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| Lost on Planet China or How I Learned to Love Live Squid | 
 enlarge | Author: J. Maarten Troost
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $12.80
You Save: $10.15 (44%)
New (42) Used (11) from $11.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 5219
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.4
ISBN: 076792200X
Dewey Decimal Number: 915.1046
EAN: 9780767922005
ASIN: 076792200X
Publication Date: July 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081121221340T
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| Customer Reviews:
 Is there an editor in the house? July 23, 2008
9 out of 14 found this review helpful
J. Maarten Troost is a charming person with a wonderful story to tell and an unflagging sense of humor. Unfortunately, my pleasure in his writing was marred by the many signs that he is not a native English speaker and apparently neither is his editor. While his story is totally absorbing, the mistakes in his written language become a distraction and a sign of sloppy carelessness, and by the fifty page point I found myself bracing for the next clanger. He says slayed for slain, sight for site, at least twice he says nonplussed when he means unperturbed--I simply can't devise a context in which nonplussed works--and if he describes China's polluted air as 'swirling', he does it a hundred times. PLEASE Maarten, get a thesaurus and find another word for swirling! I started counting lines between repetitions of the word swirling and clenching my teeth when it occurred.
Okay, if this sort of thing doesn't bother you, I predict you will find this a really entertaining book, but be aware that after however many pages of being funny at his own expense Troost will hit you between the eyes with some devastating example of Chinese brutality and leave you gasping with relief that you're not Chinese. With this book Troost has cured me of my long held desire to visit China.
Here we go again... July 31, 2008
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
Back during the Bubble Era of Japan, when they looked posed to take over the economic world and everyone was scrambling to catch up, there were a gazillion travel guides and cultural books dumped out of publishing companies looking to "explain it all" (make a fast buck) or just to show us what a wild and wacky place that country was with their odd customs and eating habits. Well, the bubble burst, and Japan was forced to exit stage left, and the new contender of China has stepped up to strut. Exit gaijin, enter laowai.
But that's OK. These kinds of books may be shallow and basic travel porn, but depending on the strength of the writer (Bill Bryson for instance. Anthony Bourdain for another) can be fun to read and just maybe we will glean a little insight between clever witticisms. I mean, we certainly aren't going to go there ourselves now are we? So we live a little vicariously.
And by these standards, how does J. Maarten Troost do? Does he pull it off? To be honest, he does OK. "Lost on Planet China" is not bad at all. From the start he admits that he has no interest or knowledge of China, nor any real reason to go there. Of course, there is a small subplot about thinking of moving his family there do to the high cost of living in California, but this is discarded after a few pages and never mentioned again. It soon becomes obvious that Troost has gone to China because he is a travel writer by trade, he needs to make a paycheck just like everyone else, and what with China being "hot" right now it only makes sense to make that his next book. Off we go.
Troost manages to keep my interest and take me on a tour through actually quite a bit of a large country. Unfortunately we are not given a timeline of his tour, but he seems to have spent several months there rather than the cursory few weeks, and he becomes more comfortable with the country as the months go by. This is by far the most unique and fascinating part of "Lost on Planet China". As he becomes bolder, and his preconceived notions fall away, the book becomes much more interesting and his destinations more adventurous. After all, Asia is only weird to those who don't live there, and after a few months Troost's impressions show more depth, and there is less of the "Wow, what a wacky country!" feel to the book.
And "Lost in Planet China" is definitely no love letter. Troost has a great contempt for much of what he sees, and justifiably so. Horrible pollution and poverty, absolute government control and rampant corruption and gangs...anyone looking to be lost in the beauty and majesty of this ancient culture isn't going to find it here. That also is an interesting and enjoyable part of the book. Most travel writers feel the need to connect with the country, to find the common ground and suggest that if only we could just understand then we would see the inner beauty. Not Troost. It is a refreshing viewpoint, but one sure to upset those looking for a feel-good travel book.
There are a lot of faults here. The book is long and dull in parts, there are some spelling mistakes, and the whole thing could use some editing. There is nothing particularly spectacular about his writing, but it isn't bad either. However, "Lost on Planet China" is worth a read just for Troost's raw honesty and some of the cool places he takes you. I am sure the market will soon be flooded with "China Wow!" books of more polish and professionalism, but they probably won't be any better than this.
 Lost in China and probably anywhere else August 1, 2008
9 out of 21 found this review helpful
What ever happened to the erudite, educated explorer who is truly interested in understanding and learning about the world's diversity? Maarten Troost has been around, it seems, but everything he writes in Lost On Planet China is all about Maarten Troost. He even refers to himself in the third person on the cover "or how he became comfortable eating live squid" (he is Mr. Troost).
I have traveled for several decades in China and can make as many jokes about the Chinese as the next White Man, but Mr. Troost seems to think that the eccentricities of a people were put there for his amusement (and financial gain through writing). I tried numerous times to "get into" this work, but I could only read a paragraph or two and then would drop the book with a sigh. His rambling, unorganized, narcissistic style makes the reader concentrate on him rather than his subject.
Doesn't he want the reader to learn something about China. Evidently, he learned little. Next time toss the mirror and look around you, Troost. I really can't believe that Broadway Books published this...where was the editor?
In fairness to the writer, I have not read his other works. Maybe my cynicism is due to the fact that I know China well and am not surprised at what happens to him.
L. L. Gaddy
 Fun Read July 21, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
This book is a brilliant account of an experience of a first time traveler in China. As the two previous books Maarten Troost has published, this book is readable and funny. Maarten's experience traveling throughout China gives on a good understanding of the challenges China is facing in trying to modernize at an accelerated rate. "Modernization at any cost" approach has had dire consequences on the environment and culture. Another interesting observation has been that although the government has good control over what is going on, it does not have total control of every aspect of daily life (the way for example it was in the USSR).
I am sure those who know China well may take up an issue with the author's grim depiction of China. However, the author does not claim to be an expert on China and the book is written from the perspective of an open minded outsider traveling though China for the first time.
Overall... a fun read!
A complete waste of time September 5, 2008
8 out of 18 found this review helpful
Having read positive reviews of Marten Troost's "Lost on Planet China," I was disappointed to learn that the book did not live up to my expectations. As Troost is an experienced travel writer, I was completely taken aback by his condescending tone throughout the book. All of his observations of China and the Chinese people were negative. He went from one place to another, without spending enough time to understand the culture, or to learn about the people and place. It was evident that there was a lack of interaction with the local people and one wonders how good of a travelogue this is if his interaction was mostly with another fellow American. There wasn't an attempt to understand the culture, but rather superficial observations of life there. Half way through the book, I realized there was a lack of purpose in his journey. It almost felt like he was writing about China just for the sake of it.
There are definitely much better books out there in this genre. Two that come to mind are Peter Hessler's "Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China" which explored modern day China and Colin Thubron's "Shadow of the Silk Road" which chronicled the author's travel through modern Asia along the ancient Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean.
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