gratification, a fine addition to what is sometimes called 'loiterature.' "--New York Times Book Review… (más)

I hate to use the word interesting, but this really is. A book not just about the country, but also the further reaching ends of Mongolian influence. I must admit that I had never realised how far they had reached and seemingly only stopped their expansion because of a horse race!

The author also writes of the people he meets, Mongolian herdsmen, 2 wedding parties, a librarian as well as Russian travellers. One insight that particularly liked was the observation that the writer was the real traveller, not the nomadic Mongolians.… (más)