Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon Review

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(More customer reviews)... but told in a much more stylish and readable manner. I bought this book on the strength of reading about Capt. Herndon's sacrifice in Gary Kinder's "Ship of Gold...". He seemed to epitomise the old-style captain, caring about his passengers, crew and above all his ship, and I was interested to read more about the man.
I was not disappointed; what could have been a dusty tome full of only facts and figures, emerges as a rivetting account of the trials endured during the trip, and vivid descriptions of a land that was as yet virtually unknown to the 'civilised' world, told as a very readable narrative. This easy style is what captured the hearts and minds of the Anmerican (and European) public in a book which went into several reprints of 10,000s (as opposed to the usual Congress print run of 100+!).
It also captured the imagination of a certain Samuel Clemens, who, after reading the book, immediately took steamer from St.Louis to New Orleans to get a boat to the Amazon. Imagine his disappointment when he found no passage ... sitting, bemoaning his ill luck, he hears the cries of the steamers "Mark twain!" - the rest is history.
I have one reservation (hence only ****); during his editing & research for the book, Mr.Kinder deletes a lot of sections that I personally would have found very interesting, such as crops grown, goods & minerals available and costs of trade items. If these had been included as an appendix, I think it would have added to the charm of the book.
Nevertheless, one of the best pieces of historical travel writing I have ever read.

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Beyond Dark Hills: A Personal Story Review

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(More customer reviews)This is such an amazing book. Stuart wrote this book which was more or less his life story up to that point as a young man and naively turned it in as a 320 page (much to the Professors horror!) term paper for a University class. Stuarts books hold a special place for me because for one they are just great, and for another one side of family comes from the part of eastern Kentucky Stuart is from. In Beyond Dark Hills he talks a lot about his love of the hills of eastern Kentucky and the spiritual connection he has to the land. Also many stories about the colorful characters he knew, his love of poetry, his struggles venturing out on his own both in working and in academia. Stuart was a brilliant sensitive man but also tough as they come working in steel mills, doing farm work and often having to take up for himself and physically fight. Stuarts books are a great look into the Appalachian culture of that time and show a side of America you can be proud of. They just don't make them like Jesse Stuart anymore.

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Beyond Dark Hills was originally written by Jesse Stuartas a graduate school assignment at Vanderbilt University. Assigned towrite an 18 page personal narrative, he turned in 322 pages about aseemingly simple farm boy and his family. His professor said, "I havebeen teaching for forty years and I have never read anythingso...beautiful, tremendous and powerful..."Stuart shares with the reader all his youthful anxieties as heprepares for life and then ventures forth on his own. He freelyshares his frustrations and successes, as he examines the forces thatmold and shape him into a worldfamous author and educator.

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Ghetto at the Center of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong Review

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(More customer reviews)Chungking Mansions is an infamous building in Hong Kong. It is a labyrinth of exotica, adventure , and otherness. In many ways it is a shadowy unknown place to many who live in Hong Kong and the countless travellers it attracts yearly. What is for sure is that we want to know more about it. Specifically more about the eclectic array of people that walk and work in its corridors each day. This fine work by Gordon Matthews satiates this curiosity quite fully.
Exploring the history of the building, its many personalities, the goods and businesses that pass through, and the new transformations, Gordon Matthews produces a landmark text. This work is particularly compelling because it addresses some misconceptions about Chungking Mansions, namely its safety and criminality and redresses these issues. It shows us that the building is intricately placed in what Matthews terms `low end globalization'. Millions of phones sold in this building sold by Pakistani tradesmen can be traced to the streets of Lagos. Illegal workers support their families in Calcutta by washing dishes or handing out flyers for the many restaurants in the building. Sex workers save money to start businesses back in their home countries. The most contemporary feature of the building is the rise in African traders passing through, this phenomenon is explored in detail and provides context for the transformations visible in the streets around Chungking Mansions.
Another important contribution this text offers is that of acknowledging asylum seekers in Hong Kong and showing their particular struggles in the territory. Many of these asylum seekers who have fled torture or the threat of political assassination frequent Chungking Mansions and contribute to an understanding of the place as a bourgeois location. The truth being that whilst the building is populated with people from disparate parts of the world, they are often the middle class entrepreneurs of their countries, and many of the businesses in Chungking Mansions themselves can be comfortably profitable.
Matthews is astute in pointing out that the fortunes and future of Chunking Mansions are tied to global caprices. Changes in visa regulations, the Olympics, and even 9/11 have changed the people and business practices that occupy Chungking Mansions. These factors reconfirm another important point that the author makes, whilst Chungking Mansions is in Hong Kong, it is not `of' Hong Kong. As such this book will tell you much about the building, much about trade with China, and much about low end globalization, it will tell you less however about Hong Kong. After all Chungking Mansions is an island of otherness in this city, a ghetto at the centre of the world.


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