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Kingdom of Ten Thousand Things: An Impossible Journey from Kabul to Chiapas
From war-torn Afghanistan, through the snow-capped Himalayas and across the burning sands of the Taklamakan desert, to a rapidly modernizing China and on to the Central American it seems an impossible journey, but one that Gary Geddes eagerly undertook in order to retrace the voyage of the legendary 5th-century Buddhist monk Huishen. Geddes was long fascinated with stories of Huishen’s life and this Afghan holy man fled Kabul for China and may have crossed the Pacific to North America 1,000 years before Columbus.
The length and breadth of this expedition, and its difficulty, would have been amazing enough on its own, but Geddes’s trip takes on an added dimension and poignancy due to its he reaches Afghanistan one month before September 11, 2001 and arrives in China as the tragic events unfold. Along the way, Geddes encounters Afghan refugees, Pakistani dissidents, Tibetan monks, Buddhist scholars, a KFC outlet in Luoyang, mysterious cairns in Haida Gwaii, and ghostly remains in Mexico. As the Silk Road morphs into superhighways, ancient sculptures turn into military targets, Geddes glimpses, in the collision of past and present history, important clues for imagining a workable future.
The length and breadth of this expedition, and its difficulty, would have been amazing enough on its own, but Geddes’s trip takes on an added dimension and poignancy due to its he reaches Afghanistan one month before September 11, 2001 and arrives in China as the tragic events unfold. Along the way, Geddes encounters Afghan refugees, Pakistani dissidents, Tibetan monks, Buddhist scholars, a KFC outlet in Luoyang, mysterious cairns in Haida Gwaii, and ghostly remains in Mexico. As the Silk Road morphs into superhighways, ancient sculptures turn into military targets, Geddes glimpses, in the collision of past and present history, important clues for imagining a workable future.
400 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 6, 2014
Bought in The Works, Princess Street, Edinburgh. My bookmark for this journey is of the Spanish Steps, Rome, sent through by Hayes - thankee.
Prelude opening: "KABUL? You've got to be kidding." Kim, my local grocer, was brandishing the single banana from my pile of groceries as if it were a revolver about to be aimed at my head.
"Yes, I'm leaving for Afghanistan. Next week." Then, as a dubious consolation, I added, "Via Pakistan."
Opening quotes:
What surrounds us, here and now, is not guaranteed. It could just as well not exist - and so man constructs poetry out of the remnants found in ruins. Czeslaw Milosz, 'The Witness of Poetry'
If a traveller does not meet with one who is better, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey; there is no companionship with a fool. 'The Dhammapada' trans F Max Muller.
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Geddes travelled to research Huishen and the Buddhist past and became "mired in the personal tragedies of the Muslim present".
Really didn't like the authorial mindset here; am forever searching for another Ryszard Kapuściński and keep coming up short changed, however I will search on.
1.5* upped to 2* because I'm nice like that - sometimes. hah!
March 4, 2011
"Stepping off the ship in Vancouver, I had been suddenly overcome by the impossibility of my project . . . I had reached a point at which I doubted I would ever write the book he and his legend hinted at." p.315
I could have told the author this after 50 pages (to pick a random number). This author appears to have benefited from a very indulgent publisher. The entire tract consists of hints as to what is fully explained in other books by other authors (their works are cited) and trivia about the author's too small boots, love of steamed broccoli, and "the Chinese equivalent of an Oreo cookie" which was the snack on an in-country flight. there are occasional attempts to 'wax poetic' or get philosophical none of high quality. We know no more about the possibility that a Buddhist monk visited the Americas pre-Columbus after this reading this book than we got from the first explanation that this is the reason the author is undertaking his journey at the very beginning of the book.
I could have told the author this after 50 pages (to pick a random number). This author appears to have benefited from a very indulgent publisher. The entire tract consists of hints as to what is fully explained in other books by other authors (their works are cited) and trivia about the author's too small boots, love of steamed broccoli, and "the Chinese equivalent of an Oreo cookie" which was the snack on an in-country flight. there are occasional attempts to 'wax poetic' or get philosophical none of high quality. We know no more about the possibility that a Buddhist monk visited the Americas pre-Columbus after this reading this book than we got from the first explanation that this is the reason the author is undertaking his journey at the very beginning of the book.
