Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia

Book Description

This book explores conditions, events, problems and trends of the Asian region and its individual nations. Using a cross disciplinary approach, the author discusses evolving physical and cultural landscapes. Nature-society relations will provide the foundation for social, economic, political and environmental problems.

Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East, and Southeast Asia, Updated Edition

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Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East, and Southeast Asia, Updated Edition
Barbara A. Weightman
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The World of Asia
Japanese Religious Traditions
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ASIN: 0471484768

Book Description

Rumi's World: The Life and Works of the Greatest Sufi Poet (Shambhala dragon editions)

Average customer rating:

Reductionist Rumi
One of the best introductions to the life and works of Rumi you can find
Excellent
Very enlightening
Wonderful, poetic, biography of the great Mawlana Rumi.

Rumi's World: The Life and Works of the Greatest Sufi Poet (Shambhala dragon editions)
Annemarie Schimmel
Manufacturer: Shambhala
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Me and Rumi: The Autobiography of Shams-I Tabrizi
The Masnavi, Book One (Oxford World's Classics)
Mystical Dimensions of Islam
The Rumi Collection
Rumi: Past and Present, East and West: The Life, Teachings and Poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi

ASIN: 0877736111
Release Date: 2001-05-22

Book Description

This book (previously published as I Am Wind, You Are Fire ) celebrates the extraordinary career of Persia's great mystical poet, Rumi (1207-1273), through the story of his life, along with an enlightening examination of his ecstatic verse. Rumi lived the quiet life of a religious teacher in Anatolia until the age of thirty-seven, when he came under the influence of a whirling dervish, Shams Tabriz, and was moved to a state of mystical ecstasy. One of the results of this ecstasy was a prodigious output of poems about the search for the lost Divine Beloved, whom Rumi identified with Shams. To symbolize this search, Rumi also invented the famous whirling dance of the Melevi dervishes, which are performed accompanied by the chanting of Rumi's poems. Professor Schimmel illuminates the symbolism and significance of Rumi's vast output and offers her own translations of some of his most famous poems.

Customer Reviews:

Reductionist Rumi.......2007-09-20

I am not sure I should write this review, since I have been unable to finish the book so far. The author's pedigree is also intimidating. Yet this book is a cold emotionless dissection, mostly uninteresting except for an academic who has long lost the sense of who or what he's studying. The book takes Rumi apart like a corpse on a slab. To get through it so far, I've escaped periodically to Coleman Bark's Essential Rumi. His brief introduction and forward alone provides more insight into what Rumi is about than the three-quarters of the book I've managed to struggle through so far.
Prodded on by the other reviews to the suspicion that I may have missed something here, I plan to finish the book and reread it again. Yet I should warn others that reading this book as an introduction to Rumi may be like viewing a bearskin rug as an introduction to wildlife. After a reread, I will revisit this review, perhaps reedit it at that time.
Sept.07

One of the best introductions to the life and works of Rumi you can find.......2007-06-29

Origninaly called "I am wind, you are fire" This is perhaps one of the best introductions to the life and works of Rumi around by one of the greatest scholars of Rumi in our modern times (sadly professor Schimmel has now passed away)

The book is well documented and easy to read covering the basics of Rumis life and teachings both placing them in their correct historical and religious context; none of this modernist revisionist Rumi poetry that is being passed around as the great mans works this is an authentic biography of his life.

Exellent read, check out Iqbal, Arberry and Nicholson after this book.

Excellent.......2001-11-10

There are a number of writers on Islamic topics that are excellent from differing perspectives. There are only two Western authors, however, that I have any respect for when it comes to the subject of Islamic spirituality. One of them was Frithjof Schuon, and the other is Annemarie Schimmel.

With all of the fuss about Rumi and the whole New Age Sufi thing, it is all too easy to forget that Rumi was a Muslim (sometimes I suspect that too many people would like to forget it). Rumi was the sort of person that he was because he was a Muslim, and not in spite of that fact. Professor Schimmel places Rumi squarely in the Islamic perspective, which is where he belongs. This book provides the best short introduction to his life and thought within that context that I have run across, and I recommend it highly to anyone interested in his life and work.

