East Asia: A Cultural, Social, And Political History

East Asia: A Cultural, Social, And Political History
Average customer rating:

Great coverage of all of northeast Asia

Great Text book

Dont get it, unlesss you have no choice

This book is so bad, I would not even give it away for free.

memorable titbits of detail

East Asia: A Cultural, Social, And Political History
Patricia Buckley Ebrey , Anne Walthall , and James B. Palais
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0618133844

Customer Reviews:

Great coverage of all of northeast Asia.......2007-07-22

I don't understand why some reviews were not so good. I thought this book did an excellent job of covering the history of East Asia (mostly Korea, China, and Japan). There are some good photos here too and I liked how there was some analysis on the relations of the countries and not just bland statements or repetitions of other history books (ie-there's some good writing on how Japanese history was influenced by Korean and Chinese culture). The format is easy to read and does not bore you to sleep. I would have bought a hardcover copy if they had one as I liked this very much.

Great Text book.......2006-11-01

This is a fantastic text book that covers vast amounts of history with great care and detail, yet it is very accessible to a beginning student.

Dont get it, unlesss you have no choice.......2006-07-26

this is a book thats mandatory for my asian history class

i found it to be rather boring since it really concentrated on the minute details that noone would be interested in unless they are getting their phd in asian history

i would have really liked to have this book cover is more detail the more important things such as: political advanced, technological advances and such. instead the book concentrated mostly in ancient times and how different classes intermarry and such

the more recent times are not really covered as well. they only list basics of korean war and barely cover the ww2

someone once said this quote:
if you ask this guy: what time is it? he tells you how clock operates

this is the type of book i feel this is, there are no straight answers to questions, instead they go around and round and never end up saying things

i feel that this book is only interesting for someone who already considers themselves very knowledgible in east asian history, for it will only deepen your knowledge instead of actually teaching you the knowledge

This book is so bad, I would not even give it away for free........2006-05-31

This is the worst history book I have ever read.

The authors cover mostly frivolous and unimportant content at the expense of providing details on far more important events and people. For example, World War II in the Pacific is limited to a mere eight page sub-chapter. The Japanese takeover of Manchuria is reduced to a mere half of a paragraph. Examples of what the authors provide instead include: a one page article about manga, a one page map of the Tokyo subway system, and a one page article on the Great World Pleasure Palace. While these items are interesting, no respectable modern Asian history textbook would cover manga in more extensive detail than the invasion of Manchuria.

memorable titbits of detail.......2005-08-26

The authors take a grand sweep across half of Asia and thousands of years. They cover 3 countries - China, Japan and Korea. By virtue of geographic size and population, China receives the greatest coverage. Its long sequence of dynasties are covered in impressive detail. Not just in the political and military events of those eras. The book also devotes space to explaining the religious and philosophical changes. Notably the Analects of Confucius, Daoism, the incursion of Buddhism from India into China, which finally adopted it as its own.

There is also extensive coverage of Japanese civilisation. While derived from Chinese, it soon adopted its own unique features, including the Shinto version of Buddhism.

The book also has memorable titbits of historical detail, some of which may be stick in the reader's memory. Maybe like in medieval Japan, where landlords might segregate toilets by sex, because men's excrement was more highly valued by farmers than women's. Most history books just don't talk about this stuff!

Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches Us About Living in the West

Average customer rating:

Not a bad introduction to Japan
A feel good book for people who like Japan.
A Worthwhile Introduction to Japanese Culture
Book review
Very imperfect, but still containing a lot of food for thought

Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches Us About Living in the West
T.R. Reid
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0679777601
Release Date: 2000-03-28

Amazon.com

Despite setbacks, the economic "miracles" achieved by many Asian countries in the latter 20th century have been impressive. This entertaining and thoughtful book invites the reader to consider East Asia's other miracle: its dramatically low rates of crime, divorce, drug abuse, and other social ills. T.R. Reid, an NPR commentator and former Tokyo bureau chief for the Washington Post, lived in Japan for five years, and he draws on this experience to show how the countries of East Asia have built modern industrial societies characterized by the safest streets, the best schools, and the most stable families in the world.

