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God's Dust : A Modern Asian Journey
Ian Buruma spent a year travelling in eight countries from Burma's rural isolation to the sexual Disneyland of Thailand and the sterile suburbia of Singapore. This book blends history, personal observation, interviews and reportage which portrays an Asia suffering a crisis of cultural identity. Buruma considers how deeply each culture has been influenced by foreign powers (as much be the Chinese and Japanese as by the West), both in the past and present, and their differing responses from the Philippines' psychological dependence on America, to the xenophobia of Korea and Japan's protection by mimicry. He charts the alarming rise of National Socialism and shows how Western ideas are filtered through the Oriental sensibility in individual and often extraordinarily dynamic societies. In his talks with leading thinkers from Malaysia to Taiwan about Asia's struggle to reconcile conflicting values of spirit and science, history and progress, Buruma discovers the modern human predicament in its starkest form.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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About the author
Ian Buruma
89 books252 followersIan Buruma is a British-Dutch writer and academic, much of whose work focuses on the culture of Asia, particularly that of 20th-century Japan, where he lived and worked for many years.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 10, 2008
Buruma spends as much time discussing the historical background of each country, as he does recording his (now somewhat dated) impressions. A bit dry in places, but still good for getting an idea of the respective cultures.
May 25, 2018
Dated, but damn, Buruma's writing is in a class of its own, and his insights on Japan particularly are invaluable.
September 2, 2014
God's Dust by Ian Buruma: again, one of my favorite writers of Asian culture, he is thorough and has an ability to see into a culture and characterized it accurately and fairly. In this book, written in 1989, he goes on a tour of Asia (Burma, Thailand, The Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea) and gives an analysis of the politics and culture of each county. I found the sections on Burma, Taiwan, and Malaysia the most informative since I knew the least about these countries. Despite the fact that it was published 15 years ago, it stands the test of time well, since the basic national character of a country doesn't really change.
And that is where I found his analysis of Japan to be spot on. He cites his own personal love/hate relationship with the country where he spent nearly a decade of his life, so that despite his language ability and long presence there he felt chagrin at never being able to be fully accepted into that society. He states: "Japan is the most "Westernized" country in Asia, yet, somehow the country in East Asia least touched by the west. I am never sorry to leave, but I always yearn to go back." A sentiment that many would agree with, and I would concur in relation to trips to America and abroad. I will always feel the need to leave at least once a year, but I often miss it while I am away.
Perhaps the most incisive comment is how the Japanese stubbornly hold fast to the notion that Japanese are unique and that foreigners are unable to understand certain Japanese concepts that reflect the Japans spirit. He uses the example of a neurologist who made a name for himself by writing a book about the uniqueness of the Japanese brain, which he claims is uniquely sensitive to the sounds of temple bells, waterfalls, cicadas, and other natural vibrations.
And that is where I found his analysis of Japan to be spot on. He cites his own personal love/hate relationship with the country where he spent nearly a decade of his life, so that despite his language ability and long presence there he felt chagrin at never being able to be fully accepted into that society. He states: "Japan is the most "Westernized" country in Asia, yet, somehow the country in East Asia least touched by the west. I am never sorry to leave, but I always yearn to go back." A sentiment that many would agree with, and I would concur in relation to trips to America and abroad. I will always feel the need to leave at least once a year, but I often miss it while I am away.
Perhaps the most incisive comment is how the Japanese stubbornly hold fast to the notion that Japanese are unique and that foreigners are unable to understand certain Japanese concepts that reflect the Japans spirit. He uses the example of a neurologist who made a name for himself by writing a book about the uniqueness of the Japanese brain, which he claims is uniquely sensitive to the sounds of temple bells, waterfalls, cicadas, and other natural vibrations.
August 19, 2012
Although there is a travel memoir interwoven in the book, the real story is more of an essay. A well-written and thoughtful essay.
April 17, 2022
A fabulous book that gives a glimpse into the 1980s East Asia, giving us insights into what we see today in Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. I hadn't realised how much of a colonial power Japan was before I read this book and how and why it is both revered and abhorred in the Far East till this day.
February 22, 2008
Compelling overviews of SE Asian countries. At times a little dry in the countries where the author had less personal experience. It was written in the late eighties, so it gives us a freeze-frame of trends at the time.