Very enlightening.......2001-04-27

An excellent piece of writing on the life and poetry of Rumi. Gives a biographical sketch as well as outlines the technicalities of Rumi's prose, his beliefs and ideas as rendered in poetry. One of the most moving book's I've ever read.

Wonderful, poetic, biography of the great Mawlana Rumi........2000-07-26

This book is the best biography of Mawlana Jalal uddin Rumi (may his secret be sanctified!) that I have read in the English language to date. The prose itself is absolutely wonderful and is almost poetry in itself! Added to this is Prof. Schimmel's intimate knowledge of the works and life of Mawlana Rumi which she does a wonderful job of presenting. Also, unlike other Orientalist interpreters of Sufism, she firmly places Rumi within the orthodox Islamic framework and ideology/world-view where he belongs. Her translations of his poems are also delightful. This book is highly recommended for all those Muslim and non-Muslim who are interested in the life and works of one of the greatest Saints to ever walk this earth.

The Four Little Dragons: The Spread of Industrialization in East Asia (The Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures)

Average customer rating:

Concise, scholarly study of the post-war "little dragons"

The Four Little Dragons: The Spread of Industrialization in East Asia (The Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures)
Ezra F. Vogel
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Financial Policy and Central Banking in Japan
Democracy in East Asia (A Journal of Democracy Book)
The History of Korea (The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations)
The Japanese Economy
The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy (World Bank Policy Research Reports)

ASIN: 067431526X

Book Description

Japan and the four little dragons--Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore--constitute less than 1 percent of the world's land mass and less than 4 percent of the world's population. Yet in the last four decades they have become, with Europe and North America, one of the three great pillars of the modern industrial world order. How did they achieve such a rapid industrial transformation? Why did the four little dragons, dots on the East Asian periphery, gain such Promethean energy at this particular time in history?

Ezra F. Vogel, one of the most widely read scholars on Asian affairs, provides a comprehensive explanation of East Asia's industrial breakthrough. While others have attributed this success to tradition or to national economic policy, Vogel's penetrating analysis illuminates how cultural background interacted with politics, strategy, and situational factors to ignite the greatest burst of sustained economic growth the world has yet seen.

Vogel describes how each of the four little dragons acquired the political stability needed to take advantage of the special opportunities available to would-be industrializers after World War II. He traces how each little dragon devised a structure and a strategy to hasten industrialization and how firms acquired the entrepreneurial skill, capital, and technology to produce internationally competitive goods. Vogel brings masterly insight to the underlying question of why Japan and the little dragons have been so extraordinarily successful in industrializing while other developing countries have not. No other work has pinpointed with such clarity how institutions and cultural practices rooted in the Confucian tradition were adapted to the needs of an industrial society, enabling East Asia to use its special situational advantages to respond to global opportunities.

This is a book that all scholars and lay readers with an interest in Asia will want to read and ponder.

Customer Reviews:

Concise, scholarly study of the post-war "little dragons".......1999-03-27

Case studies of the post-war economic development of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. A concise and scholarly work. Though all "Asian," these countries differ, yet each have done well economically.Why so? Vogel offers an answer. I'm writing this, 26 March 1999. East Asia is experiencing extreme economic difficulties, but this does not undo what has occurred nor remove the possibility for future development. If you're doing business in East Asia, Four Little Dragons will provide you with a quick read-in to four major players.

Confucian Traditions in East Asian Modernity: Moral Education and Economic Culture in Japan and the Four Mini-Dragons

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Confuciunism works!?
Review

Confucian Traditions in East Asian Modernity: Moral Education and Economic Culture in Japan and the Four Mini-Dragons

Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

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Humanity and Self-Cultivation: Essays in Confucian Thought
The Living Tree: The Changing Meaning of Being Chinese Today

ASIN: 0674160878

Book Description

How Confucian traditions have shaped styles of being modern in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore presents a particular challenge to the intellectual community. Explorations of Confucian network capitalism, meritocratic democracy, and liberal education have practical implications for a sense of self, community, economy, and polity.

