[F1L]≡ Download Free 36 Views of Mount Fuji On Finding Myself in Japan Cathy N Davidson 9780822339137 Books

36 Views of Mount Fuji On Finding Myself in Japan Cathy N Davidson 9780822339137 Books

Download As PDF : 36 Views of Mount Fuji On Finding Myself in Japan Cathy N Davidson 9780822339137 Books

36 Views of Mount Fuji On Finding Myself in Japan Cathy N Davidson 9780822339137 Books

Davidson has written a wonderful book, more memoir than travelogue, on her trips to Japan both as a tourist and as a visiting professor. She has a real eye for the telling detail and the apt turn of phrase. Several of her vignettes (the Japanese lady in Paris, the futile attempt to learn Japanese in an intensive, formal course, the pilgrimage with her stepson) are small gems that linger in my memory.
The heart of the book, though, is not so much what Davidson saw of Japan but what Japan did to Davidson, and what she learned of herself from her trips there, and from her longing to steep herself in many aspects of Japanese life that even she acknowledges are more a fantasy of Japan than the reality -- a reality that she and her husband confront when they consider transplanting themselves to Japan. This quandry -- I want to find my home, but where is it? -- is one that I think many of us will appreciate, and the solution that she and her husband reach is elegant and satisfying. Although much of the book revolves around "composite" characters and institutions, every situation rings true.


Tags : 36 Views of Mount Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan [Cathy N. Davidson] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <div>In 1980 Cathy N. Davidson traveled to Japan to teach English at a leading all-women’s university. It was the first of many journeys and the beginning of a deep and abiding fascination. In this extraordinary book,Cathy N. Davidson,36 Views of Mount Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan,Duke University Press Books,0822339137,Personal Memoirs,Women,Davidson, Cathy N. - Travel - Japan,Japan - Civilization - 1945-,Japan - Description and travel,Japan;Civilization;1945-,Japan;Description and travel.,1945-,1949-,Asia - Japan,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Personal Memoirs,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Women,Biography,Biography & Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,Biography: general,Civilization,Davidson, Cathy N.,,Description and travel,Essays & Travelogues,General Adult,Japan,Non-Fiction,TRAVEL Asia Japan,TRAVEL Essays & Travelogues,Travel,Travel - Foreign,Travel writing,TravelEssays & Travelogues,UNIVERSITY PRESS,Women's studies,Asia - Japan,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Personal Memoirs,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Women,Essays & Travelogues,TRAVEL Asia Japan,TRAVEL Essays & Travelogues,TravelEssays & Travelogues,Travel - Foreign,1945-,1949-,Civilization,Davidson, Cathy N.,,Description and travel,Japan,Travel,Biography & Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,Biography: general,Travel writing,Women's studies

36 Views of Mount Fuji On Finding Myself in Japan Cathy N Davidson 9780822339137 Books Reviews

The book discusses the author's 10 visits to Japan and how her view of the country changes over time. Because of this book, I bought another one about Japanese culture.

She described how women and men are treated differently in Japan and how an added complication arises when the woman is an American and a professional. I felt sad for the salarymen and the endless studying for students. Her description of the island of Oki sounds wonderful - swimming around collecting glass balls used in fishing. This is in contrast with the Practice House - a house associated with a women's college where women students are taught how to behave in America. The only problem is that the Practice House is stuck in the 1960's, which matches the assumption that women's role in America is to cook, clean and make crafts.

The book is a 2 parter - the first explains the author's introduction to Japan. The second discusses how living in Japan has influenced her life in America and is very self reflective. There is a very nice transition.

I understand that an experience in a different country is individualistic. It is not fair to criticize the book because it doesn't match another person's experience. Just appreciate it for what it is - a retelling of events that happened to that person, at that time, in the place. I enjoyed learning about the author's experience in Japan.
I absolutely love it when I learn something new about something I thought was familiar, especially when it's wrapped in a well-written and captivating story. Davidson's memoir of her experiences in Japan transports the reader to places both physical and spiritual, and she does this with surprising simplicity and heartfelt honesty. It was her description of the fragile egg-like heads of people wearing expressions of terror while riding monstrous waves on their boats with Mount Fuji posed in the background, and her poetic interpretation of this Hokusai print that stirred me. Searching among my collection of things Japanese, I found a collection of Hokusai Fugaku postcards, probably given to me as "omiyage" on my first trip to Japan (1977). Taking out the one that mirrors the illustration on the front cover of the book, I placed it inside the book. It could be used as a book mark as I intend to pass the book on to my daughters to read--first, to the one who is looking forward to her third visit to Japan and then the other, who has lived there.
as advertised
Wrong book for our needs.
I have shared many of the sensations she describes in this book the way the most mundane conversations can seem like a great accomplishment, because they have been conducted in Japanese, for example. The impulse to speak Japanese whenever you try to speak any foreign language. The feeling that you are "becoming Japanese." Ms. Davidson does not sugar-coat life in Japan whatsoever, and in fact a major theme of the book is explaining why she doesn't live there. I would give it 5 stars except that for a short book, it is a little hard to get through. Some of the observations on life, death, marriage, and photography seem a little sophomoric or naive. But highly recommended nonetheless; it would be a great book to pack on an extended vacation in Japan.
Davidson has written a wonderful book, more memoir than travelogue, on her trips to Japan both as a tourist and as a visiting professor. She has a real eye for the telling detail and the apt turn of phrase. Several of her vignettes (the Japanese lady in Paris, the futile attempt to learn Japanese in an intensive, formal course, the pilgrimage with her stepson) are small gems that linger in my memory.
The heart of the book, though, is not so much what Davidson saw of Japan but what Japan did to Davidson, and what she learned of herself from her trips there, and from her longing to steep herself in many aspects of Japanese life that even she acknowledges are more a fantasy of Japan than the reality -- a reality that she and her husband confront when they consider transplanting themselves to Japan. This quandry -- I want to find my home, but where is it? -- is one that I think many of us will appreciate, and the solution that she and her husband reach is elegant and satisfying. Although much of the book revolves around "composite" characters and institutions, every situation rings true.