Michael Palin may be best known as a member of Monty Python, but I’m fond of his travel documentaries produced with the BBC. Before I started my trip I watched his series entitled Himalaya where he traverses the cultures in Pakistan, India, China, Bhutan, and Bangladesh that reside in this greatest of mountain chains.

I’ve recently stated reading the book published of his journey and am quite taken aback at the similarity to my previous 7 months of travel. For example, his Pakistan travels mirrors my own greatly with stops along the Karakoram Highway, Hunza Valley, and polo matches in Gilgit. (With all do respect, though, I have done mine without the BBC treasury and have come overland from Japan.)

If you’re interested in further detail about the places I have visited, by all means put this in your Netflix queue or get it for your Kindle. You can also find the book, DVD, and of course torrent file. You won’t regret it.

You can also find my lists for 2007 and 2008. Most recently read first.

1. Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Secret Exploration of Tibet by Peter Hopkirk (1982).
2. Nueromancer by William Gibson (1984).
3. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (1980).
4. Passing By: Selected Essays by Jerzy Kosinski (1984).
5. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (1922).
6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (1988). I’ve put off reading this for, oh, so long. My pre-reading impression was this book is utterly pedestrian. I generally avoid those works that enter the popular consciousness, whether via Oprah Book Club or otherwise. I can’t pinpoint it for sure, but when I overhear conversation from the next cubicle along the lines of, “This book is, like, so deep and stuff!” it makes me want to go to Walmart and buy a gun.

   Post-reading impression is that the book is pedestrian. But good. There is nothing new here, the author re-read Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces and regurgitated some old Carlos Castaneda. Can I go home now?

7. Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut (1985). Can’t go wrong with Vonnegut.
8. Almost Transparent Blue by Ryū Murakami (1976). I really dig this author and filmmaker. An Amazon review by Zack Davisson sums it up succinctly:

   John Steinbeck’s “Tortilla Flat.” Henry Miller’s “Tropic of Cancer” William S. Burroughs’s “Junky.” The semi-autobiographical novel of disaffected youth and their abusive love-affairs with drink, drugs and sex is certainly not without literary precedence. Over the years, it has become a genre, one which shocks people with its honestly, and lures with its romanticism of the life of a fringe wastrel, who looks no further than the next drink or fix, living life in pursuit of pleasure.

   Joining their ranks is “Almost Transparent Blue,” the debut novel by Japanese virtuoso Ryu Murakami. This first novel, written while still in collage, won the prestigious Akutagawa award and skyrocketed Murakami to fame and financial independence. Telling the semi-connected tales of young junkies Ryu, Kazuo, Yoshiyama, Moko, Reiko, and Kei, the book is a decent into the underbelly of 1970′s Japan, fresh with Jimmy Hendrix music, exotic black men from the local military base, and the numbness of emotion that comes from living in a drug-haze.

9. Video Night in Kathmandu: And Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East by Pico Iyer (1988). Well written travel literature about the author’s search for American cultural colonialism in Asia. A bit dated, really I expected more considering he is praised as the best living writer of this genre. Each chapter is a different country; some bang on about the same details and other offer insightful observances. There has to be over 50 references to the song “We Are the World” in the Philippines chapter alone. This reminds the reader the book is over 20 years old with details no one really cares about.
10. Himalaya by Michael Palin (2005). I brought this one to attention in this post. I really only read the parts of where I have visited and skimmed the rest. The documentary is better as this is just like a journal of his journey.
11. A Separate Reality by Carlos Castaneda (1944). The supposedly non-fictional tale of Carlos and his mentor don Juan continues…. this time with Carlos returning from 68-71 to learn how to “see” (like everyone looks but not everyone sees). Via the “little smoke,” or hallucinogenic mushroom mixture, Carlos attempts to “perceiving energy directly as it flows through the universe”.” Castaneda continues his lucid story with another great book, can’t wait to read more.
12. The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham (1944). Having a strong interest in teh Beat Generation, this book was described to me as the first or proto-Beat book. I’ll consider it one of my favorites. The story revolves around Elliot, a snobbish upper-class elite, and young Larry, who turns his back to society to fulfill a life of spiritual development.
    
