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A review by librarianonparade
A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East by Tiziano Terzani
4.0
As a premise for a travelogue, it's certainly an interesting one: warned by a Hong Kong fortune teller not to fly during 1993 or he will die, on a whim an Italian journalist decides to take the hint and forgo flying for an entire year. Obviously as Asian correspondent for a German magazine this presents certain problems - how can one ensure one can make it to the right place at the right time, when travelling there can take days or even weeks instead of hours, assuming that it is even possible to get there at all?
Travelling through Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, China, Russia and back again by a whole host of methods - cars held together by wire, over-crowded trains, on foot and by mule, by cargo ship - Terzani sets out to step outside of the normal pace of modern life, to immerse himself in the life of the countries he is so used to simply flying over and simply slow down a little. In each country he visits seers, palmists, astrologers and fortune tellers, comparing their predictions, assessing their accuracy, exploring both his doubts and certainties.
It also serves as an elegy for a certain way of life that Terzani feels is being lost in the inexorable encroach of 'progress', of modern life. A lot of unique cultures, mythology and folklore is being lost in the wake of globalization, the rush for a certain standardized Western way of life, in Asia and the Far East coming largely through the conduit of China and the Chinese diaspora. Terzani certainly seems to have quite a love-hate relationship with modern China and the Chinese.
I really enjoyed this book, and it was certainly an interesting approach to a travel book. That said, I did find it patronising in places, a little sexist, and a little too romantic about the benefits of a certain traditional, rustic way of life. Progress and modernity isn't all bad, and whilst globalization has done a great deal of damage, it has brought benefits to a large proportion of the world. There is something to be said for keeping in touch with a country's roots and traditions, but sometimes it seems like Westerners (and Terzani is no exception) would prefer Asia to remain traditional and rustic, not for its own sake and the sake of its people, but so as to serve as some kind of idealised, exotic place for Westerners to escape to and dream about.
Travelling through Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, China, Russia and back again by a whole host of methods - cars held together by wire, over-crowded trains, on foot and by mule, by cargo ship - Terzani sets out to step outside of the normal pace of modern life, to immerse himself in the life of the countries he is so used to simply flying over and simply slow down a little. In each country he visits seers, palmists, astrologers and fortune tellers, comparing their predictions, assessing their accuracy, exploring both his doubts and certainties.
It also serves as an elegy for a certain way of life that Terzani feels is being lost in the inexorable encroach of 'progress', of modern life. A lot of unique cultures, mythology and folklore is being lost in the wake of globalization, the rush for a certain standardized Western way of life, in Asia and the Far East coming largely through the conduit of China and the Chinese diaspora. Terzani certainly seems to have quite a love-hate relationship with modern China and the Chinese.
I really enjoyed this book, and it was certainly an interesting approach to a travel book. That said, I did find it patronising in places, a little sexist, and a little too romantic about the benefits of a certain traditional, rustic way of life. Progress and modernity isn't all bad, and whilst globalization has done a great deal of damage, it has brought benefits to a large proportion of the world. There is something to be said for keeping in touch with a country's roots and traditions, but sometimes it seems like Westerners (and Terzani is no exception) would prefer Asia to remain traditional and rustic, not for its own sake and the sake of its people, but so as to serve as some kind of idealised, exotic place for Westerners to escape to and dream about.