The Asiatics (Armed Services edition) [Paperback]

Frederic Prokosch (Author)

Book Description

Series: Armed Services edition | Publication Date: 1945

This extraordinary novel, first published in 1935 and now a classic, tells the story of a perceptive young American who hitchhikes across Asia -- from Beirut to the border of China -- living off the land and the hospitality of the people he meets along the way.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Prokosch has invented what might be called the geographical novel, in which he mingles sensuality with irony, lucidity with mystery. He conveys a fatalistic sense of life half hidden beneath a rich animal energy. He is a master of moods and undertones, a virtuoso in the feeling of place, and he writes in a style of supple elegance." --Albert Camus

"The Asiatics is original in its conception, beautiful in its execution. It belongs with the most notable modern American books. " --Carl Van Doren

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Frederic Prokosch (1908-89) was a distinguished American poet and novelist of the 1930s and 1940s. Among his other novels are The Seven Who Fled (1937) and Night of the Poor.

Pico Iyer is the author of several books of travel and fiction, including Video Night in Kathmandu.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Editions for the Armed Services (1945)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00085OQ70
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful work of the imagination, March 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Asiatics: A Novel (Paperback)

Frederic Prokosch wrote this imaginary journey from Lebanon across Asia to Hanoi in 1931 before he ever set foot in Asia. In the novel, the narrator, a young American, travels in catch-as-catch-can manner across the exotic continent. The landscape descriptions are extraordinary. Everywhere he meets with adventure and exotic characters who lament the end of Asia as they know it (this in 1931!). The novel was a bestseller in 1934. I nominate it as the greatest forgotten novel of the 20th Century.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The authentic aura of the lands east of the Mediterranean., August 8, 2007

By 

Theodore Oberlander "geo guy" (Orinda, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Asiatics: A Novel (Paperback)

The negative (one star) review is far off the mark, and is as accurate as the incorrect title, "The Asians". I read this book while I was living IN Iran in 1962, after a lengthy stay in Beirut, driving a used VW across through Syria and Turkey, and working back, a year later, through Iraq, Jordan, and Syria, always utilizing the most basic of accomodations, including the dirt floors of rodent- and gecko-infested hovels. I felt that "The Asiatics" caught the atmosphere of the Middle East and its peoples wonderfully well, as did another superb book by Prokosch, "Nine Days to Mukalla." This is very hard to do if one has not spent time there and lived with the people, and I don't mean in a hotel, consulate, or embassy. I have read many books about the Middle East, and this is one of the few that ring true. For example, Michener's "Caravans"--perhaps the only book many will have read on the Middle East--has not one scintilla of authenticity. In my opinion travel writers like Bruce Chatwin and Paul Theroux fade into insignificance when compared with Prokosch. The negative reviewer has some axe to grind. Maybe he feels that Prokosch insulted his Asian (I'd guess Iranian) ancestors. My old paperback copy of "The Asiatics" (1960 Signet edition) is falling apart, and I have been hoping for a reissue of this work, so rightly praised by people infinitely more distinguished than that dispeptic reviewer. In my home "The Asiatics" is on a shelf between "Madam Bovary" and "Lord Jim"--right there with the classics.

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it 50 years ago and it still sticks with me., December 6, 2010

By 

Michael Everett (Santa Monica) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Asiatics : A Novel (Paperback)

I read this book in the early 60's and it has stayed with me ever since. That alone should serve as a recommendation. I'm thinking this book might end up as a Xmas gift for my daughter.