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Across China (G K Hall Large Print Book Series)
by Peter Jenkins
Product Group: Book
Publisher: G K Hall & Co (1988-04)
ISBN: 0816143463
EAN: 9780816143467
Dewy Decimal #: 915.1045
Hardcover: 4 pages
Edition: Lrg
SKU: 41485
Condition: New
Comments: THE HARDBACK BOOK! NOT A LARGE PRINT. MORROW, 1986. THE UNABRIDGED 1ST EDITION, 1ST PRINT. WITH TERRIFIC PHOTOGRAPHS! HARDCOVER W/GILT LETTERING, DUST JACKET AND PAGES ARE NEW! RAPID SHIPPING W/FREE TRACKING, GREAT PACKAGING. Air Mail. BL, RD..
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
In the mid-1970s Peter Jenkins set out across the country's heartland to rediscover America. His stirring account of that extraordinary quest unfolded in the two bestselling books, A Walk Across America and The Walk West, which brought joy and inspiration to millions of readers.
Now The Magnificent Journey Of Discovery Continues On The Far Side Of The World...
Across China
A phone call from a friend marked the beginning of a rare opportunity for Peter Jenkins to trek deep into Tibet, over Mount Everest, and across China to gaze on an ancient mysterious land that few Westerners have ever seen. You will share in his wonder and excitement as he joins some of the world's most daring adventures to conquer the Himalayas...as he defies the Chinese authorities to explore an off-limits fishing village...as he wanders across the steppes of the proud Mongol herdsmen to wrestle with the descendents of Genghis Khan's legendary Golden Horde.
Across China is the journal of a don't-fence-me-in American. It is the story of an astonishing voyage that opened his eyes to new worlds and his heart to new friends, a voyage that strengthened his pride in America.
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Customer Reviews
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Disappointing
Rating  (1)
Date: 2008-04-02
I picked up this book at a book sale, and it wasn't worth the 50 cents I payed for it. but that's about it. It reads like the author is describing a story that someone else told him, and describing it badly. The writing is patronizing, assuming we don't know how to pronounce city names like "Lhasa", and explaining what a crevasse is. the characters are flat, and the adventure isn't exciting. This is an example of someone who got a book just because they did something that unusual, and maybe who they knew, not on their writing abilities. I would recommend that you do not read this book. Rather pick up Colin Thurbrons "Shadow of the silk Road" The pages he's in china paint an infinitely better picture of China this this book does.
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Worthwhile reading diversion
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-01-26
Have read most of Peter's books, his walks across America, his boat trip around the Gulf of Mexico, his adventures to Alaska and find this book to be in keeping with his personna as a traveling author. His writing style is a bit folksy and down to earth. In his books, you do feel like your traveling alongside him, meeting the people and experiencing the trip. Through the books, you come to know a lot about his life and family as well as wherever he is traveling. Certainly his books will not go down as a marvel of literary accomplishment, but I do enjoy simply sitting back seeing new places and experiences though the eyes of someone who has taken the initiative to travel places and write about it for us readers. All in all his books are good, comforting reads. And I'd recommend this and any of his books if you're looking for a story of one's travels to places we otherwise may never visit. Lastly, it's probably worth noting that China has radically changed since this book was written, so it's somewhat dated, yet looking past that, it's a glimpse into another place, another time.
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adventures without leaving home
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-01-10
this is an exciting and easy read. i couldn't put it down!
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Disappointing piece of writing
Rating  (2)
Date: 2006-08-23
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is disappointingly adolescent. The writing is stale, especially given the imagination-stimulating possibilities when encountering a new culture, but its worst failing is the barely hidden--and quite possibly even written unawares--xenophobia. Much of the description is insulting--meant to be amusing, I suspect, but Jenkins comes across as a man who is determined to vaunt America and disparage Chinese history and culture. From the very beginning, still in the States, when he describes one of his "favorite waitresses" as having "a perm and wears tight pants", I squirmed. Did a teacher never help him distinguish between `telling detail' and pointless detail? More disturbing here, perhaps: is he unaware of the negative implications of this description? I wouldn't want to be any favorite of his. It's dated, yes--his never having met any "Orientals" (his description), say--but beyond this, the picture is flat, strained in its sentimental description, and the narrator comes across as self-absorbed and unsympathetic. For a far more comprehensive and thought-provoking picture of China in the 80s, and beautifully written, try Colin Thubron's, Behind the Wall.
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Enjoyable Read
Rating (4)
Date: 2003-02-14
3 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is written from the viewpoint of an American with little knowledge of China. I think it is an entertaining book about new and unique experiences. It is not intended to be a deep study about China.I'm just finished the book (it's now 2003). I believe Peter's trip to China took place in 1984. I'm sure things have changed a great deal in the last 19 years! I would recommend this book.
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