Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.2 / 5.0

Startling and hopeful:

Bill Porter,a.k.a. Red Pine is a wonderful tranlator of poetry. His collected songs of Cold mOuntain and Stone House are cherished companions. When I came upon this book, it intrigued me: hermits STILL living in China? Well Red Pine and his friend Steven Johnson go forth into some extraordinary parts of China{including a heavily fortified area near the main nuclear works of China} to find some astonishing people. Some of the temples were still functioning,most had been decimated by Maos cadres during the... more info

Uniquely Beautiful and Insightful...:

Bill Porter's account of his forays in the mountains of China is simply wonderful. It is a perfect blend of travelogue, local history, and interviews with hermits of the region (who are making a comeback in numbers after the Cultural Revolution). If you are looking for this sort of blend, rather than simply one of these focuses, then this is the book for you. Porter writes with an informed and deep appreciation for his subject. The real jewel of this book, however (and in my own opinion,) is the collection... more info

Travellogue to China:

I was pleased at the start of this book, to have some geographical descriptions but it became more of a travel diary of where to go and what not to do. It is understandable that such an elusive prey as solitary hermits requires determined searching and physical effort, but less of the travellogue and more of the interviews may be useful. If you want to follow in some of Porter and Johnson's footsteps, be sure to have real time stamina and energy. This appears to be an exhaustive examination of the roads to... more info

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