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amyw2 's review for:
Lands of Lost Borders
by Kate Harris
This is an enjoyable read. It is the story of Kate Harris' and best friend Mel's epic bike journey along parts of the ancient Silk Road from Turkey to Tibet and on into India.
It is part memoir, part travelogue, and part history and natural history. Ultimately it is a book about borders: political, cultural and our own.
"Borders reinforce the idea of the alien, the Other, stories separate and distinct from ourselves. But would such fictions continue to stand if most of us didn't agree with them, or at least quietly benefit from the inequalities they bolster? The barbed wire begins here inside us, cutting through our very core."
If I could, I would give Kate 5 stars just for sheer guts and stamina. The book, however, has a few drawbacks. The largest is the fact that once the riders reached the heart of the Silk Road and especially the "Stans" (Ubekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan), the length of their visas was so short that all their time was spent trying to get across one country and to secure visas for the next one. And while this is not the author's fault, there was little or no time available to explore ancient cities or cultural sites.
While we get some cultural insight and history, I found it lacking, especially considering the title of the book. Ultimately it seemed anti-climatic.
Another drawback was that as the women reached the Silk Road the book began to loose focus. Were they undertaking this journey because it was Kate's childhood dream? Was it because she wanted to query various officials about the conservation of wild lands and other matters? Was it because she hated being constrained? Or was it because she just wanted to get away from her 21st century admittedly privileged life? I'm not sure she entirely knows.
That said, the book was still very much a good read. I was amazed by how knowledgeable and widely read she is, especially as she is at heart, and by education, a scientist. One minute she was quoting ancient historians, the next various philosophers. She certainly knew much about the countries she traveled through and the cultures she encountered. I just wish she had gone into more detail about these.
Lastly, I wish that there had been better photos than the small black and white ones at the chapter heads, and that the map had more detail especially in regards to the cities/towns they travelled through. These of course, are not the fault of the author.
This is a worthwhile read.
It is part memoir, part travelogue, and part history and natural history. Ultimately it is a book about borders: political, cultural and our own.
"Borders reinforce the idea of the alien, the Other, stories separate and distinct from ourselves. But would such fictions continue to stand if most of us didn't agree with them, or at least quietly benefit from the inequalities they bolster? The barbed wire begins here inside us, cutting through our very core."
If I could, I would give Kate 5 stars just for sheer guts and stamina. The book, however, has a few drawbacks. The largest is the fact that once the riders reached the heart of the Silk Road and especially the "Stans" (Ubekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan), the length of their visas was so short that all their time was spent trying to get across one country and to secure visas for the next one. And while this is not the author's fault, there was little or no time available to explore ancient cities or cultural sites.
While we get some cultural insight and history, I found it lacking, especially considering the title of the book. Ultimately it seemed anti-climatic.
Another drawback was that as the women reached the Silk Road the book began to loose focus. Were they undertaking this journey because it was Kate's childhood dream? Was it because she wanted to query various officials about the conservation of wild lands and other matters? Was it because she hated being constrained? Or was it because she just wanted to get away from her 21st century admittedly privileged life? I'm not sure she entirely knows.
That said, the book was still very much a good read. I was amazed by how knowledgeable and widely read she is, especially as she is at heart, and by education, a scientist. One minute she was quoting ancient historians, the next various philosophers. She certainly knew much about the countries she traveled through and the cultures she encountered. I just wish she had gone into more detail about these.
Lastly, I wish that there had been better photos than the small black and white ones at the chapter heads, and that the map had more detail especially in regards to the cities/towns they travelled through. These of course, are not the fault of the author.
This is a worthwhile read.