Description
Book SynopsisAn invitation to voyage east leads Ihab Hassan to reflect on his origins in Egypt, on his home in America, and on his host country, Japan. Part memoir, part cultural perception, this volume records a journey, echoing the ""wanderers of eternity."" The result is not a book about ""them"", but rather a book about the author himself, living among others.
Trade ReviewHassan’s description of his life in Japan and the people he knew there is beautifully written, and the different voices all contribute to the creation of a many layered portrait of Japan. His highly personal observations reflect the sensitivity of an unusually gifted and cultured man."" - Donald Keene, author of
So Lovely a Country Will Never Perish: Wartime Diaries of Japanese Writers and
Chronicles of My Life: An American in the Heart of Japan""Using his cast of real people, who are also the lenses through which we view, Hassan has presented Japan with a singular honesty and a lack of pretension that is rare indeed."" - Donald Richie, author of
Japanese Portraits: Pictures of Different People and coauthor of
Travels in the East""A gifted raconteur and superb stylist, Professor Hassan invites the reader to join him in a journey toward understanding another society and its people. At once admiring, critical, baffled, judgmental, speculative, and respectful."" - Robert J. Smith, Cornell University
""The parallels and contrasts of Japanese and American literatures induce the reader into apprehending the essential difference in culture, psychology, and pattern of thinking, which renders the book unique and attractive."" -
International Buddhist University Bulletin
