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emelynreads's review against another edition
Might come back later as I enjoyed the writing style. But I'm very turned off by the author's treatment of the Nepalese, not bothering to learn their names, calling them "table", and then promising a school she would send books and then telling the reader she has no desire to later. What is this??
lsparrow's review against another edition
2.0
Perhaps it is always painful to hear a visitor describe a place that is so dear and known to your heart - they never are quite able to truely capture it. Although Nepal is not familiar I am so familiar with the himalayas. I have walked and explored and lived in those mountains and they are a place so etched in my heart that although I loved the reminders it was painful to have so little description of the sensatations of that amazing landscape. The way the landscape can be desolate and so full of life almost at the same time, the life other than plants, the way it can be blistering hot and then suddenly so cold, the sound of the river in the mountain valley - ever present. It felt like the author spent her whole time focused merely on the path in front of her feet. As much as my own mind transported me back to mountain peaks and shadowed valleys it was painful to not have it adequately described.
Also I found the level of colonial mindset that permeated the book so painful. For someone's name to be too difficult to even remember it or put in a book, I understand using nicknames or shortened forms but "Table"? The people were merely there to provider services or experiences and did not feel like people in and of themselves. Even the concept of visiting places to collect seeds.
Also I found the level of colonial mindset that permeated the book so painful. For someone's name to be too difficult to even remember it or put in a book, I understand using nicknames or shortened forms but "Table"? The people were merely there to provider services or experiences and did not feel like people in and of themselves. Even the concept of visiting places to collect seeds.
lostcupofstars's review against another edition
1.0
Honestly if this was the first book by her I’d read, I don’t think I’d go back for the others. Fortunately for me this is one of the last of hers I had left to read.
Ultimately I found this boring and a lot of the behaviours felt very touristy and uncomfortable.
Ultimately I found this boring and a lot of the behaviours felt very touristy and uncomfortable.
rumii's review against another edition
1.0
I was so disappointed with this book. Not in its writing, Kincaid’s writing is beautiful and easy to drop into, but in Kincaid herself. While the descriptions of the nature around her and of her inner world were appealing and read beautifully as a travel account, her attitude towards the Nepalese people that make her trip possible were revolting. She makes no effort to remember their names, explicitly saying they were too long and hard, instead referring to them by their ‘roles’; the person in charge of cooking is simply Cook and the person in charge of carrying the table they eat on is Table. The complaints she makes about them and their work are so blind to her role in relation to them and the privilege she is hiking the himalayas in. In the same section she will wonder at how someone could carry such weights up the mountain then complain that they lagged behind. Grow up! Carry the stuff yourself if you want it around you at your call. Her americanness is so evident and really surprises me as I expected her Caribbean ancestry would give her insight and understanding.
kitkat2500's review
2.0
This was a light read which allowed me some relaxed, armchair traveling in the Himalayas.
katiejames's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
the_literarylinguist's review against another edition
Too many Latin plant names made it quite dry