A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East
Autor Tiziano Terzanien Limba Engleză Paperback – 21 sep 1998
Travelling by foot, boat, bus, car and train, he visited Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Consulting soothsayers and shamans wherever he went, he grew to understand and respect older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity.
"Terzani is already something of a legend. He is a wonderful journalist. But he is much more than that. His book is not the self-important tale of a journalist but the progress of a modern, sceptical and emotional pilgrim - and wilful showman... part autobiography, part journey through the comforting past, the unbearable present and the unwelcoming future, and part prophecy... He has written magnificently all his life. Never better than now."
WILLIAM SHAWCROSS, 'Literary Review'
"One of the most interesting and unusual travel books I have ever read."
FIONA PITT-KETHLEY, 'Daily Telegraph'
"A great book written in the best traditions of literary journalism... profound, rich and reflective."
RYSZARD KUPUSCINSKI
| Toate formatele și edițiile | Preț | Express |
|---|---|---|
| Paperback (2) | 89.19 lei 3-5 săpt. | +12.33 lei 6-12 zile |
| HarperCollins Publishers – 21 sep 1998 | 89.19 lei 3-5 săpt. | +12.33 lei 6-12 zile |
| Crown Publishing Group (NY) – 23 apr 2002 | 94.06 lei 3-5 săpt. |
Preț: 89.19 lei
Puncte Express: 134
Preț estimativ în valută:
15.77€ • 18.67$ • 13.73£
15.77€ • 18.67$ • 13.73£
Carte disponibilă
Livrare economică 12-26 martie
Livrare express 25 februarie-03 martie pentru 22.32 lei
Specificații
ISBN-13: 9780006550716
ISBN-10: 0006550711
Pagini: 384
Ilustrații: map
Dimensiuni: 129 x 199 x 25 mm
Greutate: 0.28 kg
Editura: HarperCollins Publishers
Locul publicării:United Kingdom
ISBN-10: 0006550711
Pagini: 384
Ilustrații: map
Dimensiuni: 129 x 199 x 25 mm
Greutate: 0.28 kg
Editura: HarperCollins Publishers
Locul publicării:United Kingdom
V-ar putea interesa
-
Jupiter's TravelsTed Simon-20%Preț: 72.33 lei89.97 lei -
-19%Preț: 62.68 lei77.05 lei -
The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through AsiaPaul Theroux-32%Preț: 60.75 lei89.06 lei -
Far HorizonsFrank Gardner-19%Preț: 67.81 lei83.74 lei -
Metro 2033Dmitry GlukhovskyPreț: 70.05 lei -
Preț: 129.46 lei -
Preț: 69.02 lei -
-27%Preț: 85.64 lei117.20 lei -
Metro 2034: The novels that inspired the bestselling gamesDmitry Glukhovsky-34%Preț: 54.00 lei81.62 lei -
The Last WishAndrzej Sapkowski-27%Preț: 55.66 lei75.98 lei -
Season of Storms: A Novel of the Witcher – Now a major Netflix showAndrzej Sapkowski-27%Preț: 50.56 lei69.21 lei -
The World WalkTom Turcich-23%Preț: 75.16 lei97.07 lei -
Floating HomeAdam Lind-28%Preț: 94.06 lei129.98 lei -
Asian JournalsJoseph Campbell-23%Preț: 154.82 lei202.33 lei -
Lonely Planet Southeast AsiaSimon Richmond-11%Preț: 125.61 lei140.64 lei -
-13%Preț: 112.70 lei129.61 lei -
-12%Preț: 104.52 lei118.57 leiRecomandat -
The Traveling Tree: The international bestseller from JapanMichio Hoshino-28%Preț: 83.62 lei116.25 lei -
Far Far EastPatrick PichlerPreț: 383.48 lei -
Lost in the Valley of DeathHarley RustadPreț: 46.28 lei -
Preț: 108.27 lei -
-25%Preț: 132.49 lei176.91 leiRecomandat
Descriere
Warned by a fortune-teller not to risk flying, the author - a seasoned correspondent - took to travelling by rail, road and sea. Consulting fortune-tellers and shamans wherever he went, he learnt to understand and respect older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity. William Shawcross in the Literary Review praised Terzani for 'his beautifully written adventure story...
a voyage of self-discovery... He sees fortune-tellers, soothsayers, astrologers, chiromancers, seers, shamans, magicians, palmists, frauds, men and women of god (many gods) all over Asia and in Europe too... Almost every page and every story celebrates the mystical and the unknowable.
It is a fabulous story of renewal and change... Terzani is already something of a legend. He has written magnificently all his life.
Never better than now.' Yes, the fortune-teller did save him from an air-crash in Cambodia. Looking back afterwards, Terzani reckoned that 'I was marked for death and instead I was reborn.'
Extras
Life is full of opportunities. The problem is to recognize them when they present themselves, and that isn't always easy. Mine, for instance, had all the marks of a curse: "Beware! You run a grave risk of dying in 1993. You mustn't fly that year. Don't fly, not even once," a fortune-teller told me.
It happened in Hong Kong. I had come across that old Chinese man by sheer chance. When I heard his dire words I was momentarily taken aback, but not deeply disturbed. It was the spring of 1976, and 1993 seemed a long way off. I did not forget the date, however; it lingered at the back of my mind, rather like an appointment one hasn't yet decided whether to keep or not.
Nineteen seventy-seven . . . 1987 . . . 1990 . . . 1991. Sixteen years seem an eternity, especially when viewed from the perspective of Day One. But, like all our years (except those of adolescence), they passed very quickly, and in no time at all I found myself at the end of 1992. Well, then, what was I to do? Take that old Chinese man's warning seriously and reorganize my life? Or pretend it had never happened and carry on regardless, telling myself, "To hell with fortune-tellers and all their rubbish"?
