Customer Reviews:
 Fun Read August 3, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
Funny, engrossing, well balanced. Contrary to a couple other reviews, I did not find his views condescending, just honest.
 Loved his earlier work, but this is a bit of a disappointment August 2, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
I like Maarten: he's half Czech, I'm half Czech; he's actually lived in Port Vila Vanuatu with his wife, I've actually lived in Port Vila Vanuatu with my wife. In addition, he is much funnier than I am. His books about the South Pacific ("The Sex Lives of Cannibals" [SLC] and "Getting Stoned with Savages" [GSWS]) were hoots, and very accurate from what I can attest to from having spent time in some of the same places (Vanuatu and Fiji).
In "Lost on Planet China" (LPC) Maarten is still funny, but much less so in this book than in his two previous works. I counted five personal "laugh out louds" from LPC, as opposed to the dozens and dozens of "laugh out louds" I experienced from both SLC and GSWS. I found his personal opinions usually reasonable (having spent some time in China, I disagree with some of those other reviewers apparently offended by Maarten's honesty), but some of his jokes began to become repetitious (example: by the time he is blaming George Bush for not getting served meatballs in Xian I actually closed the book for a day - this was approximately tenth time a similar "W" attempt at humor was clumsily inserted). But mostly, the editing of LPC is horrible. He mentions at the end (in his Acknowledgements) that his editor was giving birth during the time she was editing one of his chapters. Actually, it reads as if she was giving birth during the last 1/4 of the book. This end section is disjointed, confusing (example: a reference is made to something that apparently happened earlier during Maarten's trip, but which seems to have been redacted out of an earlier chapter), and frequently just plain boring.
This book is like we've started on a very interesting trip of discovery together with a person you know with a reputation for being funny. Things start well, as time goes on you have some minor issues, but you are still enjoying yourself and learning. Then things begin to get disorganized and you actually start to wonder why you are still going along. It's not just that China is complex (as the author keeps pointing out), it's because the trip itself is beginning to seem pointless. You keep thinking it's got to get better, and despite a few brief respites, it does not get better. Even though the first 250-300 pages are good, the last 100 pages are a chore and leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. Or maybe it's the live squids.
One final thought: although I doubt that Maarten had anything to do with the map, it is rather interesting. Taiwan appears to be a province of the PRC - Broadway Books does not apparently consider the ROC as a separate country - yet Tibet appears (judging by the typeface) to be some sort of separate country. Complex indeed.
 Lost in China and probably anywhere else August 1, 2008
9 out of 22 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
Here we go again... July 31, 2008
11 out of 13 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.
 Well Worth The Price July 26, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
J. Maarten Troost is not Paul Theroux and neither is Paul Theroux J. Maarten Troost. Both can be loosely identified as travel writers (neither gives the nuts and bolts of travel writing, prices, hotel recommendations, etc) but there the association ends. Troost is basiclaly a humorist, Theroux a social scientist. They should adopt some characteristics from one another
Lost on Planet China is an amusing, and exhausting, read. How Troost was able to get through this trip is amazing...and why he would subject himself to such strains and abuse is equally amazing. But I guess you cannot have a book without breaking some bones. He certainly paints a dismal picture of urban China, the air pollution drives him crazy, and is more tolerant of the Chinese countryside. He makes a trip to China seems like endless work, from the need to bargain before buying anything to using your elbows to protect yourself in a crowd...and in China crowds are as common as the air polution he carps about.
It is a good walk though on China, perhaps some help to people planning their first trip there. I enjoyed the book especially since I made my first (and only) trip to China nearly 20 years ago and the changes Troost reports makes me wonder if I visited the same country. Since the price of the book is about the same price as a movie ticket (at least where I live) I think the book is a better deal. JDP
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