Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Thunder from the East : Portrait of a Rising Asia by Sheryl Wudunn, Nicholas D. Kristof ISBN: 0-375-70301-2 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 09 October, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.07 (15 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Oops, They Have Done It Again!
Comment: A brilliant book this is, & it can only come from the Pulitzer Prize winner husband & wife team, who brought us "China Wakes" few years back. The book digs deep, peeling the onion into the inner core, & evaluating the status of Asia in the world. I find it wonderful to read as this is not a thesis per say, but a stupendous effort of journalism. The writers went boldly to many places searching for answers by interviewing the locals or by observing. Pity, elation, helplessness, frustration, hope, powerlessness, ludicrousness are some of the emotions that overwhelmed me as I rummaged through the book. To summarise the book simply, don't underestimate Asia because if you do, you do it at your own peril as been written by the authors. By having flexibility, social stability, greed, willingness to embrace other cultures, the sky or shall I say, the space is the limit for Asia. Nobody knows for certain if America would be superseded by Asia but if it gets too complacent, & if Asia maintains its present momentum, a calculated guess is that Asia would might just be possible to once again rule the world, or better known as the "Middle Kingdom"! Highly recommended
Rating: 4
Summary: An Excellent Survey of Asia
Comment: Mr. Kristoff and Ms. WuDunn have written a very interesting and engaging book about one of the most important areas of the world. The strength and weakness of the book derives from the authors' close contact with average people in the areas the write about. This puts a wonderfully human face on an area that for too many Americans becomes a faceless mass of statistics. But sometimes I think the authors are too quick to jump from anecdote to larger societal truth.
I found some of the early history of the region especially fascinating having never been exposed to that before. Like the authors, I spent time afterward thinking about what might have been had China not destroyed its 15th century navy. It is a useful counterpoint to the common argument that the triumph of the West over the past several centuries was inevitable.
The book also provides many good insights into Asia's potential for the future. I was also impressed that the authors seemed very cognizant of the limits of their predictive powers and often pointed the wide variety of things that could happen to change their overall outlook. I would recommend this book for all but the most serious scholars of Asia.
Rating: 4
Summary: The sequel is never as good as the original
Comment: While I didn't find this book as edifying as "China Wakes," it's still a good read. Its greatest strength is the vignette format, with anecdotes, history, and statistics from various countries in the region and chapters divided by topic. The authors admit, rightfully, that with the breadth of territory they cover in this book the treatment is bound to be superficial to some degree, but it makes for a much more engaging read for someone interested in Asian studies in a broad sense, rather than the usual academic "fine-toothed-comb" treatment of a narrow topic. Their writing style is nonacademic, which is both highly engaging and very refreshing, and helps this book to appeal to a wide audience, not just ivory-tower types.
There are a few problems with the book, which can take something away from its enjoyability. First, there is a tremendous amount of editorializing. The authors may have felt this was necessary to tie together the disjunctive stories and histories they discuss, but I have a firm belief that the intelligence of the reader and the topic-as-chapter format would have made a much better tie than so much author opinion. That excessive editorializing and the overuse of "the upshot is" to explain things to the reader detracts from the maturity of the writing style. Additionally, the writers obviously consider themselves much more well-versed in Asia-related topics than most Americans. This is fine, but at certain points in the book the reader can't help but think that the authors mistake Americans for idiots. They assert, for example, that most people think of pastoral rice-paddy scenes, and not urban overcrowding, when they think of Asia. Who thinks that? I don't know anyone who doesn't tie overpopulation with India and China! Another example is when the authors assert (more than once) that people perceive Indonesia as stable. Who are these people? Most people I know, in wake of the East Timor situation (not the Bali bombing, since this book was published in '01) and religious/ethnic rioting in that country think of Indonesia as anything BUT stable. These weaknesses combine to give the reader a sense of being pandered to at times--a certain attitude of condescension, if you will.
Overall, this is a good book. It's great for people not well-versed in Asian studies, because it's broad enough to give people an easy-to-read introduction to the region (with both strengths and weaknesses presented). It's also good, however, for people who ARE heavily involved in Asian studies readings, since most of us in academia don't get many chances like this to venture out of our chosen country/culture of study and view the region as a larger whole.
 |
Title: China Wakes : The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power by Sheryl Wudunn, Nicholas D. Kristof ISBN: 0679763937 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 01 August, 1995 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
 |
Title: Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One by Thomas Sowell ISBN: 0465081436 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 11 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
 |
Title: Modern Japan: A Volume in the Comparative Societies Series by Harold R Kerbo, John McKinstry ISBN: 0070344264 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $24.50 |
 |
Title: Modern China: A Volume in the Comparative Societies Series by Richard E Barrett, Fang Li ISBN: 0072928263 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages Pub. Date: 18 December, 1998 List Price(USD): $24.50 |
 |
Title: Buddhist Art and Architecture (The World of Art) by Robert E. Fisher ISBN: 0500202656 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: May, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