By that time I had been living in Asia solidly for over twenty years -- first in Singapore, then in Hong Kong, Peking, Tokyo, and finally in Bangkok -- and I felt that the best way of confronting the prophecy was the Asian one: not to fight against it, but to submit.
"You believe in it, then?" teased my fellow journalists -- especially the Western ones, the sort of people who are used to demanding a clear-cut yes or no to every question, even to such an ill-framed one as this. But we do not have to believe the weather forecast to carry an umbrella on a cloudy day. Rain is a possibility, the umbrella a precaution. Why tempt fate if fate itself gives you a sign, a hint? When the roulette ball lands on the black three or four times in a row, some gamblers count on statistical probability and bet all their money on the red. Not me: I bet on the black again. Has the ball itself not winked at me?
And then, the idea of not flying for a whole year was an attraction in itself. A challenge, first and foremost. It really tickled me to pretend an old Chinese in Hong Kong might hold the key to my future. It felt like taking the first step into an unknown world. I was curious to see where more steps in the same direction would lead. If nothing else, they would introduce me, for a while, to a different life from the one I normally led. For years I have traveled by plane, my profession taking me to the craziest places on earth, places where wars are being waged, where revolutions break out or terrible disasters occur. Obviously I had held my breath on more than one occasion -- landing with an engine in flames, or with a mechanic squeezed in a trapdoor between the seats, hammering away at the undercarriage that was refusing to descend.
If I had dismissed the prophecy and carried on flying in 1993, I would certainly have done so with more than the usual pinch of anxiety that sooner or later strikes all those -- including pilots -- who spend much of their lives in the air; but I would have carried on with my normal routine: planes, taxis, hotels, taxis, planes. That divine warning (yes: "divination," "divine," so alike!) gave me a chance -- in a way obliged me -- to inject a variant into my days.
From the Hardcover edition.
It happened in Hong Kong. I had come across that old Chinese man by sheer chance. When I heard his dire words I was momentarily taken aback, but not deeply disturbed. It was the spring of 1976, and 1993 seemed a long way off. I did not forget the date, however; it lingered at the back of my mind, rather like an appointment one hasn't yet decided whether to keep or not.
Nineteen seventy-seven . . . 1987 . . . 1990 . . . 1991. Sixteen years seem an eternity, especially when viewed from the perspective of Day One. But, like all our years (except those of adolescence), they passed very quickly, and in no time at all I found myself at the end of 1992. Well, then, what was I to do? Take that old Chinese man's warning seriously and reorganize my life? Or pretend it had never happened and carry on regardless, telling myself, "To hell with fortune-tellers and all their rubbish"?
By that time I had been living in Asia solidly for over twenty years -- first in Singapore, then in Hong Kong, Peking, Tokyo, and finally in Bangkok -- and I felt that the best way of confronting the prophecy was the Asian one: not to fight against it, but to submit.
"You believe in it, then?" teased my fellow journalists -- especially the Western ones, the sort of people who are used to demanding a clear-cut yes or no to every question, even to such an ill-framed one as this. But we do not have to believe the weather forecast to carry an umbrella on a cloudy day. Rain is a possibility, the umbrella a precaution. Why tempt fate if fate itself gives you a sign, a hint? When the roulette ball lands on the black three or four times in a row, some gamblers count on statistical probability and bet all their money on the red. Not me: I bet on the black again. Has the ball itself not winked at me?
And then, the idea of not flying for a whole year was an attraction in itself. A challenge, first and foremost. It really tickled me to pretend an old Chinese in Hong Kong might hold the key to my future. It felt like taking the first step into an unknown world. I was curious to see where more steps in the same direction would lead. If nothing else, they would introduce me, for a while, to a different life from the one I normally led. For years I have traveled by plane, my profession taking me to the craziest places on earth, places where wars are being waged, where revolutions break out or terrible disasters occur. Obviously I had held my breath on more than one occasion -- landing with an engine in flames, or with a mechanic squeezed in a trapdoor between the seats, hammering away at the undercarriage that was refusing to descend.
If I had dismissed the prophecy and carried on flying in 1993, I would certainly have done so with more than the usual pinch of anxiety that sooner or later strikes all those -- including pilots -- who spend much of their lives in the air; but I would have carried on with my normal routine: planes, taxis, hotels, taxis, planes. That divine warning (yes: "divination," "divine," so alike!) gave me a chance -- in a way obliged me -- to inject a variant into my days.
From the Hardcover edition.
Recenzii
“Terzani’s thoughtful progression provides great pleasure because he is more open to the people, and people are always the real journey.” —Book Page
“A marvelous traveling companion, Terzani entertains us with his reflections on subjects from astrology to political violence, from the depravity of Bangkok to the sterility of Singapore, and introduces us to the characters he meets along the way.” —O, The Oprah Magazine
“An extraordinary and nuanced account of a journey through the Far East and Southeast Asia.” —Library Journal
“A marvelous traveling companion, Terzani entertains us with his reflections on subjects from astrology to political violence, from the depravity of Bangkok to the sterility of Singapore, and introduces us to the characters he meets along the way.” —O, The Oprah Magazine
“An extraordinary and nuanced account of a journey through the Far East and Southeast Asia.” —Library Journal
Notă biografică
For thirty years, Tiziano Terzani has lived in Asia, reporting on its wars and revolutions as Far East correspondent of the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel. Born in Florence, he was educated in Europe and the United States. Since 1994 he has made New Delhi his base.