    For myself, and most readers I assume, Larry is the most interesting of the prominent characters. Yet, the book does not take great effort to expose too much of his travels (China, India, etc). While the message is great, Larry does pull a stunt curing a friend of headaches with a coin that I thought undermined the larger message of the book.
13. Shiva 3000 by Jan Lars Jensen (2001). Interesting concept taking ancient Hindu mythology and setting it in a science fiction future. The Gods again wander the earth with a host of other supernatural entities. It starts well and he definitely has interesting ides, but the writing is bland and he loses focus at the end. Hindus probably consider it a sacrilege.
14. Steps by Jerzy Kosinski (1968). A man relates graphic and dark tales to his lover about revenge and sexual encounters from his sordid life. Very intense with each short chapter being a different story, only being interrupted with bits of dialogue between the lovers. I will probably read all of his books based on this one.
15. Lonely Planet Indiasooo fun to carry around. The Kindle is looking better and better.
16. Omerta by Mario Puzo (2000). This Mafia tale is from the end of Puzo’s career. Read too soon after the Godfather. Average paperback fare here.
17. The Godfather by Mario Puzo (1969). Why not start the new year with a classic mafia tale? Haven’t seen the movie for several years and it’s just as good as I remembered it.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterful Lord of the Rings needs no introduction, nor does the prequel The Hobbit. One of my favorite parts of The Hobbit is in chapter five, “Riddles in the Dark,” when Bilbo Baggins and Gollum enter into a contest of riddles. Gollum initiates a test of minds to size-up Bilbo whom he rightly thinks has his precious ring.

Later in Lord of the Rings, Frodo becomes angry about Gollum’s treacherous ways and expresses the wish that Bilbo had killed him. Gandalf argues against this and adds that Gollum is related to hobbits. Frodo is outraged, and Gandalf uses as evidence the fact that they knew many of the same riddles.

Gollum in 1977′s The Hobbit cartoon

Here are the riddles:

What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?
Answer

This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.
Answer

Thirty white horses on a red hill,
First they champ,
Then they stamp,
Then they stand still.
Answer

No-legs lay on one-leg,
two legs sat near on three legs,
four legs got some.
Answer

An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
‘That eye is like to this eye’
Said the first eye,
‘But in low place
Not in high place.’
Answer

Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking
Answer

It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
Answer

A box without hinges, key or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.
Answer

Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.
Answer

Polaroid image from this fan site.

Anyway, it just so happened I stumbled upon this picture of Kerouac at the center of attention. It’s reminiscent of a speaking gig he did in December 1958 at New York’s Village Vanguard that I was reading about when I found this pic.

This picture really has a strong sense of place for me; a smoky room, idle chatter and clinking-glass background noise… and Jack slightly slurring his words in a drunk tirade.

Kerouac, in his Belief and Technique for Modern Prose, set down the following 30 essentials regarding his free-flowing spontaneous prose method:

1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside your own house
4. Be in love with your life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yrself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Don’t think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better
29. You’re a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

The last few months of 2007 my reading really dropped off, but it tends to go in cycles. You can also find my reading lists for part of 2007 and all of 2009. Most recently read first.

