Orienting

by Pallavi Aiyer

Genres: Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

Reviews

[Suroor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book by an Indian journalist who lived in Japan for four years. Although she has lived in Beijing and Jakarta, and speaks Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia, Japanese defeated her. But she found a lot to love about Japan, not least haiku, of which there are several scattered through the book. A really interesting look at Japan through the eyes of someone from a very different Asian country.

[Deepa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting travelogue from an Indian journalist/author about the culture shock she had when living in Japan for a few years. Had many interesting observations about what defines Japanese identity, but the last couple of chapters discussing politics fell flat for me in comparison to the start.