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A review by 3ciacath
Romancing the East: A Literary Odyssey from the Heart of Darkness to the River Kwai by Jerry Hopkins
3.0
Reading Romancing The East was an act of boarding a ship to the Orient by revisiting authors who were inspired by the exoticism, the sensuality, the mysteriousness of the East.
Ever since the colonialism era, Far East was like Sirens to sailors. It allures foreigners all around the world, be for the spices, the untamed and unknown land, the natural resources, the Western dreams of pleasure and profit, its easy access to the “coolie” labors, or the image of its ethereality. The similar reasons also attracted authors throughout the ages to depict it in their stories. Just like Jerry Hopkins wrote in the introduction, “Nowhere else do the words “exotic” and “erotic” and “illicit” and “mysterious” and “dangerous” all so comfortably and uncomfortably fit, simultaneously.”
This book presented authors from as old as Joseph Conrad who wrote “The Myth of the Great White Rajah” to the modern writer V.S. Naipaul. I also found names whose books I read, like George Orwell, Rudyard Kipling, Pearl S. Buck, and Amy Tan. Also, by the end of this book, I ended up with a long list of some titles I am planning to purchase and read.
Ever since the colonialism era, Far East was like Sirens to sailors. It allures foreigners all around the world, be for the spices, the untamed and unknown land, the natural resources, the Western dreams of pleasure and profit, its easy access to the “coolie” labors, or the image of its ethereality. The similar reasons also attracted authors throughout the ages to depict it in their stories. Just like Jerry Hopkins wrote in the introduction, “Nowhere else do the words “exotic” and “erotic” and “illicit” and “mysterious” and “dangerous” all so comfortably and uncomfortably fit, simultaneously.”
This book presented authors from as old as Joseph Conrad who wrote “The Myth of the Great White Rajah” to the modern writer V.S. Naipaul. I also found names whose books I read, like George Orwell, Rudyard Kipling, Pearl S. Buck, and Amy Tan. Also, by the end of this book, I ended up with a long list of some titles I am planning to purchase and read.