1. Tough Guys Don’t Dance by Norman Mailer (1989). An author I have heard about often though never read. This forceful mystery sees the main character addicted to bourbon, cigarettes, and blondes. Not a problem until a severed head shows up and his alcoholic blackout has left him trying to piece it all together. A bit convoluted but Mailer can certainly write.
2. Alexandra David-Neel: Portait of an Adventurer by Ruth Middleton (1989). Alexandra David-Neel is an intriguing personality. A French woman who travelled to Tibet, Japan, and India as a scholar and religous seeker in a time when woman wore corsets and had manservants. She kept the servants and with force of character achieved popular literary success while her husband funded her as she went unseen for years and years. I certainly will be reading all her books I can ger a hold of, but this short biograpghy was a good one to start with. The author comes from a painting background and has great passion for Alexandra, but she is not an outstanding writer and the writting is just passable. Many things are glossed over and I feel the author is too praising in her evaluation, especially in her descritptions of the arrangement between husband and wife while wife disappears for 13 years. The final 44 years of her fascinating life are covered in about 5 pages.
3. A Dog’s Heart by Mikhail Bulgakov(1925, published 1968). Right before I left for Japan, I did not have enough time to finish this Russian writer’s most famous work, The Master and Margarita. This shorter novella is a satire on the Russian Revolution and Socialism that was not received well in it’s day, in fact only years after has it been published. It’s a clever take on Frankenstein, as the doctor in the center of the story implants the pituitary gland and testicals from a man to dog. “The resulting half-man, half-beast is, as to be expected, a monstrosity, yet one that fits in remarkably well with Soviet society… ” (book cover).
4. The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen (1978). The author joins his naturalist friend GS into Nepal to observe sheep and visit Buddhist sites in remote settings. It’s a cliche: going into the mountains (Himalayas) to search for meaning after a tragic event (wife dies of cancer). The book is considered one of the best travel literature tales around though for good reason.
5. The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk (1992). Another vividly written historical tale by the author of Foreign Devils on the Silk Road, this time delving into the period of time and place Kipling wrote about in Kim which was the first book I read at the start of my 6 month journey across Asia to India. Tsarist Russia and Victorian England, subtly and with force, stuggled to control Central Asia and all her riches for the Empire. The characters who undertake dangerous missions, often in disguise as a local, are straight out of fictional novels- but their deeds are fact. In modern day Pakistan, Afghanistan, British India, and China these two super powers vied for power that is certainly relevant today. It was great to actually be in Pakistan while reading this because I was in the villages and cities described. In fact, my great couchsurfing host Badar took me to Abbotabad, named after James Abbot, just as I was reading about it.
6. No One Here Gets Out Alive by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman (19XX). Doors bio. Managed to find these both at the same used store in Islamabad, so thought I’d finally read this too. Davis should have hired someone who can write as Hopkins did here to help him. Great insight into poet-singer Jim Morrison.
7. Hammer of the Gods by Stephen Davis (19XX). One I hadn’t gotten to about one of my favorite bands. Interesting read, but sophmorically mediocre in its writing. Author uses lame puns of the bands name (Lepocity?) and the added chapters read like my 5th grade book reports.
8. My Dark Places by James Ellroy (1997). At 10 years old, the author’s mother is killed and sets events off that lead to a succesful career (wrote L.A. Confidential) penning gritty crime novels, almost hard-boiled. The author revisits this true life mystery that was never solved plus a few other short pieces.
9. Footprint Pakistan Handbook by David Winter (1999). About 10 years old but I jumped at the chance not to use a Lonely Planet guide (traded LP China for it in Kashgar). Obviously a lot has happened since then that has changed many things, though most info remain relavent and the descriptions are accurate. I use guidebooks less and less for things like food and accomodation, so this has been a great guide with well written history pieces.
10. Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco (1995). If this is Eco’s weakest as reviews say, his others must be good indeed.
11. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957). There it was, sitting in a cafe in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, so I read it again. One of my favorites.
12. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (1929). Surprisingly I’ve only ever read half of Old Man and the Sea, despite owning every a set of every Hemingway. I liked the ending. A lot.
13. Doghouse Roses by Steve Early (2001). Entertaining short stories bu cult alt-country musician.
14. Red Dust: A Path Through China by Ma Jian (2001). Communist dissident and vagrant traveler becomes fed up with The Party and tramps around China for 3 years in the 80′s. While I was collecting baseball cards, people in China were having forced vasectomies.
