The Gnome King reviewed The Japanese chronicles by Nicolas Bouvier
Review of 'The Japanese chronicles' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
A book of two halves, one is a concise history of Japan and it’s people and the second half is a travelogue of one of the most chilled travel writers you’ll ever read.
The history of Japan is not something I know much about, it has only briefly been mentioned in other books so this was the most in-depth I’ve gone. As with a lot of countries they are plodding along nicely…you could say thriving….until the Europeans come along and cause chaos and much bloodshed. The people in Japan did manage to do quite a good job of holding them off and it is because of that achievement they are such a strong nation today. Bouvier has a great love of Japan and this comes through in his writing, a subject that could be rather dry is brightened by his wonderful way with words. I think I would have to …
A book of two halves, one is a concise history of Japan and it’s people and the second half is a travelogue of one of the most chilled travel writers you’ll ever read.
The history of Japan is not something I know much about, it has only briefly been mentioned in other books so this was the most in-depth I’ve gone. As with a lot of countries they are plodding along nicely…you could say thriving….until the Europeans come along and cause chaos and much bloodshed. The people in Japan did manage to do quite a good job of holding them off and it is because of that achievement they are such a strong nation today. Bouvier has a great love of Japan and this comes through in his writing, a subject that could be rather dry is brightened by his wonderful way with words. I think I would have to re-read this book to get a better understanding as it is difficult to remember all the place names and people.
The second half of the book is the memoirs of a man who has spent many years living in and exploring Japan. He comes across as being super relaxed, going with the flow and in no hurry at all. He does his travelling with very little money sleeping in some awful places full of fleas, this is one of the best things about being an armchair traveller