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A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East
Warned by a Hong Kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for a whole year, Tiziano Terzani — a vastly experienced Asia correspondent — took what he called “the first step into an unknown world. . . . It turned out to be one of the most extraordinary years I have ever spent: I was marked for death, and instead I was reborn.”
Traveling by foot, boat, bus, car, and train, he vi...more
Traveling by foot, boat, bus, car, and train, he vi...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
February 17th 2010
by Three Rivers Press
(first published 1995)
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Tiziano Terzani's book is about his land journey across Asia through Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China and Mangolia and then his return back to Thailand. But this is not your usual travelogue. He searches out the soothsayers, fortune tellers, astrologers and other mindreaders in Asia and asks them to prophesize his life. It all starts with a fortune teller in Hong Kong telling him to avoid flying all through 1993 and he decides to follow the advice. His narrative flits between ...more
This book is very well written. I really like the author, he has a very easy-going and readable style; he's articulate, intelligent, observant, and deeply reflective. Whether you are interested his adventures in Asian countries and his thoughts on their cultural developments and how the west has impacted them, or his metaphysical musings and some surprising personal experiences as he searches out mystics, psychics, and fortune tellers, this books is a pleasure to read because the author is able ...more
This travel book uses the device of the author's avoiding air travel due to a fortuneteller's prophecy to give the author an excuse to do several travels by land, mostly in SE Asia but also on a train trip to Italy. The travel parts are mildly interesting, though since the book is quite old, only of historical interest.
Unfortunately, he carries out his fortuneteller theme by consulting a randomly chosen fortuneteller everywhere he goes which could have been interesting, had he taken ...more
Unfortunately, he carries out his fortuneteller theme by consulting a randomly chosen fortuneteller everywhere he goes which could have been interesting, had he taken ...more
I have never had the urge to travel to Asia in the way that I have had to travel to other places. But Terzani changed my mind about that. His love of Asia is so apparent in his writing that it is really hard not to fall in love too.
The premise of this book is that a fortune teller tells him he may die if he travels by plane in a certain year. So when that year comes, he decides not to travel by plane and get around by any and all other means available. He also visits several other fortune...more
The premise of this book is that a fortune teller tells him he may die if he travels by plane in a certain year. So when that year comes, he decides not to travel by plane and get around by any and all other means available. He also visits several other fortune...more
Un reportage intenso per scoprire i particolari di un sub continente ancora misterioso ed intrigante.
Una lettura riflessiva che cattura grazie ad uno stile sobrio che non stanca mai.
Una lettura riflessiva che cattura grazie ad uno stile sobrio che non stanca mai.
Such an interesting premise - an AP Reporter is warned in the mid-70s that he will be in a plane crash in 1993. On December 31, 1992, he's in the middle of the jungle on an assignment and ruminating over whether to go about business as usual or heed the advice and take a trip (of another kind) of a lifetime.
This book is about so much more than superstition and old customs in a modern world. It's about Terzani's views and experiences of the world as he slogs though it, as opposed t...more
This book is about so much more than superstition and old customs in a modern world. It's about Terzani's views and experiences of the world as he slogs though it, as opposed t...more
I read this book slowly at the beginning. Slowly like the travels Tiziano makes through Asia. When he decides to follow what a fortune telle told him years before in Hong Kong, maybe he couldn't imagine how travels can change when you decide not taking a plane for a whole year, and keep on working as a journalist in Asia. This is a lovely book. Tiziano was a real traveller, not a tourist at all. He describes the bad and good part of every country he visits, but he never complains like tourist so...more
This was a book about travel and superstition in Asia. Sadly, it was also a book about the author's journey of discovery. At his best, Terazani tells wonderful anecdotes about his dificulties traveling the world in a year without airplanes, and does an excellent job of describing the characters he meets and the landscapes he visits. At his worst, he takes the opportunity to beat us over the head with his amateur philosophy and "thought-provoking" questions.
