Customer Reviews

Kingdom of Ten Thousand Things: An Impossible Journey from Kabul to Chiapas

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The premise of this book is wonderful - tracing the path of a Buddhist monk who is reputed to have traveled from Afghanistan, across China, and on to the Amreicas in the 5th century. One might expect, at the least, that a poet writing about his travels would produce a book that would have beautiful descriptions of people, places and things. At best, one could hope for exploration of insights and thoughts about what it is to be a traveler - actually and metaphorically, and speculation about the spiritual import of such a journey.
Unfortunately, what we get in this book is a collection of places vaguely described by a depressed man who spends most of his time writing about himself and his reaction to the places so ill-described. Frankly, this self-described "grumpy" man is not very good company for this trip, and all we are left with is a sense of trip of wonderful possibilities unrealized. The only thing impossible about this journey is the writer.

What could have been such a promising book -- a modern journey through the historical route of a 5th century Afghan monk (Huishen) purported to have crossed the Pacific -- falls flat, missing out on almost every opportunity to provide historical context, relevant or insightful musings on the relationships between the present day countries and the world of Huishen, or even transcriptions of the records attributed to Huishen, which the author only obliquely references. Rather, we're left with detailed scatalogical commentary, unbelievably corny humor, questions so politically naive as to be beyond the pale ("Do you think Tibet will ever be free?"), extended commentary from the author's journal from times at which he was admittedly delirious, and more! The author seems to believe that the fact that he is a poet exempts him from things like "form" and "content" while he is writing prose, much less "information," "narrative structure," or "a good editor." Avoid this book at all costs.

I found this book to be engaging as well and for lack of a better word... fun. To me, this book is not so much about making political statements or discovery, or about trying to provide a dissertation on the turmoil in asia or the americas. I took this as a journal of a man who was trying to find himself just as much he is trying to "rediscover" the steps of an obscure monk in history. If you take it as such, you would find that the things he describes are much like what you would see if you traveled to places like cambodia or indonesia and you would enjoy the book. I did not like the abrupt changes transitions into a recollections or choppy timeline. The descriptions of the characters he meets are certainly poignant and sometimes revolting. However, Mr. Geddes ought not think that all chinese women are crazy about him.

Explore Gary Geddes' emotionally charged, spiritual terrain with him as he passionately traces the pre-Columbian steps of Afghan monk, Huishen, to North America. The compelling poetic prose, humorous at times, subtly reveals much about the political concerns of China, the Middle East, and Central America while transporting the reader into a significant adventure that is both history lesson and pure escapism. Comparatively, think about doing the dishes while singing along to Bob Marley's "One Love/People Get Ready." It's at once engaging and liberating.