15. Foreign Devils on the Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk (1980). Fascinating telling of European and other foreign archaeologists rush to cart away loads of modern Western China’s Buddhist heritage in the form of manuscripts, statues, and wall fresco. Upon return to China, definitely planning on visiting some of these sites.
16. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond (2005). Powerful tome following environmental and societal issues among the Anastazi, Maya, Easter Islanders, Greenland Norse, and many others. Very relevant to our treatment of environmental issues today.
17. Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Gavin Bell (2001). Average South Africa travelogue by an average author who uses average metaphors (including some form of ‘lock, stock and barrel’ several times). Incomplete glossary of Afrikaans words used, further confused by liberal and pretentious use of French phrases. Interesting history info if you can overlook that.
18. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. One of those books I probably wouldn’t ever pick up (too well known?), but reading material is a bit scare and expensive I’ve found when traveling. Glad I did. His train across the US takes him over Iowa, probably through my small hometown which was built around a railway junction.
19. Lonely Planet Unpacked by various Lonely Planet authors. Series of very short travel disaster stories, most of which suck (stubbing your toe??). Extremely mediocre offering from a company that continues to disappoint me.
20. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This ranks among the best I’ve ever read. A very lucid and sometimes fantastical history of a small town in South America and the eccentric Buendia family.
21. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Just read it.
22. Forgotten Kingdom by Peter Goullart (1957). I spent over a week in Yunnan Province, in and around the city of Lijiang where the author spent 8 years before fleeing the communist takeover. Quite vivid tale of some of the ethnic minorities in China and neighboring Tibet. Read it here. (I managed to snag a 1st edition from eBay since its out of print except in Yunnan!)
23. Lost Horizon by James Hilton (1933). Interesting quick read of a crashed plane into an unknown valley of Shangri-la with a Buddhist monastery and lots of secrets. Zhongdian, China renamed itself due to similarities shared, which I had the pleasure of visiting. It’s great, but the author uses the term “what the deuce” more than Stewy on Family Guy.
24. Kim by Rudyard Kipling. Quite surprised at how good this tale of Indian/Irish Kim’s foray into British Raj Politics and “the great game” of espionage.
25. Lonely Planet China (2007). Thick guide to a big country. Acceptable quality… except the MAPS. Holy crap are the maps bad. It really set in when I spent over an hour trying to find a guest house at Tiger Leaping Gorge, which was about 10 minutes from where I started. Once I arrived, the owner allows guests to write on big swaths of canvas on the walls where I found “Lonely Planet China maps SUCK!”
26. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (1953). Really lucky to find this hardboiled classic and it didn’t disappoint. Great period murder mystery, though I found Eliott Gould’s movie version of Philip Marlowe fairly drab. Will be reading more of this author.
27. The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda (1968). An anthropology student goes under the tutelage of a Mexican Indian sorcerer. Psychedelic drugs ensue. This was a pretty amazing book that launched some 14 more similar titles by Castaneda, who got these categorized and non-fiction. Turns out, there are a myriad of inconsistencies and in later life turned into a bonafide cult leader. Even so, this book rocked, especially the part about turning into a crow, and I’ll definitely read more.
28. Big Sur by Jack Kerouac (1962). Kerouac, known here as Jack Duluoz, chronicles three trips to a canyon in Big Sur, California. The tone is melancholy and despair with Kerouac suffering from delirium tremens which cause great bouts of depression. His alcoholism is strong, but he writes evocatively and truthfully about what is happening.
29. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (2003). I generally avoid anything endorsed by Oprah and her Legion of Housewives © and this didn’t change my mind much. I liked it, but Frey’s fractured style (which could be said to represent the fractured life he leads) is sometimes annoying, especially at the start. Frey himself is pretentious and surrounded by scandal. The book is quite depressing and filled with misery and little redemption.
30. Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (1996). This first in a series follows the titualr character in his sword wielding adventures in 17th Century Spain. Quick and enjoyable historical fiction.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. I immediately snatched this one up when I saw it available to read. It seems a logical continuation of what the Beat Generation morphed into and has Neal Cassady, aka Dean Moriarty, as the sledge-hammer flipping driver of the bus the Ken Kessey and the Merry Pranksters take on some strange trips.
31. The Great Railway Baazar by Paul Theroux (1975). This series of interesting vignettes follows the author on his journey mostly by rail from London to India, across Thailand and Singapore, around Japan, and across the USSR.

