Customer Reviews

Video Night in Kathmandu: And Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Pico Iyer has written an interesting set of annecdotes on Asia during the late 80s boom years. It covers the isolation of Burma, the sex trade in Thailand, the night life in Nepal, and everything inbetween. The book takes a deeper view beyond the stereotypes to understand the complexities of the cultural merging.

The book really has two main values. First, it gives an annecdotal view of a lifestyle that, while only 15-20 years ago, is already gone. Hong Kong 1986 is a place in transition that is different than Hong Kong today. While many books today provide political and economic viewpoints on the times, and the changes, they don't accurately cover an expats view of life and cultural exchange.

The second value is in understanding aspects of the culture that still apply. India's polyclot of ethnic groups and interaction with the West applies today. Pico Iyer is adept at capturing cultural traits that last, and perhaps even grow, despite the pressures of a globalizing world.

I'm not a universal fan of all of Iyer's material, but this is certainly one of his better works. It's more readable, and the concepts more universal and lasting than some of his other books.

This book is excellent. Iyer is not trying to - nor does he in any way claim to - "interpret" or "explain" the countries or people or cultures he is visiting. His goal is to report from the fault line where the colossal mass of Western money and consumer culture bumps up against the even more colossal mass of Asian societies and cultures. This collision produces many fascinating, humorous, and poignant situations which Iyer captures perfectly in his excellent writing. In each country he visits, Iyer is able to identify and bring to the page exactly those details that perfectly symbolize the situations he is writing about.

What especially impressed me was that Iyer does not romanticize or glorify or exoticize what is beautiful about the lands he travels to. Nor does he denigrate their shortcomings. He is a fair and honest observer of what he has chosen to observe: the ground zero of "west" meeting "east".

As someone who has studied in both China and Thailand (as well as two other Asian countries which were not in the book), I can vouch for the accuracy of what Iyer is reporting. Sure, a scholarly author might have added more details about Chinese philosophy or Thai history. But for his chosen topic, Iyer's accounts are complete and flawless.

The book is certainly entertaining, but it is also informative and thought-provoking as well. Well done, Mr. Iyer.

The currency and accuracy of the information aside (China abolished FECs and foreigner prices more than a decade ago), this book presents many truths that may go against a lot of things that the tourism authority and the infatuated romantic writers say. Without actually making fun of everybody, Pico Iyer skillfully paints a poetic yet cynical and down to earth, almost Dickensian picture of developing Asian countries where the citizens quite happily watch Hollywood movies and pore over the latest electronic gadgetry.

Iyer's insights are by no means new, unique or even profound. He sympathised with Chinese-occupied Tibet. He blew the spiritual cover of hippies in Nepal. He talked about the sex trade in Thailand. However, it is through this book that I discovered Pico Iyer's great talent with words and highly polished writing style. For those who like "plain English", I would certainly not recommend Iyer's books. But for those who enjoy introspective literary works, Iyer will not disappoint.

My favourite chapter is Thailand - Love in a Duty-Free Zone. The content of the chapter is as full of nuances as the title.

Iyer's book captures a particular moment in the 1980s in each of the places he visits. He acknowledges that he provides little historical context for his experiences, such as how the Indian movie industry developed as it did or why the Philippines seems lost in the relics of the by-gone rock-and-roll era. I do not recommend the book to those seeking any sort of historical explanation of what is happening in Asian/American cultural exchange, although it is (probably) quite enjoyable to everyone else.

As a long standing fan of Pico Iyer's writing, I had high expectations of this book. It is entertaining and fun, but Mr. Iyer comes off as rather self-centered. You hear a lot about the girls who meet him (...). Some of the sardonic observations go beyond Mr. Iyers usual clear-eyed notice to the point of churlishness.

That said, it is much better than the usual pabulum offerred by travel essay writers. If you are new to Iyer, start with "Falling off the Map" for a smoother taste of his style.

Brings back times of travel before the world learned of the Internet. True description of the oddities of Katmandu for anyone who has spent some time there. Most travelers simply pass in and out of the capital with 2-3 days on the front and/or back end of a journey. If you can take the time to soak up the side streets, meet the locals and spend time with family and children, this exciting capital offers some of the most exciting asian travel adventures...try to spend a week there if possible. A good absorbtion of the Katmandu valley for 3 weeks will bring liftime memories.

Perhaps it's because I'm reading it 20 years later, but I was not so impressed with this book, for all the reasons mentioned above. He admits it's a tourist's eye view of cultures which are far more complex. It is descriptive in an almost circumstantial kind of way, and not elevating at all, or much. I thought it was sweet that he kept in touch with so many of the people he met during his travels, and he seems to have a genuinely good heart. But I felt like he was poking fun at many of them, too. Read it for the snapshot of Asia in the late-80s that it is, and a very narrowly focused one at that.

While I agree that Video Night is abit dated, I still loved the book. And I was delighted to see Murni's restaurant mentioned in the book. I have heard about her for years from my friend who traveled many times to Bali and other places in Indonesia. What a pleasure to read this book.

As I was reading, I couldn't help but think Iyer was trying to prove his point too much by rattling away with endless examples of globalism and American influence on Asian countries. Ok, so you can order guacamole in Indonesia. You can eat burgers in Nepal. Kids breakdance in Beijing. There are Philipinos singing Frank Sinatra in karaoke bars in the back alleys of Manila. We get the point. As an expat living in Asia, these things are a given, and in Asia 2010, I am surrounded by American culture everyday. But then I realized my gripe was based on one thing--the year 2010.

Video Night in Katmandu on the other hand, was written in 1989, and it was a very different world then. Internet had barely a presence in Asia at that point, and only the rich had mobile phones. Online streaming movies and music were non-existent, and current and reliable world media in countries like China and Burma (or even Thailand, for that matter) was shaky at best. It's amazing to think how much things have changed over the last twenty years due to technology. Actually, it's a bit scary.

Overall, the book is a quaint reminder of what once was, but its commentary on American influence in Asia seems to lack the punch it may have once had. That said, Iyer's writing is eloquent, and his cultural insights struck a good balance between humorous and heartfelt; a balance I hope to find in my own travel writing. I particularly enjoyed the Thai and Burma sections, and his final chapter, where he gives updates about some of the characters he met along his travels.

I am slowly working my way through Iyer's collection of travel essay books,passing them on to friends when I am through. He seems unusually able to capture the spirt and sense of places and even more so, the local people. When I read his comments on places I've been, I say "yup, that's right"; when I read those on places I have not been, I say "let's go". He injects just the right amount of personal reactions/interactions into the essays; just the right amount of detail to make the reader feel he/she is really there. I read this one the way to/from HongKong this year; nothing could have been a better preview or review.