Rating: 
Summary: Travel by book
Review: As someone who has always planned/thought/meant to travel and have lots of adventures of my own (but never actually had the means or time to travel), I can really appreciate all the detail and descriptions in Ms. Griest's Around the Bloc. I may not always agree with her conclusions, but I actually am grateful for them. I would so much rather hear opinions that cause me to think than feel affirmed or bored. It is almost as if she is an incredible, funny, and lively travel companion throughout this journey around the "Communist Bloc" and I get to hear her end-of-the-day assessment of her adventures and then begin to form my own. Her openness throughout the book about her experiences and mistakes help to endear and make her experiences much more "real" than a flat newspaper-style book. I have learned SO MUCH from this book about places that I will likely never visit and very much enjoyed having my eyes open to new perspectives on some very old issues.
Rating:
Summary: Pack your bags
Review: For anyone who travels or who has ever wanted to travel, this is the way it should be done. Open-eyed, self-aware, tremendously brave and always willing to say she was wrong, Griest investigates the various nooks and corners of Evil Empires and guess what - she finds dancing, great food, love, murder, kitsch souvenirs and wonderful people. An inspiration.
Rating:
Summary: More than a memoir -- an amazing read!!
Review: I loved this book for many reasons, including the fact that it is as much a travelogue as it is a memoir (and a "Communist 101" history lesson)! Griest is funny and candid about her own initial misconceptions and cultural misshaps (her account of the Chinese lunch with her new colleagues is priceless!), but she still manages to bring her stories to life, avoiding caricatures and cliches.Some of Griest's experiences resonated with me, like the challenges of settling into life in a foreign city. Although I have never traveled through China or Russia, her amazing gift for story-telling made the places and people in her book seem surprisingly familiar. I highly recommend "Around the Bloc"!!! And I can't wait to see where she travels to next!
Rating:
Summary: Pack your bags
Review: I loved this book for many reasons, including the fact that it is as much a travelogue as it is a memoir (and a "Communist 101" history lesson)! Griest is funny and candid about her own initial misconceptions and cultural misshaps (her account of the Chinese lunch with her new colleagues is priceless!), but she still manages to bring her stories to life, avoiding caricatures and cliches. Some of Griest's experiences resonated with me, like the challenges of settling into life in a foreign city. Although I have never traveled through China or Russia, her amazing gift for story-telling made the places and people in her book seem surprisingly familiar. I highly recommend "Around the Bloc"!!! And I can't wait to see where she travels to next!
Rating:
Summary: More than a memoir -- an amazing read!!
Review: I loved this book for many reasons, including the fact that it is as much a travelogue as it is a memoir (and a "Communist 101" history lesson)! Griest is funny and candid about her own initial misconceptions and cultural misshaps (her account of the Chinese lunch with her new colleagues is priceless!), but she still manages to bring her stories to life, avoiding caricatures and cliches. Some of Griest's experiences resonated with me, like the challenges of settling into life in a foreign city. Although I have never traveled through China or Russia, her amazing gift for story-telling made the places and people in her book seem surprisingly familiar. I highly recommend "Around the Bloc"!!! And I can't wait to see where she travels to next!
Rating:
Summary: Move over Bryson
Review: I rarely buy into the "so good you can't put it down" rhetoric when talking about books to read. Stephanie Griest's Around the Bloc is an exception. Reminiscent of my favorite, Bill Bryson, she has an amazing combination of detail, brilliant humor, and historical research that both teaches and entertains. This is a book that can profoundly change the way young people look at foreign travel or foreign study. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to study abroad as a guidebook for how to truly capture the essense of cultural immersion. Griest's re-discovery of her own culture through learning about others is an inspiring gem of a lesson.
Rating:
Summary: Move over Bryson
Review: I rarely buy into the "so good you can't put it down" rhetoric when talking about books to read. Stephanie Griest's Around the Bloc is an exception. Reminiscent of my favorite, Bill Bryson, she has an amazing combination of detail, brilliant humor, and historical research that both teaches and entertains. This is a book that can profoundly change the way young people look at foreign travel or foreign study. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to study abroad as a guidebook for how to truly capture the essense of cultural immersion. Griest's re-discovery of her own culture through learning about others is an inspiring gem of a lesson.
Rating:
Summary: Move over Bryson
Review: I rarely buy into the "so good you can't put it down" rhetoric when talking about books to read. Stephanie Griest's Around the Bloc is an exception. Reminiscent of my favorite, Bill Bryson, she has an amazing combination of detail, brilliant humor, and historical research that both teaches and entertains. This is a book that can profoundly change the way young people look at foreign travel or foreign study. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to study abroad as a guidebook for how to truly capture the essense of cultural immersion. Griest's re-discovery of her own culture through learning about others is an inspiring gem of a lesson.
Rating:
Summary: A fun, insightful read.
Review: I read this book when on vacation in Mexico, and by the time I got back, I felt I'd travelled the world. Stephanie's ability to stay in the moment is her greatest attribute, I felt that I was with her all the way. As for her insight, I don't subscribe to the philosophy that every experience is a "soul-transforming journey" that needs to be analyzed ad nauseum. On the other hand, I feel that Stephanie slowly builds to a more subtle shift, toward the onset of self-discovery. I especially enjoyed how she described a death in her family and how she experienced culture, it seemed only natural to me that she would explore this with regard to her own experience in the end.
Rating: 
Summary: VIva Stephanie!
Review: Loved her book, her easy style, the author's sense of adventure as well as her self-avowed weaknesses. It opened my eyes to many states of being. Re previous reviewer: Identity is always an issue, especially when the the dominant culture refuses to acknowledge it.
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