Seventeen scholars, of varying fields of study, here bring their differing perspectives to a consideration of the Confucian role in industrial East Asia. Confucian concerns such as self-cultivation, regulation of the family, social civility, moral education, well-being of the people, governance of the state, and universal peace provide a general framework for the study. The Confucian Problematik--how a fiduciary community can come into being through exemplary teaching and moral transformation--underlies much of the discussion. The contributors question all unexamined assumptions about the rise of industrial East Asia, at the same time exploring the ideas, norms, and values that underlie the moral fabric of East Asian societies.

Is Confucian ethics a common discourse in industrial East Asia? The answer varies according to academic discipline, regional specialization, and personal judgment. Although there are conflicting interpretations and diverging perspectives, this study represents the current thinking of some of the most sophisticated minds on this vital and intriguing subject.

Customer Reviews:

Confuciunism works!?.......2001-07-03

Some questions we cannot explain by "Confucian Traditions"

Q1.Given that Confuciunism is not a modern invent and a culture of long duree, then why "Confucian Traditions" didnt work out in late Ch'in dynasty(that is why people initiated May Fourh movement) and only worked out after WWII?

Q2. this book cannot explain why north Korea is poor while south rich; China is poor while Taiwan, Hong kong is rich.are koreans in north and in south share DIFFERENT culture? Are Chinese in mainland china and in Taiwan, HK share different culture?

this book is sort of self-narcissism of Confuciansm and reverse-orientalism. Confuciansm contributes, but not as much as Tu and other scholars praise. (and we must not forget what his profession is).

Review.......2001-04-29

A good book dealing with the question of to what extent the Confucian cultural traditions of the societies of the East Asian developmental states affected their growth paths. The economic successes of East Asia can no longer be attributed merely to neoliberal economic policies, and there is a growing recognition to acknowldge the part played by the cultural background from which growth emerged.

The River Dragon Has Come!: The Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of China's Yangtze River and Its People (East Gate Books)

Average customer rating:

It damns the dam with precise and powerful arguments.

The River Dragon Has Come!: The Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of China's Yangtze River and Its People (East Gate Books)

Manufacturer: M.E. Sharpe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Before the Deluge: The Vanishing World of the Yangtze's Three Gorges
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The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China

ASIN: 0765602059

Customer Reviews:

It damns the dam with precise and powerful arguments........1999-08-29

This is a collection of essays which document the many reasons the Three Gorges Dam should not be built, the lose of arable land, the dislocation of millions of people, the loss of 5,000 years of art and architecture, etc. Author Dai Qing, an outspoken opponent of the dam since the beginning, is to be highy commended for speaking out while others cower in silence. To put it in Western terms, it is David taking on Goliath, times 10.

There are a lot of detailed figures and facts in some of the essays. They're easily skimmed. But read this book if the subject matters to you and particularly if you're planning to take a cruise through the Three Gorges or have already taken it. While on the cruise, one is told only of the glory and power of the dam, which is to say, given the party line, but one should know the lie behind the line and the potential tragedy that awaits, the tragedy of the River Dragon coming again.

Unapproachable East (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Setting)
Average customer rating:

A must have Book

A decent approach to the unapprachable east

Great Reference Fun Reading

Excellent regional source book!

Unfairly maligned, this is a good FR sourcebook.
Unapproachable East (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Setting)
Richard Baker , Matt Forbeck , and Sean K. Reynolds
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Shining South (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Supplement)

Lost Empires of Faerûn (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Supplement)

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Serpent Kingdoms (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Supplement)

Underdark (Dungeons & Dragons d20 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Accessory)

ASIN: 0786928816
Release Date: 2003-05-01

Book Description

Explore a Mysterious Land of Might and Magic.

Tales from beyond the Easting Reach are told with awed voices and hushed tones. Known to most of Faerun as the homeland of the Simbul, the hathrans, and the Red Wizards, the Unapproachable East is filled with dark secrets, insidious plots, and untold adventure. Discover the people, politics, cities, and societies of the region, along with the monsters, nefarious organizations, and other perils that await unwary travelers in this treacherous corner of the Forgotten Realms game setting.

