On July 13, 2010 a small group of 7 met at Uno's
to discuss Susan Jane Gilman's book "Undress Me In
The Temple of Heaven". Those in attendance were
Diane, Madeleine, Julie, Donna, Nancy, Betsy and
Nettie. We had all read the book and agreed that it was
a page turner.
Two friends who just graduated from Brown University
decided to visit China in 1986 just as it was being opened to the western world. They figured they could handle
anything the world could dish out after all they were
Brown graduates. They were totally unprepared for the
trip as they were backpacking and not using the services
of the CTS (China Travel Service).
What they discovered was that they were stripped of
every comfort level in a strange land. They were without
cultural understanding, language, status, physical health.
Needless to say they could not handle the culture shock
and one girl who may have been Schizophrenic had a
breakdown there. The story was told in a funny way.
They had to fight the communist bureaucracy and
finally managed a literally narrow escape with the assistance
of a Canadian nurse.
The friends never saw each other again. Yet the author returned
to China and travelled with the Canadian nurse and went on to become
an international journalist.
Kudos to Diane for choosing such a great book.
The moral of the story is that one should choose one's
travel companions well. We should always remember
that we are guests in other countries and try to at
least prepare ourselves by doing some research and
gain some understanding of other cultures before
plunging ahead. We should also not impose our
standards on others.
The next book was chosen by Madeleine. It is called
"Still Alice" by Lisa Genova and it is not too lengthy.
August 18th was chosen for the next date.