November 12, 2011
I think it was an interesting book, but some parts were a bit too much TMI. He came across as a randy old goat for some of it and I feel that him putting words into the monk Huisien's mouth, especially the randy old goat parts, was unnecessary, uncalled for and was not respectful to the memory of the monk.
The historical parts and his descriptions of the places he traveled to were interesting and I wish he had focused on that more. Despite all of his research into the past, he didn't seem to bother to research the local holidays of the places to which he was traveling and he ended up missing more museums and places of historical interest due to poor planning then bureaucratic red tape. Which was a shame.
I also feel that the use of the word "impossible" in the sub-title of the book is hyperbole, as both the monk 3,000 years ago and the author made the journey. Maybe it was used to highlight that the journey is not impossible and that there was transatlantic travel between Asia and the Americas, but I think that would be stretching interpretation of the subtitle.
Final word, okay book. I wouldn't recommend it, but it wasn't horrible.
The historical parts and his descriptions of the places he traveled to were interesting and I wish he had focused on that more. Despite all of his research into the past, he didn't seem to bother to research the local holidays of the places to which he was traveling and he ended up missing more museums and places of historical interest due to poor planning then bureaucratic red tape. Which was a shame.
I also feel that the use of the word "impossible" in the sub-title of the book is hyperbole, as both the monk 3,000 years ago and the author made the journey. Maybe it was used to highlight that the journey is not impossible and that there was transatlantic travel between Asia and the Americas, but I think that would be stretching interpretation of the subtitle.
Final word, okay book. I wouldn't recommend it, but it wasn't horrible.
saving-for-later
October 14, 2008found this on the sale table at B and N and hope it turns out to be as good as it looks! These kinds of 'half-way around the world' journeys make you feel like there's a whole world out there that hasn't been discovered or mapped yet. I hope it's as good as it looks.
July 4, 2019
It took me awhile to finish this tome. However, I found it a worthwhile read. It was interesting to hear about the author's travels in Afghanistan and China. I feel like the monk research stuff was a lil chunky, but I still found it to be of interest. Who knows, right? It could've happened, anything is possible. The world is wide and all that. Happy reading.
August 29, 2020
Despite some of the bad reviews of this book, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Is it the best book ever written? No, but it’s also not the worst.
Good read for those who like to travel -and travel solo- and can appreciate the journey.
Good read for those who like to travel -and travel solo- and can appreciate the journey.
June 21, 2018
The search for evidence of Chinese travel to North America long before Columbus.
Did not finish
June 17, 2025DNF. Seemed more like a "finding yourself" book than a informative book, and I wasn't really interested in the author/self doing the finding.
August 16, 2011
Initially, I thought this book was a fictionalized version of a legend about a Buddhist monk traveling from Afghanistan to America centuries before the birth of Jesus. However, it ended up being a travelogue, with the author tracing the route of the monk in search of any evidence that points to the truth of the legend.
Starting in Afghanistan just before 9/11, the author travels through Pakistan and into China; from China, he takes passage aboard a freighter to simulate the monk's (named Huishen) possible voyage across the sea. Finally, he travels throughout Mexico and Central America, looking for signs of Huishen's voyage and possible Asian/Buddhist influence in the old cultures of Mesoamerica.
This book had more than a little in common with 1434 by Gavin Menzies (the book about the Chinese discovering America); in fact, the author interviews Gavin Menzies late in the book and does sympathize with his theories. However, the author stops short of proclaiming that it is the irrefutable truth that the Chinese discovered America. He lays out many of the arguments and evidence, but he does seem to point that it all seems a little inconclusive, naming himself among the "lunatic fringe" of the academic community. Still, his approach made me much more open to the theory than simply proclaiming that it's all true and that future research will prove him right (Menzies' book).