Reid credits Asia's success to the ethical values of Chinese philosopher Confucius, born in 551 B.C., who taught the value of harmony and the importance of treating others decently. This is not a new perception--Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and others have rather heavy-handedly invoked it to claim moral superiority over the West--but the author's vivid anecdotes strengthen its relevance. Public messages constantly remind Asian citizens of their responsibilities to society. To enhance a sense of belonging, civic ceremonies encourage individuals' allegiance to a greater good; across Japan, for example, April 1 is Nyu-Sha-Shiki day, when corporations officially welcome new employees, most of whom remain loyal to their company for life. Citing Malaysia's ideas of a "reverse Peace Corps," Reid sees a case for Asians coming to teach the West in the same way that Westerners have evangelized in Asia for over four centuries. --John Stevenson

Book Description

"Fascinating...clearly stated, interesting and provoking.... A plainspoken account of living in Asia." --San Francisco Chronicle

Anyone who has heard his weekly commentary on NPR knows that T. R. Reid is trenchant, funny, and deeply knowledgeable reporter and now he brings this erudition and humor to the five years he spent in Japan--where he served as The Washington Post's Tokyo bureau chief. He provides unique insights into the country and its 2,500-year-old Confucian tradition, a powerful ethical system that has played an integral role in the continent's "postwar miracle."

Whether describing his neighbor calmly asserting that his son's loud bass playing brings disrepute on the neighborhood, or the Japanese custom of having students clean the schools, Reid inspires us to consider the many benefits of the Asian Way--as well as its drawbacks--and to use this to come to a greater understanding of both Japanese culture and America.

Customer Reviews:

Not a bad introduction to Japan.......2007-05-31

T.R. Reid spent several years in Japan as a bureau chief for the Washington Post, and Confucius Lives Next Door is, on one level, about his and his family's experiences. Reid, however, is most interested in the "social miracle" he observes in most of East Asia: the low crime and drug use rates, the stable family structure, the relatively egalitarian distribution of wealth, the successful schools. His thesis is that this social harmony derives from the system of values in the teachings of Confucius, particularly the idea of "wa" or group harmony. If you, like most westerners, know little about Confucius, Reid provides a basic introduction. Interestingly, at the end of the book, he offers an "atogaki" or counter-thesis to his own, observing, among other things, that Confucian values are not very different from Judaeo-Christian ones and that the difference between western societies and the ones of East Asia may be that the East Asians do a better job of bringing moral values to bear on daily life. Whether or not you agree with his thesis, Reid offers some sharp observations of daily life in Japan. The book is a good place to begin if you're planning to travel to Japan. Sure, there are a lot of generalizations, as is typical in this sort of book, but the writing is good and the book functions well as an introduction to Japanese culture.

A feel good book for people who like Japan........2007-05-30

T.R. Reid loves Japan and would never criticize the place. Every short coming is a blessing in disguise. I love Japan, so I enjoyed the book. His description of the schools is candy coated and reads more like a promotional brochure. He says his kids attended Japanses schools. In fact they only attended classes when the international school they really attended was on break. (He confessed to this on C-Span.) Though he mentions bullying in passing, he ignores the many problems plaguing Japanese schools. All in all, an entertaining book.

A Worthwhile Introduction to Japanese Culture.......2007-04-29

T R Reid, an accomplished American journalist and a fine writer, lived and worked in Tokyo for several years. Most of this book is based on Reid's personal experience with Japanese culture, although there is some discussion of Asian culture generally.

Reid explains how Asian cultures have succeeded socially where the West has not, e.g., lower crime rates, more economic equality and more social cohesion. For example, he tells of purchasing a bicycle in Japan. The cost of the bike is higher than it would have been in the US, because the Japanese store has more and higher paid employees. On the other hand, there is no risk of the bike being stolen, so Reid does not feel compelled to buy a lock.

Reid's observations are interesting and worthwhile, although not necessarily unique. The book is easy and pleasant to read. I recommend it.

Book review.......2006-09-22

T. R. Reid's stated purpose of his book, Confucius Lives Next Door, is to illustrate why he thinks the West should adopt Confucian values. In doing so, he ignores the apparent downsides of a Confucian society. Despite his overlooking of these faults, he intelligently and thoughtfully conveys his views.