* 12 new prestige classes
* 21 new spells
* 19 new monsters

To use this accessory, you also need the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual.

Customer Reviews:

A must have Book.......2006-11-04

This Accessory gives a lot of info to go on a adventure around thay, Aglarond, Rashemen and other places with full detail.
Just enough to make your players have a rough time being on the land of the red wizards =D.
A great book !!! a must have indeed.

A decent approach to the unapprachable east.......2006-08-31

Very informative of details within the area, especially like the maps of the regions. A must if you wish to base your campaigns in this area. A definate fine addition to my D&D library.

Great Reference Fun Reading .......2005-02-28

I am not sure were some of the reviewers get their ideas, but this book is an ideal reference book. It does go over materials that are already written, but thats the idea. The book is not suppose to create material or change what was already written. If you dont want to collect all the old materials on the East by the original TSR authors, this book is perfect.

Excellent regional source book!.......2004-12-14

"Unapproachable East" is an excellent Source Book, full of yummy background info and flavour elements. The details and info on the various sub-regions presented are quite refined and are very interesting. The maps are perfectly made, while the Feats and Prestige Classes are of excellent quality and help you give the right tone and regional "feel" for your character.

I remain disappointed at the artwork and will therefore limit my review to 4 stars.

stef_bocklin

Unfairly maligned, this is a good FR sourcebook........2004-02-09

I decided to write this review because I think some of the other reviewers here at Amazon have given this title short shrift.

The Unapproachable East is a great place to set a Forgotten Realms adventure which is different than your typical "Medieval Western Europe" type fantasy world. Admittedly, the book is not as good as the Silver Marches supplement, but it's pretty close. One reviewer mentioned that the artwork was as good as some home-printing jobbie. I disagree. There is some artwork that is stylisticly different than that we have seen in other WotC FR supplements. Some pieces are outstanding such as the Simbul's Palace and some are quite memorable such as the Ring of Grey Flames. Overall, I liked the art.

Content is also good. Here is a list of the chapters:

1. Introduction
2. Prestige Classes
3. Regions and Feats
4. Magic and Spells
5. Magic Items
6. Monsters
7. Adventuring in the East
8. Aglarond
9. The Great Dale
10. Rashemen
11. Thay
12. Thesk
13. Border Areas

Book Description

Three Vietnam veterans rediscover this country of captivating beauty and fascinating cultural treasures.

Customer Reviews:

Good Work........2002-01-07

The author provides us with beautiful photographs of Vietnam, a thousand year old country. Pictures of mountains, seas, paddy fields, towns and villages alternated with those of children afflicted with war induced deformities and a veteran amputee receving treatment. What makes the book interesting is the juxtaposition of black photographs of the war and colored images of the present.

For the past is interwined with the present. The horrors of the war have left indelible marks on the people and country alike as Raymer has shown us in his book.

Vietnam is not just another name for war.......1998-07-29

The authors do an excellent job of transposing the "American Image" of Vietnam into the beautiful and complex country that it really is. It draws from that "American Image" rooted in the drama of the war years, and gradually leads us to a clearer understanding of just what the country is today (and what it was before the intensity of the U.S. involvement)and where it may go in the future. It is encouraging, and very hopeful, to see the country and its people re-anchored in their traditional values--in spite of the current relic of communism--and to appreciate the renewed emphasis on education, family, business, and integration into the world economy. Clearly, it has been a long hard row to hoe, but it is moving in the right direction. Jack Smith's introduction lays this out, and it is reenforced by the text and Mr. Raymer's revealing photographs. The result is a far better sense of place and people.

A five-star effort by all three guys!.......1998-07-21

Jack Smith's introduction says it all -- Vietnam is a beautiful, peaceful land that is going places. Doing this book brought back a lot of memories and was a tonic for the soul. Enjoy it!

The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, And Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient

Average customer rating:

Review from "The Japan Times"
Uncomfortable truths
Disappointing; journalism, not scholarship
Prasso attacks her subject with a bone to pick
Finally someone wrote about this fascinating subject!

The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, And Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient
Sheridan Prasso
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

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General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1586483943

Book Description

"[A] persuasive, timely book.... Prasso makes clear the destructive nature of stereotypes about Asia and the social, cultural, and political ramifications of allowing them to fester unchallenged." (Boston Globe)

Few Westerners escape the images, expectations and misperceptions that lead us to see Asia as exotic, sensual, decadent, dangerous, and mysterious-from the tea-pouring, sexually available geisha girl to the Dragon Lady dominatrix and the effeminate or asexual Asian male. The Asian Mystique lays out a provocative challenge to see Asia and Asians as they really are, with unclouded, de-eroticized eyes. It traces the origins of Western stereotypes in history and in Hollywood, examines the phenomenon of 'yellow fever,' then goes on a reality tour of Asia's go-go bars, middle-class homes, college campuses, and corridors of power. It is required reading for anyone with interest in Asia or Asian-origin people, as well as any serious student or practitioner of East-West relations.

Customer Reviews:

Review from "The Japan Times".......2007-09-28

Apparently, there are still Western men who believe that the East is an obliging seductress, mass producing an endless line of voluptuous women, whose laconic sexual pliancy is only exceeded by their desire to serve. This, according to Sheridan Prasso's new book, is a delusion that many Asian women are happy to cater to.

Prasso's observations are unsparing, but for anyone who has witnessed the transactions that take place between Western men and Eastern women in cities like Bangkok, even the holy city of Lhasa, will know they are wickedly accurate. On the topic of the hordes of middle-aged Western men who haunt the bars, brothels and matchmaking agencies of Asia, she concludes, " . . . any man can experience feeling attractive again - even loved. Old, fat, or ugly by Western standards, it doesn't matter. Anyone can be the Alpha Male and Lord Jim."

In the distorting mirror of Asian mystique, reserve can be interpreted as weakness, Asian women quickly characterized as submissive, obedient, obliging; Asian men emasculated. Such largely Western fantasies of the Orient are "antiquated, perhaps, but still shockingly influential."

Although Passo reserves a special vitriol for the male sexual adventurer, she deals a fair hand two ways, including both sexes in the collusive act of mystifying and marketing the East. In the chapter 'Screwing, Getting Screwed, And Getting Ahead,' Prasso portrays the alternatively nave and opportunistic behavior of Filipina prostitutes. In Angeles City, a run down flesh market, where solitary men, often victims themselves of failed relationships and expectations, wander the dusty, purgatorial streets "in search of tender rejuvenating skin, hoping that human contact may somehow restore their sensation, vitality, and youth." In this city of relentless transaction, there are women who are "aware of these Western perceptions of Asian Mystique and know how to play them to advantage."

Prasso cites Hollywood and popular musicals as key factors in the dissemination of misleading images of the East, from the early screen performances of the highly successful Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong, the screen adaptation of the novel 'The World of Suzie Wong ,' to the fabulously popular 'Miss Saigon' which, complete with the sacrificial suicide of an Oriental women, is nothing less than a modern day reworking of Madame Butterfly. TV series like M.A.S.H. get a predictable drubbing, along with the limpid images of women in more recent cinematic portrayals like 'The Last Samurai.'

Hollywood and literature have manufactured two enduring, but opposing images of Asian women: the enigmatic but obliging geisha verses the treacherous, but no less sexually alluring Dragon Lady or Martial Arts Mistress. This is done in the most complimentary fashion, a 1943 front cover of 'Time' magazine portraying Madame Chiang Kai-shek as the 'Dragon Lady,' a tribute to her power and charisma. Lucy Liu, known for her various roles as seductress, martial arts specialist, and dominatrix, is the contemporary, beefed up and decidedly more lethal, version of Anna May Wong. Clearly the roles provide a very good living, and neither Wong before her nor Liu now, one notes, refused to play the game of image compliance.

Inevitably, there is a degree of reviewing as Prasso revisits this well-trodden topic. We have the usual references to Pierre Loti, Kipling, to works like 'Shogun,' but Prasso also includes commentary on erotic Asian literature, from the Taoist 'The Art of the Bedchamber,' to 'The Golden Lotus,' allegedly Mao Zedong's favorite leisure reading, works in which the Chinese linked the pleasures of the flesh with physical and spiritual nourishment and longevity, an irresistible combination.

Prasso largely avoids the risk of being seduced by the subject and losing perspective, although the book cover, the upper half offering the cherry lips and white makeup of a geisha, sends an ambiguous message, as does the inside image of the author in full geisha attire , replete with wig and a cosmetic facial. Is this meant to be flirtatious, tongue-in-cheek, or is it just the publishers' idea of selling copies?

Addicted as we are to the narcotic pleasures of the East, to the willing complicity of having our senses pleasantly addled, Prasso's book serves as a kind of detox clinic. Once the mystery, the allure of the Orient has been removed, however, what are we left with? The answer perhaps, is a more mature view of the East, one consonant with our sadly more homogenized world, where many the tints have been leached out. It will require a new maturity to accomplish it, the connoisseur of the finer things of the East in us replacing the voluptuary, the thinker displacing the lotus-eater, but perhaps it is the learning of Asia, its palpable trove of experience and wisdom, that we should venerate above the promise of the exotic and sensual.

In divesting us of our illusions, the author has left us without yearning but with a new perception of the East. A very fair exchange I would say.

STEPHEN MANSFIELD
The Japan Times
Sept. 25, 2005

Uncomfortable truths.......2007-05-07

There is something about Asian women. It is one of those taboo subjects, like why African athletes dominate certain sports, that everyone is aware of but no one wants to talk about, for fear of breaching that all-important barrier of political correctness and possibly finding themselves on the wrong side. It all boils down to uncomfortable truths, things that are even though we don't want them to be. We would like to believe that race is not an issue, in both love and war, even though it often is.

Sheridan Prasso deserves full props for challenging this dangerous subject. In "The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient", she honestly attempted to examine the ideal of the Asian woman as a sexual object, both historically and in modern times. She half-succeeded, and half-failed, but that is only to be expected. The issue is not so easy as to be simply encapsulated in a single book, and we all bring our own viewpoint to such a tense subject, especially those of us who are are Asian ourselves or involved with Asian women, and find ourselves either villains or heroes by Prasso's standards.

The first part of the book is an analysis of Asian women through the lens of Western media and history. She examines the relationship between Asia and sex that has existed since the time of first contact between the two societies. Here she lays out some uncomfortable truths for all of us, demonstrating how Asian women have been portrayed in Western culture for years as a sequence of stereotypes, either the Dragon Lady or the submissive Geisha Girl. Unfortunately, this is the weakest part of the book, as it is clear that Prasso has come to her analysis opinion first and sought only the evidence to support her claim. While she speaks of "Madame Butterfly" and "Full Metal Jacket", she ignores Oliver Stone's "Heaven and Earth". This section is also rife with factual errors, which are so blatant that one is tempted to dismiss her observations out of hand. It would be easy to do. She made a mistake as to who Lady Mariko's husband was in "Shogun", so we don't need to believe anything she says, right?

But then comes the second part of the book, which is a powerhouse. Prasso steps off the stage, and allows the women of Asia to speak for themselves. Here is when you begin to understand that Prasso is a journalist, not a researcher, and her true strength is in giving a voice to others who may not otherwise be heard. She assembles an amazing collection of interviews, from all walks of life. A Japanese woman divorcing her American husband, disillusioned and yet not destroyed. Mineko Iwasaki, the most famous of the Geisha of Gion, who was the basis for the popular story of "Memoirs of a Geisha". Nguyen Thi Hoa, a woman impregnated and abandoned by an American soldier during the Vietnam war. Several Thai and Philippine "bar girls", who see Western men as little more than a good time and walking wallets. These interviews challenge our world view and opinions more than any analysis of "Miss Saigon", because they are real and alive rather than just Hollywood fairy tales.

