Donald Richie continues to write learnedly, wittily and insightfully about Japan, of whose culture he is one of the world's greatest interpreters. Readers of The Japan Times will know that he is also a devoted traveler (not a tourist), especially in other parts of Asia.
This collection of travel essays is partly made up of pieces that have appeared in such venues as The New York Times, The Partisan Review, Newsweek as well as this newspaper, Richie's journalistic home. The range is extensive in both space and time.
"East" here means anyplace between Egypt and Japan. The visits take place between 1963 (Ryoanji in Kyoto) and 2007 (Burma). What ties the 22 essays together is Richie's technique, which I would describe as a blend of keen personal observation, selective literary allusion, and wry personal/philosophical reflection. The same sensibility that was at work in the early "The Inland Sea" and the later "Different People" permeates this collection as well.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.