Reid concedes that the thesis of his book is to illuminate the values of Asian society. "Asians achieved their social miracle primarily by holding on to a set of values - what they call Confucian values ..." (Reid 228). He maintains that these values are needed and should be adopted in the West.

It would be hard for one to argue with the statistics Reid demonstrates. It is evident that Japan has far lower rates of violent crime compared to Western countries. "There are about 7.5 murders each year for every 100,000 Americans ... In Japan, the murder rate is below 1.0 per 100,000" (23).

Other factors are at play in the societal stability of Japan other than reduced crime. Divorce rates are far lower in Asian societies, as well. "About 16 percent of marriages in Japan end in divorce." Reid compares this to rate in the United States, "... close to 50 percent ..." (10). There is also little unemployment to plague the economy. Reid points out that Japanese "commitment to keep everybody at work ..." has the positive result that "employees don't get laid off" (86).

While these statistics are astonishing, there are downsides to a society that is created through Confucian learning which Reid seems to skim over or exclude altogether.

In a society so focused on community, there is little room for individuality. Reid demonstrates this with the common Japanese saying, "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down ..." (151). This kind of thinking can lead to pain and confusion for those in the society who, for whatever reason, do not fit the mold. This is evident in the practice of ijime amongst Japanese children. When this happens, students who do not fit in are singled out and effectively bullied until they commit suicide.

Reid himself was disturbed by how robotic his own children were in their learning of the Japanese alphabets, but dismissed it as necessary to succeed. The pressure for children to succeed is immense in Japan and, according to Mrs. Keightly, our in-class speaker, leads to many problems.

Mrs. Keightly, a native of Japan, does not thoroughly confirm Reid's views of Japanese life. According to her, divorce rates are climbing, more and more people are anxious to express their individuality, and materialism among young people is astounding.

It is inevitable that the East is influenced by the ways of the West, as their once very traditional society becomes more comfortable with the idea of changing roles of women and individuality. While I agree that it is obvious that Japan is doing something right in the formation of their societal values, I see Reid's belief that the West must adopt these practices, without acknowledging the inherent problems, as irresponsible.

Despite my opinions on Reid's conclusions, he deftly immerses the reader in all aspects of Japanese life. Through the retelling of humorous stories and the depiction of a colorful world with new tastes, sights, and smells, the reader can imagine him or herself living a typical day in Japanese society.

Reid is unabashed about his purpose of Confucius Lives Next Door. He aims to demonstrate why he thinks the West should adopt Confucian values. However, he overlooks some of the flaws in a Confucian society. Despite this, he writes an intelligent and entertaining book about the wonder that is the Japanese culture.

Very imperfect, but still containing a lot of food for thought.......2006-09-20

Overall, there is much to enjoy in CONFUCIUS LIVES NEXT DOOR; with even touches of enlightenment and humor scattered throughout. There are some significant problems as well, though I found the book to be enjoyable overall.

Reid's basic thesis - that much of the success seen in Eastern Asia evolves from the influence of Confucianism - is thoughtful and provocative, even if it also potentially flirts with stereotype and glosses over the many vast differences between nations as varied as Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. The influence of several other religions and philosophies isn't investigated, nor are the South Asian (Indian) or Southwest Asian (Islamic) influences that filter into parts of East and Southeast Asia, and in discussing a few of these countries - Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore definitely, it's a very serious oversight.

This book was inspired by a stint of living in Japan, and Japan is the cultural and philosophical jumping-off point for Reid's thesis; this is problematic as well: historically Japan has created a substantial amount of bad blood that lingers to the present in all of the other countries profiled here, and Reid would have been smarter to test the majority of his ideas against the accomplishments and failures of other countries.

The more recent rise of some South Asian nations - notably India - was underway at the time Reid was writing this book, and that continued rise has very substantially dented Reid's central thesis: India would conform to very few of Reid's theories (it completely obliterates several of them), and aside from China, some of the most spectacular transformations (of a positive variety) in Asian history are happening there.

And those failures: Reid glosses over, or ignores a great many of them. Internal ethnic tensions, or the changing roles of women never rise above the surface here.

But there is much to like in CONFUCIUS LIVES NEXT DOOR. The friendship with a wise, and useful, neighbor alluded to in the title is described in touching terms, and Reid's slice-of-life anecdotes detailing his family's life in Japan are revealing, funny, nicely self-deprecatory and the center of several of the greater insights to be found here.

And - as an American greatly troubled by the seemingly intractable social problems seen and tolerated in this country - Reid's willingness to get into harsh social critiques of the US is valuable and challenging - it isn't anti-American in the least, but rather would seek to strengthen the US through a process of very tough self-examination and resultant debate, of the sort that a challenging thesis of the nature he builds his book would provoke.

Reid's writing isn't the most exciting in the world - he sticks to a traditionally-flavored journalistic dryness that is careful, well-spoken and direct, if not the most scintillating stuff in the world. So be it - Reid is more interested in communication than in style; and this book stands or falls upon the strength of that. He could be better organized, he could rely less on generalizations about varied Asian societies, and he would strengthen his arguments by looking more closely at the weaknesses in his ideas.

Thus we have a highly-imperfect book; an imperfect one still loaded with much food for thought.

-David Alston

Rethinking Modernity and National Identity in Turkey (Publications on the Near East, University of Washington)

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Rethinking Modernity and National Identity in Turkey.
Rethinking through an edited volume

Rethinking Modernity and National Identity in Turkey (Publications on the Near East, University of Washington)

Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0295975970

Customer Reviews:

Rethinking Modernity and National Identity in Turkey........2001-08-01

"About time" was this reviewer's response to a collection of essays reconsidering the Atatürk experiment in secularism and Western orientation some sixty years on. Essays, almost all by Turks, offer high-quality though overly jargon-laden discussions of such topics as architecture, women, and scholarship.

The book's highlight is undoubtedly an unassuming 12-page essay, "The Quest for the Islamic Self within the Context of Modernity," by Nilüfer Göle, an associate professor of sociology at Boðaziçi University in Istanbul. Göle establishes the enormous cultural chasm between the Atatürkists' Westernizing ideals and what had come before, then shows how today's Islamists are trying "to maintain an identity separate from that of the dominant West." In other words, rather than see Islamists as products of failed economies, she shows the acutely important cultural dimension of their effort. To illustrate these points, she looks in more depth at the question of the body, especially the female body, and contrasts the Western notions of care and exposure with the thoroughly different Islamic concepts. Göle concludes by noting the paradox of Islamic pop music and fashion shows-two signs indicating the ubiquity of Western modernity.

All this should be self-evident, but it is not; most analysts of Islam pay too little attention to culture in their fascination with material well-being. Göle has succinctly shown why they are wrong.

Middle East Quarterly, December 1997

Rethinking through an edited volume.......2001-04-10

This book overall is a strong edited volume. Especially the pieces concerning identity and identity formation have new and interesting vantage points. It is a new perspective that helps the reader to understand and rethink their "image" about Turkey. For those interested in Middle East, in Turkey and generally in modernity this book will be of great value.

The Promise of the Foreign: Nationalism and the Technics of Translation in the Spanish Philippines

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The Promise of the Foreign: Nationalism and the Technics of Translation in the Spanish Philippines
Vicente L. Rafael
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0822336642

Book Description

In The Promise of the Foreign, Vicente L. Rafael argues that translation was key to the emergence of Filipino nationalism in the nineteenth century. Acts of translation entailed technics from which issued the promise of nationhood. Such a promise consisted of revising the heterogeneous and violent origins of the nation by mediating one’s encounter with things foreign while preserving their strangeness. Rafael examines the workings of the foreign in the Filipinos’ fascination with Castilian, the language of the Spanish colonizers. In Castilian, Filipino nationalists saw the possibility of arriving at a lingua franca with which to overcome linguistic, regional, and class differences. Yet they were also keenly aware of the social limits and political hazards of this linguistic fantasy.

Through close readings of nationalist newspapers and novels, the vernacular theater, and accounts of the 1896 anticolonial revolution, Rafael traces the deep ambivalence with which elite nationalists and lower-class Filipinos alike regarded Castilian. The widespread belief in the potency of Castilian meant that colonial subjects came in contact with a recurring foreignness within their own language and society. Rafael shows how they sought to tap into this uncanny power, seeing in it both the promise of nationhood and a menace to its realization. Tracing the genesis of this promise and the ramifications of its betrayal, Rafael sheds light on the paradox of nationhood arising from the possibilities and risks of translation. By repeatedly opening borders to the arrival of something other and new, translation compels the nation to host foreign presences to which it invariably finds itself held hostage. While this condition is perhaps common to other nations, Rafael shows how its unfolding in the Philippine colony would come to be claimed by Filipinos, as would the names of the dead and their ghostly emanations.

Jews And Muslims In Lower Yemen: A Study In Protection And Restraint 1918-1949 (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia)

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Jews And Muslims In Lower Yemen: A Study In Protection And Restraint 1918-1949 (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia)
Isaac Hollander
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 9004140123

Rise of China and a Changing East Asian Order

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Rise of China and a Changing East Asian Order

Manufacturer: Japan Center for International Exchange
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Making of Chinese Foreign and Security Policy in the Era of Reform
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Power Shift: China and Asia's New Dynamics

ASIN: 4889070699

Book Description

The prospect of a new, rapidly rising China poses both opportunities and challenges for regional community building in Asia Pacific. In this book, intellectual leaders from the region present their perspectives on China's development. Four chapters by Chinese authors analyze the domestic dynamics related to the country's political and economic development as well as its external economic and political/security relationships. Contributors from Japan, Korea, member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Australia/New Zealand cover the growing political influence of China in the region, its influence on security in the region, and the implications of China's continuing economic growth. Five final chapters examine China's regional strategy toward Asia Pacific, Japan-China cooperation on regional community building, taking a greater role in regional security arrangements and the regional economic order, and the cultural implications for the region of the rise of China.

Contributors include Yang Guangbin (Renmin University, Japan), Men Honghua (Central Party School, China), Wang Rongjun (Chinese Academy of Social Science), Ni Feng (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), Takahara Akio (Rikkyo University, Japan), Ohashi Hideo (Senshu University, Japan), Lee Geun, (Seoul National University, Korea), Jwa Sung-Hee (Korea Economic Research Institute), Morada Noel (Institute for Strategic and Development Studies, Philippines), Mari Pangestu (former executive director, Center for Strategic and International Studies), Greg Austin, (European Institute for Asian Studies, Brussels, and Australian National University), Jusuf Wanandi (Center for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia), Chia Siow Yue (Singapore Institute of International Affairs and EADN), and Wang Gungwu, (East Asian Institute, Singapore).

The Politics of Public Memory in Turkey (Modern Intellectual & Political History of the Middle East)
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The Politics of Public Memory in Turkey (Modern Intellectual & Political History of the Middle East)

Manufacturer: Syracuse University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0815631316

Book Description

Approaches little-studied aspects of Turkish national identity from unique and revealing angles, offering a variety of new insights into how history has informed—and created—modern Turkey.

Turkish society is frequently accused of having amnesia. It has been said that there is no social memory in Turkey before Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded modern Turkey after World War I. Indeed, in 1923, the newly founded Turkish Republic committed to a modernist future by erasing the memory of its Ottoman past. Now, almost eighty years after the establishment of the Republic, the grandchildren of the founders have a different relationship with history. New generations make every effort to remember, record, and reconcile earlier periods. The multiple, personalized representations of the past which they have recovered allow contemporary Turkish citizens to create alternative identities for themselves and their communities. Unlike its futuristic and homogenizing character at the turn of the twentieth century, Turkish nationalism today uses memories to generate varied narratives for the nation and its minority groups.

Book Description

In this powerful book, David B. Edwards traces the lives of three recent Afghan leaders in Afghanistan's history--Nur Muhammad Taraki, Samiullah Safi, and Qazi Amin Waqad--to explain how the promise of progress and prosperity that animated Afghanistan in the 1960s crumbled and became the present tragedy of discord, destruction, and despair. Before Taliban builds on the foundation that Edwards laid in his previous book, Heroes of the Age, in which he examines the lives of three significant figures of the late nineteenth century--a tribal khan, a Muslim saint, and a prince who became king of the newly created state.
In the mid twentieth century, Afghans believed their nation could be a model of economic and social development that would inspire the world. Instead, political conflict, foreign invasion, and civil war have left the country impoverished and politically dysfunctional. Each of the men Edwards profiles were engaged in the political struggles of the country's recent history. They hoped to see Afghanistan become a more just and democratic nation. But their visions for their country were radically different, and in the end, all three failed and were killed or exiled. Now, Afghanistan is associated with international terrorism, drug trafficking, and repression. Before Taliban tells these men's stories and provides a thorough analysis of why their dreams for a progressive nation lie in ruins while the Taliban has succeeded. In Edwards's able hands, this culturally informed biography provides a mesmerizing and revealing look into the social and cultural contexts of political change.

Download Description

In this powerful book, David B. Edwards traces the lives of three recent Afghan leaders in Afghanistan's history--Nur Muhammad Taraki, Samiullah Safi, and Qazi Amin Waqad--to explain how the promise of progress and prosperity that animated Afghanistan in the 1960s crumbled and became the present tragedy of discord, destruction, and despair. Before Taliban builds on the foundation that Edwards laid in his previous book, Heroes of the Age, in which he examines the lives of three significant figures of the late nineteenth century--a tribal khan, a Muslim saint, and a prince who became king of the newly created state. In the mid twentieth century, Afghans believed their nation could be a model of economic and social development that would inspire the world. Instead, political conflict, foreign invasion, and civil war have left the country impoverished and politically dysfunctional. Each of the men Edwards profiles were engaged in the political struggles of the country's recent history. They hoped to see Afghanistan become a more just and democratic nation. But their visions for their country were radically different, and in the end, all three failed and were killed or exiled. Now, Afghanistan is associated with international terrorism, drug trafficking, and repression. Before Taliban tells these men's stories and provides a thorough analysis of why their dreams for a progressive nation lie in ruins while the Taliban has succeeded. In Edwards's able hands, this culturally informed biography provides a mesmerizing and revealing look into the social and cultural contexts of political change

The Missionary and the Libertine: Love and War in East and West

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first Buruma dose is a good one
High standard journalism.
East is East and West is West etc. etc.
First-rate collection of essays on the Far East

The Missionary and the Libertine: Love and War in East and West
Ian Buruma
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Singapore Grip (New York Review Books Classics)

ASIN: 0375705376
Release Date: 2001-08-14

Amazon.com

This collection of essays, drawn mainly from The New York Review of Books, will appeal to readers interested in the Far East, especially Japan. Ian Buruma writes of Europe's very particular fascination with Asia, and makes clear that this is what attracted him, too:

Neither puritanism nor sensuality was ever unique to East or West, yet, on the whole, it is for the latter that Westerners have looked East. There has been a sensual, even erotic, element in encounters--imaginary or real--between East and West since the ancient Greeks. The European idea of the Orient as female, voluptuous, decadent, amoral--in short, as dangerously seductive--long predates the European empires in India and Southeast Asia.

Yet an unexpected reversal has upset this mode of thought. "From the official point of view of China, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan," writes Buruma, "Europe and the United States are now models not of masculine vim but, on the contrary, of decadence, libertinism, and sloth."

The best essay in The Missionary and the Libertine builds off this observation by examining Lee Kuan Yew's repressive Singapore and the "Asian values" debate. Startling anecdotes spring from the page (in this selection as well as the others), such as the employment ad Buruma shares from a Singapore daily: "Filipino. Hardworking. No day off." Buruma is more than just an observer; he's also an analyst. The very concept of "Asian values" rings untrue, he believes, because the phrase "only really makes sense in English. In Chinese, Malay, or Hindi, it would sound odd. Chinese think of themselves as Chinese, and Indians as Indians (or Tamils, or Punjabs). Asia, as a cultural concept, is an official invention to bridge vastly different ethnic populations living in former British colonies." Buruma also writes about Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto, the Philippines' Cory Aquino, V.S. Naipaul, the Seoul Olympics, the debate over the bomb in Japan, and so on. The book is a grab bag of literature and culture, and fans of Buruma will be delighted to have it all packed together in a single volume. --John J. Miller

Book Description

From Naipaul’s India to the last days of Hong Kong, and from the ghosts of Pearl Harbor to Benazir Bhutto, Buruma delivers an engaging and incisive look at the ways East and West understand–and misunderstand–each other.

At home in both worlds, Buruma traverses the realms of journalism, literary criticism, and political analysis, to examine the dialogue of fact and fantasy that affects our perception of far-away lands. Whether deconstructing the films of Satyajit Ray or the novels of Yoshimoto Banana, Buruma offers a splendid counterbalance to fashionable theories of clashing civilizations and uniquely Asian values. In twenty-five illuminating, often humorous essays, The Missionary and the Libertine shows us why Buruma’s reputation for writing the most compelling commentary on the faultlines of the East-West divide is so secure.

Customer Reviews:

first Buruma dose is a good one.......2006-03-25

Buruma has the key to a door I, a newbie Nipponophile, use: cinema. His own personality leaks tastefully into his blend of experience and academics. Just the levels I like! Some of the articles are a little outside my area of interest, but he managed to hook me into finishing them.

High standard journalism........2002-11-06

Very well documented essays about the East, although most of the articles are treating already out-of-date items. Still they will continue to be essential reading for historians.

In his ironic style, he unveils the lies and double-talk of political and industrial leaders. E.g. Sony's Akio Morita's statement that 'today's Japanese do not think in terms of privilege', while he almost disowned his son, when he wanted to marry a popular singer.
Other targets are Benazir Bhutto, Cory Aquino, Imelda Marcos and most of all the imperious leader of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew.

I recommend nevertheless the autobiography of Yew 'From first world to third', because it is an essential read in order to understand what's happening in China today. Lee Kuan Yew is Jiang Zeming's best friend.

Buruma is a very perceptive observer and reader. His analyses of writers like Yuhio Moshima, Mircea Eliade or Junichiro Tanizaki, or movie directors like Nagisa Oshima or Sayajit Ray are brilliant.
This book is to be put on the same high level as the works of Simon Leys on China.

East is East and West is West etc. etc........2002-06-29

Sceptical of all talk of "asian values" (profound "culture differences" used to justify the denial of human rights), Buruma is a clear-sighted observer of the East. Buruma describes the phases that Western visitors to Japan tend to go through; an initial phase of delight oft succeeded by rage, and ultimately leading to a sort of near manic-depressing rapidly-alternating hatred/love of the East. Buruma, while obviously retaining a great love and respect for Eastern culture combined with a deep scepticism about "asian values", is unseduced by either extreme. The book opens with essays on individual figures, such as Yukio Mishima (it is impossible to take Paul Schrader's 'Mishima' seriously after Buruma's curt dismissal of its portentious bombast) and Wilfred Thesiger (again, one sees this oft-romanticised figure anew, as a misogynistic, rather sinister worshipper of racially pure noble savages) It closes with a section of essays devoted to Japan, on topics as diverse as Michael Crichton's Black Rain, the Hiroshima peace industry, the treatment of black American baseball players in Japan and the continuing echoes of Pearl Harbor.

First-rate collection of essays on the Far East.......2001-11-10

I found Buruma's collection very absorbing, especially helpful to someone living out East (Hong Kong and Singapore), as I was in the late 90's. The Singapore essay, "The Nanny State of Asia," is an extremely perceptive look behind the official facade of Harry Lee Kuan Yew's police state. If you plan to visit/live in S'pore, the things the locals won't dare discuss with you (out of fear) are dealt with here. Even if you're just travelling from the armchair, this is a well-written and (again) extremely absorbing read.

Book Description

Pakistan is a key country in the "War against Terror." A Western ally and a nuclear power, with a very large Muslim population, and where substantial "Islamicization" programs have taken place over recent years, it is by no means certain in which direction Pakistan will turn going forward. Understanding the social and cultural forces at work in Pakistan is therefore crucial in order to understand Pakistan's likely future direction.
This interesting work from Mohammad Qadeer presents an overview of social and cultural transformation in Pakistan since independence. It shows how tradition and family life continue to contribute long term stability, and examines the areas where very rapid changes are taking place: large population increase, urbanization, economic development, and the nature of civil society and the state.

It offers an insightful view into Pakistan, exploring the wide range of ethnic groups, the countryside, religion and community, and popular culture and national identity. It concludes by discussing the likely future social development in Pakistan, captivating students and academics interested in Pakistan and multiculturalism.

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