Unfortunately, Sheridan Prasso was not able to confront the uncomfortable truths that she herself brought to light. She huzzahs the sexual liberation of Asian culture, where women were historically allowed to have multiple partners of their choosing, where coming to your wedding as a virgin was considered an embarrassment, where women were ignorant of the concept of sex as something dirty and shameful. Yet with the same hand, she condemns the White men who indulge in this freedom, who freely offer money for services, as freely as the women offer services for money. The Japanese woman who falls in love with her husband for his Americanism is a hero, free from her social training. The American man who falls in love with his wife for her Japaneseness is a villain, a slave to his social training. A man who brings his wife flowers is generous and kind. A woman who washes her husbands back is docile and dominated. There is no room for understanding, for true appreciation, acceptance and love.

Through her analysis, through her interviews, the answer seems so completely clear. There is a relationship between Asia and the West and sex, and this relationship is reciprocal, and one needs only to connect the dots. This is not, however, a necessarily bad thing. But this truth is, I think, a little bit too uncomfortable for Prasso to go there.

Disappointing; journalism, not scholarship.......2007-05-04

When I first saw "Asian Mystique," I thought I would be reading an extension of Said's "Orientalism." Indeed, Prasso's first few chapters do seem to follow Said's lead: they focus on popular representations of East Asians (and Americans of East-Asian descent) in American film and TV, and how these representations have shaped perceptions of East Asians in American society.
On a whole, though, her work is devoid of substance and full of overarching generalizations. Once she moves outside of popular media, she bases her conclusions on a few personal conversations and on newspaper editorials. Prasso approaches her subject as an outsider, qualified only by having spent many years in East Asia, and she does not even appear to know any East Asian languages.
"Asian Mystique" is particularly harsh on white men who are in relationships with women from East Asia or of East Asian descent; apparently, such men are ill with "Yellow Fever" or guilty of having an "[...]," especially if they have had a string of girlfriends from this particular ethnic group. (It seems that, for Prasso, being attracted to certain physical features should not play a role in choosing a romantic partner.)
Prejudices against East Asians and Asian-Americans are deep rooted and certainly need to be explored further. Prasso's book makes for a light, easy read, but anyone seriously interested in the subject had better look elsewhere.

Prasso attacks her subject with a bone to pick.......2007-03-25

[EDIT: I have deleted the original first sentence at Ms. Prasso's request.] The more you read, the clearer it becomes that Prasso approached her "research" with a pre-formed thesis, and either picks subjects to prop it up or filters their comments appropriately.

The author's condescension is annoying as heck. She's blatantly disdainful of some of her interviewees, like a sniveling Filipina prostitute, a white man living with a Chinese runway model, and a Chinese school administrator who - gasp! - admits she wants to get married and stop chasing promotions. Scoring an interview with the famous retired geisha Mineko Iwasaki is an accomplishment, certainly, but Prasso's self-congratulatory tone ruins it.

Argh I've totally lost patience with this book, I just wrote a review of it for a different website. Full review on my blog here if you're interested: [...]

As a Malaysian Chinese girl in a relationship a white American guy, I have a vested interest in arguing against Prasso's typifying of all Asian/white relationships being based on either unilateral or mutual exploitation. I'm not dating him because I want a green card, he's not dating me because he thinks I'm going to be docile and compliant - quite the opposite, in both cases. We like each other because we're frigging NERDS (science grad students bonding over SG-1 and Firefly).

As one of the young Japanese women interviewed says, "Junin toiro!" - Ten people, ten colours, yet this book tries to paint everyone with the same brush.