    This book is a classic of the genre and Theroux’s humorous and cynical take is well worth a read. Its interesting to contrast his views in the 70′s to the countries today (I have visited lots of them). Vietnam was just emerging from years of war and Russia was ruled by Soviets.

32. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (1997). Funny tale intermixed with historical tidbits of Bryson and friend’s romp on the Appalachian Trial.
33. Off the Rails in Phnom Penh: Into the Dark Heart of Guns, Girls, and Ganja by Amit Gilboa (1998). I’m suspect of any book that claims “gonzo rant” culpability and this tale falls short of that claim in many ways. But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it with the general lack of similar works.

    The tales are interesting, choppy little tidbits of story. They often stop where you think there should be more story. The author includes his journal entries and notes as they are, which is a little annoying as a format at first bit you get used to it.

    He does peak into this corrupt world of 90′s Cambodia (by now its a bit dated) but never fully enters himself, always reminding the reader how his morals and dignity are still intact unlike the host of characters around him. I for one would rather have read a tale where he really indulged or at least convinced the reader he did.

    I’d rewrite the cover claim as “gonzo for pussies.” You’ll probably like the book if you’re considering it in the first place, but Dr. Thompson is rolling in his grave if this is gonzo.

34. Hard Boiled by Frank Miller (story) and Geof Darrow (pencils). The hardboiled genre is one that has interested me lately and this comes highly regarded. It’s sparse on dialog, but the intricate artwork will leave you starring. Very mature and graphic, giving new meaning to graphic novel.
35. Kafka on the Shore by Murakami Haruki (2005). I think I like Murakami’s sci-fi much better than his drama, though this one border’s both. This one is two separate tales that end up being related like some of his other work (see Hard Boiled Wonderland). It started strong but was just too long, random, and melodramatic.
    
    Murakami has an amazing ability to create symbols in his work and many of them are archetypes right out of Jung’s play book. This can have one of three effects.

    One: The author’s blatant flag-waving symbolism allows even the dimmest of readers to find the symbolic brilliance of the writing. Both the reader and the author are genius and you will tell everyone you meet about the wooooooonderful homage to existentialism you just read.

    Two: You have realized the author’s blatant symbols from the get go, from the cover actually. Naming the main character after Franz Kafka? Pretentious!

    Three: I fall somewhere in the middle. More towards two.

    Cut about 200 pages of dramatic bullshit and I like it a whole lot more and the sex with your mother/sister theme is a bit disturbing.

    But ok, its a decent story despite its length, melodrama, and random things you think could be very deep but end but are just… random.

36. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr (1969). Really I can’t believe I haven’t read this one before: Vonnegut’s pseudo-science fiction tale about Billy Pilgrim and the bombing of Dresden in WWII, which the author experienced firsthand. Deep yet easy to digest, Vonnegut delivers again.
37. Mr. Nice by Howard Marks (1996). The candid tale of one of the most prolific dope smugglers ever. You see this book (usually photocopied versions) all over SEA and I finally gave in and picked it up. Marks held over 40 aliases as he hopped around the world before finally being nabbed by the US government. His sprawling list of names and places is surprising very easy and fun to read. He has a few more books out that I will try to pick up, including a sequel. Off his website you can even can get autographed copies!
38. Cambodia by Lonely Planet. Bet you didn’t see this one coming… Since I just got back from 2 weeks there (as of this writing, Jan ’08) its usually a good bet I’d have the LP. I’m quite shocked that Pol Pot was never brought to justice and died of heart failure in 1998. This is actually also listed in last year’s list too.

The above photo can be found in this set.

“The seashore has hardened into concrete, and the scenery of unending gray tetrapods piled on top of one another is what you can see everywhere in Japan. It has changed into something irritating and ordinary. When you look at this seashore, you can’t tell whether it is the coast of Shonan, the coast of Chiba, or the coast of Okinawa.”

Tetrapods may be an unfamiliar word to readers who have not visited Japan and seen them lined up by the hundreds along bays and beaches. They look like oversize jacks with four concrete legs, some weighing as much as fifty tons. Tetrapods, which are supposed to retard beached erosion, are big business.

– Alex Kerr, Dogs and Demons: The Fall of Modern Japan (p 18)

In Japanese, the monstrous concrete formations lining the coasts are called shouha negatame. In English, they are referred to by their mathematical shape of tetrapod. It is estimated that nearly 50 percent of Japan’s 35,000 kilometer coastline has been covered or somehow altered by Tetrapods and other forms of concrete (wikipedia).

Following the postwar trend to encase everything in concrete, the coast line has joined the rivers and mountains in their submission to the mammoth industry that is construction in Japan. It’s an interesting paradox for a country that is stereotypically known for natural beauty. In reality, Japanese bureaucracy has paved the way for one of the world’s largest construction industry, whether it’s needed or not.

The above picture is of Beppu Bay and is a 3 minute walk from where I live. The concrete blocks here are slightly different, in triangle form, rather than the usual tetrapod.

[Links]

• More than you ever wanted to know about tetrapods.

Here are a few links in three of my (and probably yours too) favorite areas: movies, books, and music. Have some favorites of your own? Leave me a comment!