The early portion of the book in Afghanistan and Pakistan is probably the best. He's traveling amongst a new culture, and he is very unsure of himself and his prospects for success. He does his due diligence as a journalist, speaking to a number of different people inside Afghanistan to get a broader view of the situation there just before 9/11 (although, he does say he did not push himself hard enough, which I found to be a wonderful kernel of truth). As he travels to China, I think he's less interested in the people and the culture, since he has already traveled extensively through the country. Also, the "interludes" from Huishen are somewhat jarring and mysterious, and maybe a little pretentious(?). Written by the author during dream-like or feverish states, I suppose they are supposed to reveal some truth about the author and his journey, but, portraying them solely as missives from the monk itself seem to force the book out onto that "lunatic fringe" a little further.
Starting in Afghanistan just before 9/11, the author travels through Pakistan and into China; from China, he takes passage aboard a freighter to simulate the monk's (named Huishen) possible voyage across the sea. Finally, he travels throughout Mexico and Central America, looking for signs of Huishen's voyage and possible Asian/Buddhist influence in the old cultures of Mesoamerica.
This book had more than a little in common with 1434 by Gavin Menzies (the book about the Chinese discovering America); in fact, the author interviews Gavin Menzies late in the book and does sympathize with his theories. However, the author stops short of proclaiming that it is the irrefutable truth that the Chinese discovered America. He lays out many of the arguments and evidence, but he does seem to point that it all seems a little inconclusive, naming himself among the "lunatic fringe" of the academic community. Still, his approach made me much more open to the theory than simply proclaiming that it's all true and that future research will prove him right (Menzies' book).
The early portion of the book in Afghanistan and Pakistan is probably the best. He's traveling amongst a new culture, and he is very unsure of himself and his prospects for success. He does his due diligence as a journalist, speaking to a number of different people inside Afghanistan to get a broader view of the situation there just before 9/11 (although, he does say he did not push himself hard enough, which I found to be a wonderful kernel of truth). As he travels to China, I think he's less interested in the people and the culture, since he has already traveled extensively through the country. Also, the "interludes" from Huishen are somewhat jarring and mysterious, and maybe a little pretentious(?). Written by the author during dream-like or feverish states, I suppose they are supposed to reveal some truth about the author and his journey, but, portraying them solely as missives from the monk itself seem to force the book out onto that "lunatic fringe" a little further.
October 12, 2012
THis book did not in my opinion live up to its potential. I was looking forward to the story of tracing the route of a 5th century Bhuddist monk from Afghanistan to the AMericas. There was very little about the monk 0 due in part to the fact that there is very little written about him, but even the travelogue was disappointing since the author never really got to see many of the archaeological things he wanted to see because he always arrived somewhere after things were closed or there was a holiday or the person he wanted to see was away. Having read a similar book about a Christian monk who starts out from Iceland and ends up in Constantinople, which had much more detail about the monks journeys, I was disappointed in this one.
March 23, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and now want to learn more about theories regarding Asian-American Precolumbian contacts.
I recently finished two books by Peter Hessler about China, and will read his third soon
I picked this up to learn more about china and was not disappointed.
I would definitely recommend this to persons who enjoy nonfiction.
Having back-packed through South America, I could relate to many of his travel experiences.
Of course there are discomforts and sleepless nights but that just enriches the experience in my opinion.
Well done, Mr Geddes! Thank you for a great read
I recently finished two books by Peter Hessler about China, and will read his third soon
I picked this up to learn more about china and was not disappointed.
I would definitely recommend this to persons who enjoy nonfiction.
Having back-packed through South America, I could relate to many of his travel experiences.
Of course there are discomforts and sleepless nights but that just enriches the experience in my opinion.
Well done, Mr Geddes! Thank you for a great read
February 9, 2011
I thought this was an absoutley boring book. I couldnt even read all of it! I got to maybe the 120th page and I just couldnt take it. I recommend this to people who have a lot of time and patience and know their way around foreign places. My overall word for this book? Ew.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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December 13, 2010so far interesting... learned about the delirium drinking foreign waters can induce. :)
got boring and painful to finish.
got boring and painful to finish.
January 16, 2011
A fascinating journey - beautiful imagery - interesting stories - good writing. What more could one ask for in a travel memoir?
March 12, 2011
A wonderful narrative and travelogue. I would catewrgorize it more as an adventure than just travel book though. A little wordy and digressive at times but you can move through those parts.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews