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Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey
 
 
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Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey (Paperback)

~ (Author) "THE plates were being cleared from the table, and I had just begun finishing off the salad-part of what had become a weekly ritual at..." (more)
Key Phrases: exhibited items, throat singing, Los Angeles, Academy of Sciences, Soviet Union (more...)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)

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Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey + Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) + What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Richard Feynman, brilliant physicist and inspirational teacher, wasn't much for coats and ties. He lived a life that the adjective "bohemian" doesn't begin to cover, scripting percussion scores for avant-garde ballet troupes, musing over life's imponderables, and delighting and annoying his many friends with odd-duck questions--all the while teaching generations of students at CalTech.

Always adventurous, Feynman was also a careful planner, recounts his friend and fellow drummer Ralph Leighton in this affectionate memoir. When a chance remark happened to dislodge a long-dormant memory of a faraway Siberian land called Tannu-Tuva, Feynman and Leighton set about scheming to get there--a program that included learning the little-described Tuvan language, picking up the rudiments of throat singing, and reading the scattered, hard-to-find literature concerning a place that, in Feynman's fond view, was as close to paradise as the earth contained. It also involved corresponding with scholars in what was still the Soviet Union and wrangling with bureaucrats to secure the necessary papers--all for the sake of seeing a country that had to be interesting, Feynman insisted, just because its capital, Kyzyl, had such an odd spelling.

These picaresque armchair adventures make up the bulk of Tuva or Bust, an unconventional mix of travelogue and scientific biography that's a pleasure to read at every turn. The book yields a memorable picture of Richard Feynman--who did not live to see Tuva, but whose memory is honored there today, thanks to Leighton's refusal to abandon their shared dream. --Gregory McNamee



From Publishers Weekly

In a high-spirited tale of adventure and heartbreak, Leighton travels to a remote corner of Mongolia on behalf of his dying friend, the late physicist Feynman. Illustrated.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 260 pages
  • Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; 1st edition (May 15, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0393320693
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393320695
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #267,786 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #8 in  Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( F ) > Feynman, Richard
    #52 in  Books > Travel > Asia > Russia

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Customer Reviews

29 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely pleasant and informative book on lost land of Tuva, October 11, 1999
By Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
When I was a kid in the 1950s I collected stamps and had quite a few from a mysterious little land called "Tannu Tuva". It always intrigued me because though I could find it on the old globe we had at home (made before the USSR swallowed the unfortunate Tuvans in 1944)I never heard the slightest news from there, nor did I ever hear of anyone going or coming from that little red country sandwiched between the yellow Soviet Union and green Mongolia. Time passed. A lot of time. Fast forward in fact, forty years. One day I saw a new book advertised--TUVA OR BUST. I could scarcely believe that somebody else in America remembered that hapless little country that once issued diamond and triangle stamps with yaks, camels, archers, and horsemen on them. Yet, they had it at our local bookstore. I bought it and read it as soon as I got home. What a treat ! I had never heard of Richard Feynman, not being a physics aficionado, but he turned out to be a great character. I enjoyed reading about his years-long efforts with Ralph Leighton to get to Tuva. They went through all kinds of trouble and interesting side voyages. I strongly recommend that you read this book. For me, reading the book was only a beginning. I listened to the plastic disc of Tuvan throat singing that came with the book, and subsequently bought tapes and attended Tuvan concerts by the group Huun Huur Tu in Boston. I also became a "Friend of Tuva". You can find their website on the net. I still drive around with my 'Tuva or Bust' bumper sticker. All of this stemmed from reading this delightful book on a faraway, unknown country and two people's adventures trying to get there. A very pleasurable experience.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars funny, informative, and even a little inspiring, February 26, 2001
By Diana Nier (Ithaca, NY, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
"Tuva or Bust!" is the story of three friends in the 1980s, who were determined to travel to Tuva, a little known land in Central Asia, which at that time was part of the Soviet Union. Their original motivation? As Richard Feynman says in the first chapter, "A place that's spelled K-Y-Z-Y-L (Tuva's capitol) has just got to be interesting!"

The book chronicles the adventures and misadventures of Ralph Leighton, one of Feynman's longtime friends. Though the book is subtitled "Richard Feynman's Last Journey," it's really Leighton's story; Feynman is more of an inspiration and a supporting character. Over several years, Leighton and his friends wrote letters, researched articles, read books, and became more and more fascinated by Tuva, a tiny country in the middle of nowhere. They learned, among other things, that Tuvans practice three different types of steppe herding lifestyles, within a hundred miles of each other, and that Tuva is the home of throat-singing, a musical technique in which a single person produces two notes at the same time.

Leighton's narration is chatty, reminiscent of Feynman's autobiographical works; one suspects Leighton learned to tell anecdotes from his friend. However, Leighton isn't as inherently fascinating a narrator as Feynman. Also, Feynman's persistent cancer, which kept him from participating in several preliminary trips, and finally killed him shortly before Leighton received permission for a group of Americans to travel to Tuva itself, casts a pall over the book.

Still, this is a fascinating story -- a great example of what people can do if they really care about a cause, and don't realize precisely how little chance they have of succeeding. It is also informative, if somewhat superficial in its description of Tuvan culture; I now want to know more about Central Asian peoples, and Tuvans in particular. But while the chapter "Reflections 2000," included in the new paperback version of "Tuva or Bust!" is interesting, I really don't think it was fair of Leighton to mention a new idea for a Tuvan monument to Feynman, and refuse to give any details. Now I want another reprint!

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly interesting travel saga featuring R. Feynman, July 11, 1996
By A Customer
I began reading "Tuva or Bust" as a result of my admiration for physicist Richard Feynman. Although subtitled "Richard Feynman's Last Journey," "Tuva or Bust" is more about the efforts of the author, Richard Leighton, to get permission and the means to visit a Soviet republic formerly known as Tannu Tuva in the 1980's because "any country whose capital is spelled 'Kyzyl' must be worth visiting." The book is simultaneously an adventure story, a manual on how to do research and a loving (in a manly way) tribute to the genius of Richard Feynman. I learned more from this little book than from the last half-dozen tomes consumed. As an added bonus, (the hardcover edition, at least) contains a vinyl record with samples of Tuvan "throat singing" in which the singer produces two notes simultaneously!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is a fraud
I am a confirmed Feynman fan and even met him a couple of times. I was eager to learn more about him and his travels. Read more
Published on April 2, 2007 by Barry Robinson

5.0 out of 5 stars More than a book...
It was all just accidental. I stumbled upon this book through a documentary that I rented, called Ganghis Blues. Read more
Published on March 11, 2006 by Abbey Normal

5.0 out of 5 stars Off-beat , wonderful video!
If you are a fan of Richard Feynman, the nuclear physicist that dreamed of going to Tuva, you will just love this video. If you know nothing of Mr. Read more
Published on January 15, 2006 by L.Vital

4.0 out of 5 stars Great story, though it loses its steam
I would never had read this book had I not recently had the chance to see Huun Huur Tu, a throat-singing voice from Tuva. Read more
Published on September 4, 2005 by Babaylan

3.0 out of 5 stars Something To Do
A peculiar book: Ralph Leighton's TUVA OR BUST isn't really about Richard Feynman, who, the more one reads about him, begins to seem a genius, yes, but more than a little... Read more
Published on May 6, 2004 by Matthew J. Bond

4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly Great, But Slightly Condescending!
Did you know of certain artists who painted scenes on a human hair! Yes, bring your magnifying glass! Or singing in 2 part harmony with only one singer! Read more
Published on December 15, 2003 by S. Henkels

5.0 out of 5 stars Feynman's inspiration...
If you're reading this review, you've probably read dozens of witicisms from Richard Feynman, one of science's most colorful characters. Read more
Published on November 30, 2003 by therosen

3.0 out of 5 stars It's nice to be in Feynman's company again
The obsession started with a simple question, posed after dinner in 1977, when the subject of conversation had turned to geography. Read more
Published on October 2, 2003 by Debra Hamel

4.0 out of 5 stars The final chapter of "Surely You must be Joking"
This book is more about Ralph than it is about Richard. But it gives us some insight as to what life was like living close to Dr. Feynman. Read more
Published on September 16, 2003 by G. Powell

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun read
I just had a few miscellaneous comments on this book.

Although this book isn't so much about Feynman's last trip as about the trials and tribulations he and his longtime friend... Read more

Published on July 18, 2003 by magellan

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