55 Must See Movies of 2008

Who knew ’08 was gearing up to be so full of blockbusters? There’s the big sequels like Indy 4 and The Dark Knight plus many more you might not have heard about. My favorite is Righteous Kill, bringing De Niro and Pachino together for only the second time ever!

TV Links

The best resource I have found for streaming movies, TV shows, and animation. A great site when you are in need of a quick fix or have a couple of hours to waste.

Update: Apparently this site has been shut down and it’s 26 year old creator jailed! In it’s place check out Surf The Channel or browse this list.

Ultimate Travel Library

National Geographic draws together an amazing list of travel literature that will keep you turning pages all winter long! Choose your favorite part of the world and start browsing.

Earmouse

This blog covers mostly little known albums from the 60s and 70s. Stellar selections combined with the ability to download the album featured make this my new favorite music site!

Update: In an apparent curse on the sites I’ve linked here, the author has decided not to be making new posts. There is still a lot of good stuff there though.

This is an expanding list of current books I have read (mostly for my own use). Starting from most recently read.

You can also find my 2008 and 2009 lists..

1. Shopping For Buddhas (1996) by Jeff Greenwald. Framed by Jeff’s quest for the perfect Buddha statue, the author deftly paints a vivid depiction of modern Nepal, warts and all. The book does show it’s age a bit being a few years old and some things have changed (horrific slaughter of the royal family by royal son) but its still a great read and does much to explain the backdrop of Hindu culture for the uninitiated.
2. Dharma Bums (1958) by Jack Kerouac. Unofficial sequel to On the Road, I read this story about mountains and Buddhism in the hills of the Nepal Himalayas, the perfect setting. Another classic that left me wanting more.
3. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World (2004) by Jack Weatherford. Though not quite as fluid as the Magellan book below, this is still a fantastic read that I think everyone should pick up. The Mongols controlled the largest empire in human history, and despite their infamy for violence, their rule was marked by sweeping and beneficial changes in economics and government from China to Europe. They invented the first paper money, introduced political office based on merit and not heritage, made the Silk Road possible, founded modern Beijing and the Forbidden City (though don’t count on any Chinese you know confirming this), tried to create an international language, and were generally successful rulers by not setting up their own puppet governments. Like all great civilizations, their immense wealth and vast land proved to much responsibility and they splintered into 3 entities and eventually faded away.
4. Snow Crash (1992) by Neal Stephenson. Cyberpunk at its finest. With a deadly new virus on the loose, Hiro Protagonist (great name) struggles to make sense of it all. Loved it.
5. Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (2004) by Laurence Bergreen. Great story with a fast pace. Many explanatory asides on peripheral topics. A bit glossy on some things and it definitely needs more maps, but this is one really good book. It is a shame most people are hammered with stories of conquistadors and explorers at about age 12 and then write these stories off for the rest of their lives. To me these are some of the most tragic and interesting stories and are building blocks of our current modern world.
6. In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryu Murakami. Deranged and psychotic triller by the “other Murakami.” An American shows up in Tokyo the same time someone is committing heinous murders. Hmmm….. Really enjoyed it and will be reading others by him.
7. Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985) by Haruki Murakami. I liked this one much better than Norwegian Wood. An inventful and interesting sci-fi adventure with two parallel narratives.
8. Hiking in Japan (1988) by Paul Hunt. A bit older and out of date, but still holds a lot of useful info. The author has a geology background and expells some interesting stuff there.
9. Hiking in Japan. Part of the Lonely Planet Walking/Trekking Guides. Great resource to some great trips. My buddies dog chewed the crap out of it. Damn it.
10. The Satanic Verses (1988) by Salman Rushdie. For a book so well known, it’s not that good. I officially give up on this one. Just couldn’t get into it though it is very well written and intelligent. Maybe if there was no fatwa issued against it hardly anyone would have read it?
11. The Subtle Knife (1997) by Phillip Pullman. Gave in and read the second of the trilogy. Turned a bit too Christian theology on me for my tastes. I guess I have to read the last one now.
12. Lonely Planet: Cambodia (2005). Might swing through while I am in Vietnam. UPDATE: or not.
13. Lonely Planet: Vietnam (2005). Planning a trip April 2007. UPDATE: Trip was spectacular, photos here.
