Hard Travel to Sacred Places (Paperback)

by Rudolph Wurlitzer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
After the untimely death of their 21-year-old son, novelist/screenwriter Wurlitzer ( Little Buddha ) and his wife, photogapher Lynn Davis, embarked on a spiritual journey through Thailand, Burma (now Myanmar) and Cambodia, seeking solace and enlightenment from Buddhist sacred places. They found instead a consumer culture in which material desire has displaced the spiritual center with disastrous consequences for the indigenous practice of Buddhism. By the end of their journey, Wurlitzer and Davis have failed to find the illumination and peace they had so desperately sought. Unfortunately, readers will gain as little from this book as the authors did from their trip, for Wurlitzer's style is pretentious, and his questions, for one who claims to have practiced Buddhism, are sophomoric and self-conscious. Had he remembered that in Buddhism enlightenment comes only after one has forsaken all desire, he might have been able to transcend the physical and spiritual exhaustion that dominated his journey. Since he did not however, his readers are left likewise exhausted and without enlightenment.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Wurlitzer, the screenwriter for Bertolucci's Little Buddha, offers a fragmented narrative of a multipurpose fling through Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), and Cambodia. The author and his wife, a photographer on assignment, were mourning the death of his stepson (her son), exploring film projects, seeking spiritual soothing by visiting such sites as Tham Krabok and Angkor Wat, reporting on the sex shows of Bangkok, and apparently writing this book to pay for it all. The text is heavily larded with quotes on Buddhism and newspaper clippings of current events. Wurlitzer's contribution details the couple's fevers and aches-and inoperative hotel plumbing. The result is a superficial view of the area. Many good books are being published on this region and what its cultures can mean to us, for example, Sue Downie's Down Highway One (Allen & Unwin, 1993) and Stan Sesser's The Lands of Charm and Cruelty (LJ 5/1/93). This isn't one of them.
Harold M. Otness, Southern Oregon State Coll. Lib., Ashland
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; First Edition. first paper edition (September 11, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570621179
• ISBN-13: 978-1570621178
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,191,308 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profound and moving., September 26, 2004

By	S.G. (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hard Travel to Sacred Places (Hardcover)

I couldn't differ more with the review by T. Gilbert! Sure this book is self-absorbed - but as the author journeys into himself he finds a universal suffrage. The author's courage to face off against death is remarkable in these times of flippancy and shallow know-it-all attitudes. The author is a wonderful guide through the darkness - and to be admired. There's nothing at all sophomoric that I could find in the book, nothing. It's as serious as it gets. The way that the author divides up the journey into a lusting/ignoring/hating triad of suffering is as an intuitive an expression of Buddhism as I have ever come across in my studies. Perhaps "every one has experienced loss in their life"; but few of us dare to share the accompanying humiliation with each other, or ourselves. Thank you Mr. Wurlitzer!

I also suggest Inside Thai Society: Religion, Everyday Life, Change by Niels Mulder and Bali, Sekala and Niskala: Essays on Religion, Ritual, and Art by Fred B. Eiseman for an exploration of how Buddhism can help guide us over, around, and under the many hurdles in life.

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense meditation of life and death, September 23, 2008

By	Ronelle Coburn "Your Destiny Decoder" - See all my reviews

Not for the faint of heart (or the heartless). This compassionate and compelling little book packs a mighty wollop and takes you on a deep journey to the place inside of you that asks, "What's life all about anyway?"

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dark, moody, but interesting and memorable, February 11, 2004

By A Customer

I read this because I liked the title, and thought the idea of the book - travelnig to a powerful place during a difficult time in life - was promising. The book turned out to be darker than I expected - but it was still moving and memorable. I read this book years ago but still recall passages and ideas from it. I think if I went to Cambodia or other places mentioned, I'd reread this short book - just to help give me a deep emotional context to consider while I'm there. Good - easy to read - but it might stay with you.