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Summary: He told me it's better than "Crouching Tiger" -- and it is
Review: My dentist lent us his copy of Iron and Silk when I said I'd seen "Crouching Tiger". We we so taken that we bought a copy for ourselves. It's a story that tells a great deal about China, and it's beautifully told. Not to be missed.
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Summary: Iron and Silk
Review: I thought the book Iron and Silk was very interesting as well as humorous and riveting. When I was reading this book it was like Mark Salzman was my tour guide and he was bringing me around every where of China. He shows almost anything a reader wants in his/her book. I have read a couple books such as these but this one is probably the best I've read. I was mostly amazed at how Mark Salzman got into this book with his heart and soul. This is one awesome book that you'll find everywhere.
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Summary: Iron and Silk
Review: I thought the book Iron and Silk was very interesting as well as humorous and riveting. When I was reading book it was like Mark Salzman was my tour guide and he was bringing me around every where of China. He shows almost anything a reader wants in his/her book. I have read a couple books such as these but this one is probably the best I've read. I was mostly amazed at how Mark Salzman got into this book with his heart and soul. This is one awesome book that you'll find everywhere.
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Summary: Easy to Read and interesting
Review: Salzman writes in an easy-going, friendly tone and because of this, he puts the reader right in the story with him. I felt as if I were a friend of Salzman and was following him through his adventures.He shows compassion, intellegence and respect for others in Iron & Silk, and is easy to like. So is his book. I have read other books that have shown me a truer picture of inside China written by authors who were raised in China and then became Americans. Salzman's book, however, probably gives the reader a realistic description of how nonChinese visitors are treated.
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Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: When I returned home after 10 years in the Orient teaching English and learning the martials, I happened upon this book. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. Mark Salzman effectively captures not only the best and worst of his experiences, he fully puts forth the "feel" of excitement and innocence that an ex-pat may experience. When I read this book it was as if he were telling my story. Are you going overseas to teach English or learn the martial arts? Please read this book.
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Summary: A good look at China in transition
Review: Iron and Silk is a look at China through the eyes of an American, Marl Salzman, in the period 1982-84. It is a China in transition. It is also a reality check for westerners visiting the country. There are still concerns about too much western contact, as Mark discovers. His first meal in the communal dining hall is illustrative. It isn't apparent at first but Mark is on a fairly short leash. In spite of all this, he is able to make contact with citizens who in their own way are able to broaden his outlook and change his preconcieved notions. This is a great family movie and the local talent that is used makes all the difference to this movie. Looking at the credits at the end, you realize that the people in supporting roles who makes this movie successful. The location photography also goes a long way to make this movie a good one to have in your personal library. Anyone with an interest in China in the 1980s should have this.
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Summary: Wonderful!!!!
Review: This book captures the experiences and memories of Salzmans journey to China in such a wonderul manner. Reading about the exchange of ideas between east and west, the inevitable clashes due to differing ideoligies, and the experiences that Mark had with some of the greatest martial artists, makes it difficult to put the book down. There are so many times in the book that I was simply astounded by the reactions of Salzmans cohorts, that I looked foward to reading about his next encounter. Whether Mark talks about his students, collegues, his trip to a fishing family or his remarkable opportunity to study under one of the greatest martial artists, they all have a quality about them which offers you almost first hand experience. I would reccommend this book to anyone, even those who are not imparticularly interested in the subject. It is a book that transcends cultural interest. It is a book about life. I am lending this book to everyone I know, and stating that anyone who purchases it, will not be dissapointed.
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Summary: Heart-warming, Winning and Well Worth the Read
Review: This is an autobiographical account of a young man's teaching English for two years in main land China. He also spent his time learning what he could of martial arts, calligraphy, and obviously the wonderfully different and often touching ways of the Chinese people. The vignettes are sketched with humanity, warmth, skill and a great sense of humor. When I told my Chinese friends some of the stories they smiled broadly, nodded knowingly, and assured me that that is the way things are. We appreciated deeply the story of how Mark tried to cash in a dead rat for five cents and ran into bureaucrats who were silly but not stupid. It has been made into a film and the video ought to be readily available. Do see it as well as reading the book. Mark and his teacher Pan play themselves and they're both worth getting to know a lot better.
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Summary: great read
Review: Salzman's humorous, non-condescending & he really cares for the people he writes. I also highly recommend the movie based on this book (of the same name)
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Summary: A Sense of Wonder
Review: In 30 short anecdotes, Mark Salzman gives a compassionate and humorous account of teaching English and studying martial arts in Changsha, a provincial capital in central China shortly after the opening of the country in the early 1980s. Changsha has the reputation that "there is nothing to do, nothing to buy, the people have no manners, the food is terrible and their dialect sounds awful" - so the book might have become very different from what it is: insightful, very funny, and full of respect for the often strange customs of traditional Chinese culture. In the best manner of innocents abroad, Mark Salzman knows how to make fun of his blunders in a very charming way. He conveys his sense of wonder beautifully, and does not pass judgment on anything he witnesses. Unlike many other authors who write about China, he is able to appreciate traditional Chinese forms of expression and self-mastery like martial arts (wushu) and calligraphy on their own terms. In his anecdotes he catches the essence of these arts: dedication, commitment, respect. "No matter what the quality of brush or paper," explains his calligraphy teacher, "one should always treat them as if they were priceless." What Mark Salzman wrote about China some 15 years ago is not dated in many ways. Strange ideas are still being trumpeted as truths, and bureaucrats still like to harass foreigners (although humiliating unwitting foreigners is not "something of a popular sport in China" anymore; today it may even happen that a young female police officer at a police station first lectures you for half an hour on a minor transgression, but asks you out for a date right after she is finished). Mark Salzman has a wonderful, gentle humor, and an admirable open-mindedness. He combines both to focus not on the ignorance of the people he meets, but on the insight which even ignorance can produce. There is no doubt that one little Chinese boy has no idea about the real Hong Kong, but being asked what he knew about this city, he answers "It's a big department store, isn't it?" Finally, let me say that I have never heard or read of a more charming and polite way of telling a Westerner that he has a big nose than in Mark Salzman's gem of a book: "You have a very three-dimensional face."
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