14. Dave Barry Does Japan by Dave Barry. My first Barry book, I found it enjoyable and a quick read (1 day). My only complaint is the purpose of his trip was to write this book, which seems to me to make the whole thing rather contrived. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I read it before I moved to Japan. He is right on about most things, though he is solidifying stereotypes that not to embrace. I guess he has to sell books though.
15. The Golden Compass (1995) by Philip Pullman. Slightly juvenile fantasy tale about a little girl who will (presumably) save the world. Some interesting aspects and ultimately plagued by bad dialog, but I think the intended audience is about the same age as the main character. Considering reading the next book of the trilogy.
16. Long Way Round (2004) by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. McGregor and pal travel from Europe, across Asia, and over North America on BMX motorcycles. Fast paced travel literature that makes you want to go to Mongolia. Also a documentary made of their trip. I hear they are planning a follow up trip down the length of Africa.
17. Shantaram (2003) by Gregory David Roberts. Quite a vivid real life tale of an Australian man who escapes prison and flees to India to go on a series of adventures. Great depiction of Bombay and the bar Leopold’s. So good it’s now becoming a movie with Johnny Depp. If you want to be cool read this one now and look good when the movie is out in ’08.
18. Vagabond (vol 1 of ?) by Takehiko Inoue. Manga version of Musashi. True to the book and amazing art work.
19. Death Note (vols 1 – 9 of 12) by Tsugumi Ohba (story) and Takeshi Obata (art). One of the most popular manga titles in Japan right. Great story about a guy who finds a Death God’s (shinigami) notebook. Anyone whose name is entered consequentially dies, provided certain rules are followed. Death Note is also a new anime series and has been made into two (!) live action movies. Only a matter of time before this hits the States big time.
20. Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no mori, 1987) by Haruki Murakami. A sad coming of age novel set in modern Japan. One of the most popular current writers in Japan today, I look forward to more of his books.
21. Once While Traveling: The Lonely Planet Story (2006) by Maureen and Tony Wheeler. The publishers of my usual travel guide series relate how they came to be. While much of the book reads like a grocery list of names and places they visited, the narrative still manages to be interesting and enviable. Working for Lonely Planet would be a dream job so the books was especially provocative to me. I don’t think this one is available in the US yet. UPDATE: Its now available in the US under a different name, Unlikely Destinations.
22. Lonely Planet: Trans-Siberian Railway. Bought in India. One day… Oh yes, one day…
23. Lonely Planet: India (2005). Planning a trip in December 2006. The biggest LP they make. UPDATE: Trip was awesome and you can check my photos here.
24. Musashi (1935) by Eiji Yoshikawa. This hefty epic has been called The Gone With the Wind of Japan. It recounts a fictionalized tale of the real life swordsman Miyamoto Musashi who wrote The Book of the Five Rings. I’m a sucker for this genre and this is the best I have read so far. The climax takes part on an island not far from me called Ganryu Island with another ronin, Kojiro Sasaki. This one makes my top 10 list.
25. The Roads to Sata (1985) by Alan Booth. The author makes a 128 day/2000 mile walking trip from the top of Japan (Cape Soya on Hokkaido) to the bottom (Cape Sata on Kyushu) in the 1980s. Insightful and humorous, the writing is honest and depicts Japan warts and all.
26. Lonely Planet: Japan (2005). Surprisingly sparse for area. LP drops the ball a little on this one.
27. A Traveller’s History of Japan. A quick and enjoyable read, this overview of Japanese history manages to fit about 2000 years into 200 pages. Many aspects are touched upon and it provides a good place to start if you’re interested in the topic. I will look for more in the series.
28. Life of Pi (2003) by Yann Martel. Picked up in Vietnam and finished on the plane back. Enjoyable story about Pi, who is stranded on a boat with a tiger, among other animals… or is he?

Jack Kerouac: King of the Beats, haiku lover, Buddhist inquirer, perpetual wanderlust, author, reluctant personality, disdain for labels. The enigmatic writer has been the inspiration of countless roadtrips and adventures. His seminal On The Road even starts and ends in my home state of Iowa. If you haven’t read him, pick him up.

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!�?”

– Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Below is an interview with Kerouac reading his reason for writing, accompanied by pianist Steve Allen. Dean Mor-i-ar-ty.

Check out the full video over here. The above photo is the start of Kerouac’s famous scroll where he pounded out the first draft of On the Road.