Especially in the...more
Especially in the...more
I loved this book. It is the haunting story of a middle aged Italian journalist from Florence whose lifelong beat has been Asia. He has lived and worked there most of his life and watched it go through wars and "development." In 1976 a fortune teller in Hong Kong tells him that he will die in a plane crash in 1993 so he shouldn't fly that year. It's a long way off but years pass and when 1993 comes, now in his late 50's Tiziano Terzani decides he will organize his ongoing work so t...more
In truth, this book made me wanted to visit laos and burma, the only two asean countries that my teva yet to set foot on. :)
Interesting quotes and extracts from the book:
"Life is full of opportunities. The problem is to recognise is them when they present themselves and it isnt't always easy."
"Travel is an art and one must practised it in a relaxed way, with passion, with love."
"Love the one you marry, not marry the one you love....more
Interesting quotes and extracts from the book:
"Life is full of opportunities. The problem is to recognise is them when they present themselves and it isnt't always easy."
"Travel is an art and one must practised it in a relaxed way, with passion, with love."
"Love the one you marry, not marry the one you love....more
A really fantastic book about a journey through Asia sans the use of an airplane. The reader really gets to see the world through Terzani's eyes. I enjoyed the montage of experiences, the poverty, the joy, the strength of belief, the greed that Terzani portrays.
Though many have attempted dispute of the so called "Asian Economic Miracle" Terzani may be one of the first to present a cogent human side to why things are perhaps not so perfect. He shows the loss in vivid color that ha...more
Though many have attempted dispute of the so called "Asian Economic Miracle" Terzani may be one of the first to present a cogent human side to why things are perhaps not so perfect. He shows the loss in vivid color that ha...more
I enjoyed this book. Not "a real page-turner!" but one of those books that is just plain enjoyable and provides food for thought.
It is a recounting of a year in the author's life in the 90's. He had seen a fortune teller in the 1970's that told him not to fly that year, so he didn't. In not flying, the author was reminded again that life is about the journey, and that history, tradition, and the intelligence of thousands of years live outside of western "progress"...more
It is a recounting of a year in the author's life in the 90's. He had seen a fortune teller in the 1970's that told him not to fly that year, so he didn't. In not flying, the author was reminded again that life is about the journey, and that history, tradition, and the intelligence of thousands of years live outside of western "progress"...more
this travelogue had me in its grips all thru my SE asia trip. then i got home and found out from a pretty-reliable-but-extremely-cynical source, who had personal contact with the author, that terzani may or may not be a pathological exaggerator and jerk in real life. so now i don't know what to make of it.
well extramoral confusion doesn't detract from the book's merits, per se. the snapshots of singapore, thailand, hong kong, malaysia, indonesia, china, vietnam, cambodia, burma,...more
well extramoral confusion doesn't detract from the book's merits, per se. the snapshots of singapore, thailand, hong kong, malaysia, indonesia, china, vietnam, cambodia, burma,...more
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What a fantastic book! Terzani has witty way of describing his adventures. I enjoy his head-on, let's think this through, sure why not behavior. It makes me feel that maybe the world isn't such a bad place after all if Terzani was able to travel throughout Asia and parts of Europe without flying!
This book really delves into the notion of the past that we are slowly running away from. Modernization is slowly stripping away cultural rich areas in way of consumerism. If you want to trav...more
This book really delves into the notion of the past that we are slowly running away from. Modernization is slowly stripping away cultural rich areas in way of consumerism. If you want to trav...more
Interesting travel memoir. A friend gave it to me to read, as I am going on my honeymoon in the areas the author describes.
As a tourist/travel book, some of the portrayals were disturbing, but they were authentic, with vivid imagery and keen observations of this ever evolving and changing region. I loved his examination of the interesting dichotomy between modernization and superstition.
As a tourist/travel book, some of the portrayals were disturbing, but they were authentic, with vivid imagery and keen observations of this ever evolving and changing region. I loved his examination of the interesting dichotomy between modernization and superstition.
