A review by will_sargent
A Few Perfect Hours and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe by Josh Neufeld
1.0
I wanted to like this book. I didn't.
There's something about tourism that annoys me -- not the act of going from place to place and being a tourist, but the desire to be authentic. The idea that, because you have some vague understanding of the country, you're "less of a tourist" is what leads to the most cringe inducing bits in this graphic novel.
The scene where they accept the blessings of buddhist monks and cringe at the baptists is one of them. The scene where an ice cream seller is given his own internal monologue based on what he thinks the two travellers are thinking. The trip through the caves that, ironically, has some benefit in at least pointing out to them that they have odd ideas about the thrill of danger.
And, of course, their muted outrage at their typecasting of bit parts on Singapore TV. I mean, what were they expecting?
So, yeah. Travel can be good, travel books can be good. But this... it's holiday snap masturbation, and it shows.
There's something about tourism that annoys me -- not the act of going from place to place and being a tourist, but the desire to be authentic. The idea that, because you have some vague understanding of the country, you're "less of a tourist" is what leads to the most cringe inducing bits in this graphic novel.
The scene where they accept the blessings of buddhist monks and cringe at the baptists is one of them. The scene where an ice cream seller is given his own internal monologue based on what he thinks the two travellers are thinking. The trip through the caves that, ironically, has some benefit in at least pointing out to them that they have odd ideas about the thrill of danger.
And, of course, their muted outrage at their typecasting of bit parts on Singapore TV. I mean, what were they expecting?
So, yeah. Travel can be good, travel books can be good. But this... it's holiday snap masturbation, and it shows.