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Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia by: Tom Bissell List Price: CDN$ 37.95 Price: CDN$ 17.00 You Save: CDN$20.95 (55%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 915.870486 EAN: 9780375421303 ISBN: 0375421300 Label: Pantheon Manufacturer: Pantheon Number Of Pages: 416 Publication Date: September 23, 2003 Publisher: Pantheon Release Date: September 23, 2003 Studio: Pantheon Sales Rank: 391580 Browse for similar items by category:
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Uzbekistan-a-go-goThe title is a bit of a misnomer. Bissell really spends most of his time not even anywhere close to the Aral Sea but exploring Uzbekistan. Thanks to that it's a far better book than a rant against the environmental mess that is now the Aral Sea. Plus throwing in enough history to make it come alive without boring us all to tears is a skill in Bissell's writing. By the time he does get to the Aral Sea region, the story sort of loses its way a bit. Mainly, I think this is due to just before that parting ways with one of the best foils in any travel book ever--the Uzbek dude Rustam that Bissell hooks up with. Everyone who has ever traveled in the Third World knows these guys who say more truth with one word than any thesis could. Read More: Rating:  - Inaccurate InformationMr. Bissel needs to verify the facts before he actually writes them and publishes. His information about the former Uzbek Ambassador to the United States, is highly inaccurate. Starting with the fact that it was not his daughter that was arrested, and second of all, definately not on drugs charges. The only correct fact is that yes, she was forced to have an abortion. I attended the book signing and wish that I scanned through the book while I was there, so that I could point that out to him directly. Rating: - This is what he writes???????When Uzbekistan's former ambassador to the United States became interested in defecting to America, for instance, his daughter, Nadira Khidoiatova, was soon arrested on drug-smuggling charges. Khidoiatova was pregnant, and under Uzbek law was therefore supposed to have been released on bond. The Uzbek authorities sidestepped this nicety by forcibly aborting her fetus. The former ambassador, for his part, now lived under protection in the United States. Rating: - Great overview of Uzbekistan and the Aral Sea's demise_Chasing the Sea_ is one of the finer travel books I have read in some time. Author Tom Bissell set out originally to cover the tragic disappearance of the Aral Sea, a once large inland body of water shared by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan that has been slowly choked to death since the 19th century by diversion of the water to grow cotton. Through the course of the book though he not only covers the Aral Sea but also relates his previous personal experiences with Uzbekistan - he served for a time as a Peace Corps volunteer - as well as his current travels. Though he left the Peace Corps, his love for this Central Asian nation didn't leave him and he felt compelled to return, not only to his host family but to the country in general. We ... Read More: Rating: - GASP!!!The author of Chasing the Sea seems to have attracted an Amazon nemesis. His name is Elliot McGucken, who by my estimate has written 78% of the bad reviews here under his numerous assumed names. By all means, do a search for his books using Amazonian technology. Then laugh your head off. This guy has two talents. The first is a talent for not having any talent whatsoever. His other talent is for stupidity. I actually haven't read Chasing the Sea. I hadn't ever heard of it until Mr. McGucken started ranting about it elsewhere. But if Elliot McGucken hates it I bet it's probably okay. |
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