A great travel book about an italian indophile who on the recommendation of a fortune teller decides not to fly anywhere for one year and take water/road/rail transport instead. It is about his journey through asia and europe and his laments at the loss of indigenousness cultures fast becoming homogenized by the west.
Fantastic book recommended by a dear friend... made me understand a lot more about the cultures of the various countries that the author travels to. The story itself seems far-fetched, but the author has a good reputation and tells this true tale in such an artistic fashion. Really recommend this read.
Great book, amazing bloke, witnessed 1st hand the Vietnam war, helped organise the film The Killing Fields and spent 25 years in Asia. You get a feel for the different asian cultures in this book and what Terzani reckons to fortune telling, he meet alot of interesting people along the way....
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested...I am taking so long to finish this book because i am reading it as slowly as i can in order to chew and digest the finer details of this book. I have never been to some parts of Asia Terzani speaks about but his languid way of narrating his travels makes one feel like you are in the same journey together.
This book is one journo's amazing earth-bound journey over an year when a fortune teller forbids him to fly....I love not only the sardonic humor combined with the lyricism of writing, but also find the encounters of Terzani with different fortune tellers a fascinating read.
Really interesting read that blends history, anthropology, and mysticism in a curious narrative. Some parts are ramble-y and somewhat self-indulgent on the part of the author, but overall enjoyable read. Would highly recommend to anyone with an interest in East-West relations.
There is a lot to like here, but I prefer the more-humorous approaches of some travel writers. The gimmick of visiting fortune tellers wore off rather quickly, as did the litany of criticism of the horrendous westernization of Asia. Did anyone else seem to think him a slight bit racist in his assessment of the Chinese via everyone else in the region, and he certainly seemed to have little love for the Japanese. Still, I found much to interest me, though overall I got the feeling one shouldn't vi...more
Billy Chai
is currently reading it
I personally like this book very much because it really express the mysterious truth of asian countries where nowadays western urbanization is taking place and the myth and the local people are starting to lost their own faith to the god and mother nature.
A bit more about the author and a bit less about Asia than I'd like, but interesting. Examining southeast Asian culture and religion and superstition, as well as the modern/traditional struggle. Dated, since it's from 1993, but still somewhat relevant.
a good read. Terzani travels SE Asia by land, seeing lots of fortune tellers as he goes. this goal is neither central nor secondary but gives the book a nice thread and the view to the areas a different perspective. nice to add that layer, especially for the relatively grounded Westerner.
A vivid and heartfelt description of Asian culture in different Asian countries and of how it is changing and forcing itself to imitate western culture, thus losing its peculiar character and values. Storytellers allover the world are a sort of psychological advisors, somebody there to listen to people's worries and give some hope and direction, always according to the local customs. But maybe some of them can really see and understand what's behind (or within) the tangible matter? Is humanity l...more
I loved this book, in spite of the fact that Tiziani often uses it as a soapbox for what he sees as the negative effects of globalization and modernization. He doesn't need to expound on this because, like the good writer that he is, his writing illustrates it. But that small criticism aside, the premise of the book is intriguing--traveling around the world without flying for a whole year. Tiziani's experience of various modern cultures and lives alongside traditional practices and beliefs (s...more
I've lived in or been to all the places visited by Terzani and that inevitably makes me notice the small cultural inconsistencies or inaccuracies in this book. Pity really, as it is a really good read and I enjoyed it.
I think everyone should get back in touch with travelling by road, rail or sea rather than boring and bland airplanes. Even better, try walking and cycling around. Only then can you have this kind of experience. What we have gained in speed and "convenience" ...more
I think everyone should get back in touch with travelling by road, rail or sea rather than boring and bland airplanes. Even better, try walking and cycling around. Only then can you have this kind of experience. What we have gained in speed and "convenience" ...more
This was a true pleasure to read as well as informative. I really honestly knew nothing about Burma when I read this years ago. But I really wanted to go there after I read it.
Fascinating book for those who like memoirs. I live in Asia so it spoke to me. It was fun hearing first hand about his encounters with places I am beginning to see. Very enjoyable read!
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