Cousin Felix Meets the Buddha: and Other Encounters in China and Tibet

Rating:
Summary: 25 % each of Sinclair Lewis,EB White,HL Menken, Ernie Pyle
Review: I have no idea who Lincoln Kaye is, but he sure can write. The title doesn't do the book justice, but, then again, I couldn't think what would be a better one. This book is an interesting vehicle through which one gets a view of China, but more importantly a view of people and cultures in transition. I stongly recommned the book and am pretty sure this isn't the last we hear of Mr. Kaye.

Rating:
Summary: An absorbing read
Review: I very much recommend this book. The author has a wry, quirky point of view about China and he conveys many vivid experiences and perceptions, leaving the reader with a disturbing sense of how hard it is to penetrate the Chinese psyche.

Rating:
Summary: Stirring portrait of modern China
Review: The book sinks the reader deep into the lives of modern Chinese people struggling with the rebirth of a nation. Lincoln Kaye recounts a series of encounters collected over four journeys through post-Tiananmen China. It is a frank, detailed, and fun look at modern Chinese life, in all its complexities and contradictions.

The topics he chooses are ones that modern China is struggling with: a look at China's relationship with its ancient roots in a voyage to the tomb of the Yellow Emperor; modern democracy as it plays out in a village's political struggle; dealing with the aged and China's changing relationship to its old in a hospice in Beijing; and the question of minorities and religions in a journey to a Tibetan lamasery. Kaye's strength here is that rather than taking the approach of political analysis, he brings the eye of a journalist and the prose of a fine storyteller to bear on each situation. This approach bears fruit by bringing the reader into greater appreciation of the lives of the Chinese people and what these questions really mean to them, as opposed to searching for right or wrong.

Just as Keith Jarrett never met a note on the piano he didn't like, Kaye's style seems to bring warmth and light to every character and situation he encounters. There is no one China, but with Kaye's acute and engaging observations, a tapestry is woven which captures the flavor of China. Kaye takes you there, points out a wealth of details, and leaves you to draw your own conclusions or simply to enjoy the astonishing ride.