October 1, 2025
"This is less a travel book then a book of portraits, a sort of Asiatic album - some of the pictures etched in acid, and many of them brilliant. It is the kind of book the traveller ought to read before he or she visits Burma, Thailand, the Phillippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea or Japan. It encapsulates the political and cultural moods of these countries, it contains a section of potted recent history, it is at times very colourful and it is frequently funny. Ian Buruma pays a visit to there Marcoses in Honolulu - an illuminating visit - and at the end of it Imelda, the selfish pudgy billionaire, whimpers to the departing journalist: 'Please be kind to us poor little people. We have nothing left." From a review by Paul Theroux in the Far Eastern Economic Review quoted on the back cover of the 1989 Vintage paperback edition.
Considering that in the 21st century the sons of both Cory Aquino and Ferdinand Marcos have become president of the Phillippines makes this forty year old book even more worth reading particularly if the names of Aquino and Marcos mean nothing. Why should they mean anything for anyone under sixty? But for those of us who do remember it recalls days when "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven!" (William Wordsworth, The Prelude). That it all went sour so fast made one of life's sad but essential kicks-in-the-ass that you learn from.
But the book is more:
"How can a country modernise without losing its identity? What happens when indigenous culture breaks down and modernity comes from the outside, as is the case in Asia? Ian Buruma, a former journalist with the Far Eastern Economic Review, and a well-known commentator on Asia, travelled around eight Asian countries to discover if hamburgers and rock music make Thais less Thai, or Japanese less Japanese. Beginning in Burma, where the "outside" has been excluded, and ending in Japan, where Hiroshima has become a mirror of the US, Buruma's perceptive commentary on the complexities of modern-day Asia is interspersed with fascinating interviews (with people from all areas of life), news stories, the historical and political background, stories, extracts from plays and anecdotes. A stylish, informative, entertaining read for anyone who wants to understand the Asia behind the headlines." From a review in The Irish Times when this book was reissued in 2001.
Of course time has moved on, but the roots of these countries today can be found in Buruma's book. He is an excellent and perceptive writer who is always worth reading.
Considering that in the 21st century the sons of both Cory Aquino and Ferdinand Marcos have become president of the Phillippines makes this forty year old book even more worth reading particularly if the names of Aquino and Marcos mean nothing. Why should they mean anything for anyone under sixty? But for those of us who do remember it recalls days when "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven!" (William Wordsworth, The Prelude). That it all went sour so fast made one of life's sad but essential kicks-in-the-ass that you learn from.
But the book is more:
"How can a country modernise without losing its identity? What happens when indigenous culture breaks down and modernity comes from the outside, as is the case in Asia? Ian Buruma, a former journalist with the Far Eastern Economic Review, and a well-known commentator on Asia, travelled around eight Asian countries to discover if hamburgers and rock music make Thais less Thai, or Japanese less Japanese. Beginning in Burma, where the "outside" has been excluded, and ending in Japan, where Hiroshima has become a mirror of the US, Buruma's perceptive commentary on the complexities of modern-day Asia is interspersed with fascinating interviews (with people from all areas of life), news stories, the historical and political background, stories, extracts from plays and anecdotes. A stylish, informative, entertaining read for anyone who wants to understand the Asia behind the headlines." From a review in The Irish Times when this book was reissued in 2001.
Of course time has moved on, but the roots of these countries today can be found in Buruma's book. He is an excellent and perceptive writer who is always worth reading.
February 10, 2023
Survey of several mostly SE Asian countries, focusing on culture, national identity, and how these interact with foreign influence, westernization, and modernity. All the countries surveyed have trouble defining their national identity, and all of them reject western influence to some degree at the state level or in the practical culture. But the what, why, and how much of the rejection varies. A common theme among the countries' concerns is that western influence erases historical culture, that there is some "real" culture inherited from ancient times, that is superior to modern western culture in some way, e.g. morally. But on the other hand the benefit of modern science and technology cannot be denied, creating tension. Another tension is between the enthusiastic popular adoption and consumption of western ideas and products, and philosophical or political lip service to the rejection of the same.
I found the chapter on the Philippines super boring, and I almost gave up on the book while reading it. The other chapters were all better, but there was still often the concern that the specifics of contemporary (~1988) political figures were no longer of interest in 2022.
I found the chapter on the Philippines super boring, and I almost gave up on the book while reading it. The other chapters were all better, but there was still often the concern that the specifics of contemporary (~1988) political figures were no longer of interest in 2022.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews