The Other Side of Beauty

by Garrett Rittenberg

An essay and a letter to a friend make up this short collection of travel by Garrett Rittenberg. A return-journey to India gives the opportunity to reflect on the changes on the sub-continent, while a literary pilgrimage to the city of Harar in eastern-Ethiopia provides a window into a part of the world few have seen. The Other Side of Beauty discusses cultures seemingly at odds with life in the west and the impact they can have on the western mind. The time spent in such places affords the opportunity to understand that beauty often exists in unconventional forms. Things once considered repulsive and absurd are made beautiful in the mind of a traveler willing to understand. The reader is shown the power of experiencing distant cultures through the reflections of a traveler who was fortunate enough to see them for himself.

108 pages, Hardcover

Published January 3, 2023

Reviews

[Lana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would like to preface this with saying: I did not buy this book. I originally brought a political non-fiction to the cafe where I was reading after class, but realised the class took all that energy out of me, so I grabbed a book with the most girlypop cover inside the cafe's library shelf. The book was also super short so I knew I could finish it in the 2h I had waiting for a friend to finish her paper.
To say the book sucked is putting it lightly.
It reads like a middle-aged straight white man's exoticized fantasy f solo traveling to less developed countries. The fetishisation of poverty is something the author thinks he is self-aware of, but continues the book with stating he disliked Africa's developed and industrial cities, describing them as ugly, and adding he thinks Africa is the most beautiful when it is "rural" and natural.
He also includes a conversation with a monk in which he argues for the value of money by answering the guy "Money, my friend, is what lets me travel to all these places" as a mic-drop moment, after the monk states money in America is the root of their suffering (??).
The book ends with a French woman he encounters in Ethiopia, who wants to go home because she's "Tired of the racism, tired of being the white woman in Africa", which perfectly encapsulates the author, who ironically makes fun of ignorant tourists with nose rings who come to India for spiritual enlightenment. He, who is much more noble, comes to marvel at the poverty and dead bodies.

[Isabella Wordsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

“ I have found the other side of beauty, because I have found another kind of beauty. It is not just a function of aethstetics, but also another state of mind.” A letter that highlights the paradoxical nature of beauty, and finding it even in the absence of perceived beauty. I was an interesting way to read and hear about India.

The second part by far is what made this such a gripping little book. An expedition into Ethiopia that feels like a tale you read in fiction. The description of real life in a way that feels honorary and surreal.

[Elizabeth VanBeuren]

(Disclaimer: I won’t give ratings to memoirs, given that I believe we, as people, do not have the right to minimize or diminish someone’s lived experiences to something as simple as a star ranking).

Overall, this was a quick, easy read. I liked it. Did I love how the author describes certain settings? No. Did I agree in the author stating that other cultures find beauty in every little thing (ie. the slaughtering of animals)? No.

But very eye-opening for sure!

[Emily Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book about a white guy in India didn’t sound like a book I’d be into. I was expecting some eat pray love bs but this was one of the most kind and introspective views of how other cultures can impact a person, without needing it to be a performance to others.

Not to mention the fact that this entire book (short but nonetheless full a book) was an EMAIL to Andre Leon Talley. If I even get a text from a friend with more than 4 paragraphs I’m out.