Read For Free Undress Me In The Temple Of Heaven Devised By Susan Jane Gilman Issued As Hardbound

I chose this travel memoir solely on the title alone, It sounded provacative and just too tantalizing to pass on by, The tale of two recent American college graduates setting out to explore Asia inwas intriguing, I expected lessons in culture shock, identity and friendship all entwined with some humor, But there's also a much deeper story going on in these pages and by the end I felt quite a bit sadness for all that Susan and "Claire" go through during their months in China.
I certainly did not see exactly what was going to happen but oh my this is definitely a most memorable book of nominee.


Earlier today, l had assigned astar rating but tonight I can't deny that this is one of those books that leaves me a little raw and shattered.
I suspect I will think about this one for a long, long time,


Goodreads review publishedV zásadě zklamání, Zpočátku vypadal příběh dvou amerických vysokoškolaček, které se v rocenaprosto naslepo, nepřipravené a bez jakýchkoli kontaktů rozhodnou započít svou cestu po světě v Číně, docela slibně.
Děvčata zažívala kulturní šok a všímala si věcí, které mě zajímaly, Byla jsem zvědavá, kam až se dostanou a co všechno uvidí, takže si dovedete představit mé zklamání, když se z jejich objevné cesty vyklubala spíš cesta kolem Claiřiny hlavy zakončená zoufalým úprkem.
Ne, autorka mi neimponovala, její souputnice rovněž ne, Dvě hvězdičky za zajímavý kousek Číny a za upřímnost popsat se jako dokonalá nána chce odvahu, Not judging the book by its title, which might lead you to believe it is quite a sexy book its not, I really just expected this to be another backpackers account of her jaunt through Asia.
As someone who, like many others, has “done the jaunt” herself, I found a lot to relate to so, excuse me as I write this review from a very personal viewpoint.


The book is set in China in the mideighties, a couple of years before my own first, brief encounter with mainland China, Susan Gilman and her notverywellknown friend, Claire Van Houten hatched a plan on the back of a paper placemat while out late one night of conquering the world on a transplanetary trip.
They decided to start in China and the descriptions Gilman writes of encounters with bureaucracy, once grand but now falling apart ships and other transport barely held together with spot welding, hotel and travel agent staff who tow the party line as far as only presenting what was allowed to be presentedand no more, not to mention other backpackers, is spot on.
Anyone who travelled to China in the lates right up to the midlates will relate to this book on some level and probably really enjoy it for the nostalgia factor.


Places too, ring true from freakishly tiny and sparse, swimming pool tilelined guesthouse rooms in Chunking Mansions, a backpacker icon that is still existing in that state as far as I know.
If you havent been there or read the book yet, I dont want to give anything more away as her expectations versus reality playbyplay about the place is brilliant.
And this is just the first part of the journey,

Yangshuo is another centre of the backpacking world in China and, in those days, was one of the few places foreigners could go and decompress from all the experiences had during travel in China.
To have been struggling, quite out of your depth, with renegade bus drivers, unknown animal parts served up in soup, and language barriers for weeks on end then, finally coming upon the then little village of Yangshuo with its rows of cafés serving Westernstyle food from English, French, and German menus just seemed like a godsend.
I really liked how Gilman placed their visit to Yangshuo in the story as sort of the beginning of the end as that is exactly how the place feels to many whove travelled there.
You get a sense of having slogged your way round in relative hardship and this is the intrepid backpackers rewardbanana pancakes all around!

Dont get me wrong.
It wasnt just the reminiscing factor that I enjoyed about the book, There is also the storyline of what it is like being with someone you barely know,/, for weeks on end, In this case, the increasingly bizarre relations between Gilman and her friend Claire whilst travelling in a country with a high difficulty rating, as far as backpacking goes, make for an interesting thread that runs throughout.


Call me nonimaginative, but I do like books that go back and tie up lose ends, Gilman does this in her Afterwards chapter really well, For readers who havent travelled to China, you could easily get a sense that what the book describes is how it still is to travel around the vast country.
In some places it really is still like that, but China has been hurtling towards a developed travel infrastructure at an alarming pace, Evenyears after the book was set, it was sad to my Western nostalgic sensibilities to already see beautiful old temples crumbling or being replaced by white tiled square boxes of buildings.
In fact, the first time I went to Shen Zhen on the mainland near Hong Kong in, it was a small village with dirt roads.
I remember an old man pulling his cart full of pigs past me, The next time I went there in, it was full of gleaming white sky scrapers, I actually had to check my journal to see that I was indeed thinking of the right place, I was. Inyears the place had become unrecognisable, Gilmans modern description of the places her and Claire had been to really expresses the changes that have taken place, Changes that would have to be seen to be believed otherwise,

In short, although I had low expectations of the book, I was pleasantly surprised, I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in travelling independently in China, And I would strongly recommend this to those who have already participated in the backpacking rituals associated with travel in China, You will be reliving much of that experience!
I am exhausted after reading this memoir of the author's grand adventure after college, A couple of blurbs states that it is "riveting" and a "pageturner", but I didn't feel any of that until the lastpages, This was a.star read that I rounded up for the interesting parts, Some of it is pretty unbelievable, I am willing to take the author's word that it is all true,
Suze and her traveling companion Claire, decide to "backpack" around the world after they graduated from college in, They are naive and very illprepared for this venture except that Claire comes from a wealthy family amp has plenty of money, I have known many people who in the's amp's, took a break by backpacking outside their own country, They did a lot of planning and for the most part had the experience of a lifetime! That is not this story,
They fly to Hong Kong as a jumping off spot to head to mainland China, I lived in Asiabefore mainland China was open to visitors, so I was really interested to read about their experiences,
Let's just say, they took a lot of risks but were incredibly lucky at certain points along the way to meet up with people who helped them out.
It didn't take long into the trip to understand why ruleof traveling with a companion is to know them well amp that you are a good fit and on the same page for your goals with the trip.
Claire was a nightmare and the author actually states she had to disguise her somewhat and use a false name in the writing of the book! Even without the worst of it, these two were not a good fit, although at the end and in retrospect, the author thanks "Claire" for getting her out of her comfort zone and was the spark that led her to the wonderful life she has led to date.
I love memoirs and this one was great! It was a shocking story about traveling through the Peoples Republic of China during thes and how unprepared these two girls were for what was ahead.
I almost did not read this book due to it's chick lit title, Yet, the title is beautiful, I imagined these two young Women traveling around the world and ending up in bed with various men, I was not far off, Well, I thought, what would you have done at that age Who knows Times have changed, So I left the Judgment go,

The writer is excellent in her descriptions, et cetera, Her trip was not that exciting, But it was honest. I don't think very many vacations can be that all exciting unless they are true adventures, Still, I felt that I was experiencing china in thes, I wish now that I had gone with my Chinese friend to china when she asked me to go with her,
The book picked up when Susan's friend had a nervous breakdown in china, became paranoid schizophrenic, That was when I begin having concern for her friend and for what they were going to do to get her home, I had had a friend in college who became paranoid schizophrenic, And I had to end our friendship, At least I knew what was happening with my friend, Susan was not sure, This made it harder for Susan to make the right decisions, but she finally did, This was goooood. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and it kept building and building, At the beginning the author writes, 'this is what happened, God knows I could never have

made this up', I thought, well, just how crazy is this story Let me say this: it lived up, I usually check books out of the lib, but I actually shelled out the cash for this one, I'm glad I did, b/c I know I'll end up reading it again, I plan on forcing it on my poor overworked friend the next time I see her because I know she'll love it, Jenny, find the time, you must!,