Finally someone wrote about this fascinating subject!.......2007-03-17

Everyone knows someone - whether a roommate, a friend, a brother or even himself, who has a particular fondness for Asian women - but no one ever talks about it in public. As an Asian American woman who grew up in the mid-West, I can tell you that I'd be rich if I had a dollar for every time someone like this tried to hit on me just because my face is Asian, and yes I have even dated some of them. This is a constant topic of café talk with all my girlfriends - no matter whether they're Asian American, white, Latina or black. (Even Hollywood has told many tales about this - from the recent Memoirs of a Geisha to the ancient World of Suzie Wong). Yet unless, we're speaking to girlfriends, other Asian Americans or friends-in-the-know, the subject falls on deaf ears. No one has ever written a balanced, truthful and in-depth analysis of this before. Finally! I'm so amazed that this book was written.

Why hasn't anyone written about this before? Perhaps it's a hard concept to grasp - no doubt because as the book says, the Asian Mystique is so captivating that most people don't even know that they've succumbed to it. This may sound complicated. Indeed, whenever my girlfriends and I gossip about those kinds of men who like Asian women, we often cringe. But do we ever stop to think about why? Without burying the reader in obtuse, academic jargon, Prasso finally gives a name to this cultural phenomenon ("the Asian Mystique") that allows room for true discussion (It's much more productive than "yellow fever"). Not to mention the fact that the book is a page-turner and packed with great statistics and interesting data. Like an anthropologist, the author quietly observes all the interesting details without criticizing. Because she does not make judgments about the people involved in Asian-Western cross-cultural relationships, I found myself thinking about it in a new light. Not only that, I feel that she really did her homework in trying to understand the aspects that we in the west misunderstand about Asian culture (yes Asian Americans are guilty of this too). This is not an easy thing to do, especially for someone not raised within Asian culture. Thus, I must also applaud the author for trying to write a book that rises above a particular agenda in order to thoughtfully explore the very complex intersection of race and culture with desire and love. This book this goes a long way in explaining centuries of cultural misunderstanding. For anyone who cannot deny the growing influence of Asia upon the West, this book is a must read. As China moves head on into the world stage and we in the West embrace this with both dread and adoration, it would be wonderful if everyone could read this book that dissects the heart of this cross-cultural conflict - relationships between Asian women and Western men!

Dragons of the East (Mage: The Ascension)

Average customer rating:

Brief overveiw
Disappointed
Finally! Something worthwhile on the East
A very interesting book, but not excellent.

Dragons of the East (Mage: The Ascension)
Bryan Armor , Christine Gregory , Ellen Kiley , Steve Long , and Malcolm Sheppard
Manufacturer: White Wolf Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Mage | Gaming | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Infinite Tapestry (Mage the Ascension)
Dead Magic
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ASIN: 1565044282

Customer Reviews:

Brief overveiw.......2005-09-17

It is an interesting veiw on Mage the Acension. It lacks a few detials on system but is other invaulble in an eastern themed game. It is also even if you are not as interested in the eastern subsets. They have some interesting rotes and wonders.They also have a few interesing sub-traditions.

Disappointed.......2001-10-16

Personally, I think this was a big mistake on WW's part. While I like the Akashic Brotherhood and many other things, to make such a big difference between (for example) the Western Technocracy and the Asian Zaibatsu is unnecessary. A great story could have been told with the Asian Technocracy trying to gain a foothold in the established land of tradition that is China and Japan, but instead that was all thrown away in light of "Everything in Asia is cooler." For the other games, it made sense, but for this one, it was baffling.

Finally! Something worthwhile on the East.......2001-02-22

I was expecting to enjoy Dragons of the East as soon as I picked it up; in my opinion, the only thing the Mage line had done with the far east, to that point, was lousy (The Akashic Brotherhood Tradition book). Anyhow! I was thrilled with this book! I wanted in-depth material on cultures, magickal styles, and factions, and it DELIVERS. The far east now consists of more than a couple of Shaolin temples. THANK YOU!

A very interesting book, but not excellent........2000-10-05

I bought this book thinking that it would be great, I have the book "Kindred of the East" and I love it, my friends and I really love this game and when I saw the title of this book I thoght "Great, Mage in the East, not only the Akashic Brotherhood exists in this game, so I bought it. I have to say that it is really interesting, but some parts are really boring and it could be a bit more complete.

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