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A review by melanie_reads
Hitching Rides with Buddha by Will Ferguson
3.0
Coronavirus book review #8 – 3 stars
While there are a lot of literal laugh out loud moments, this book dragged a bit, especially near the end. It was somewhat anti-climactic, and I would have liked a reading list at the end to reference some of the books, ideas and history Ferguson mentions throughout the narrative. I was also surprised by how much it lacked in detail about the history of the Japanese sakura front.
I was also very curious about his day job as an English teacher for a Japanese corporation. That piqued my interest and went unfulfilled.
Since I’ve had extra time for navel gazing, I was overwhelmed with the sadness of how much the experience of travel has been taken over by selfie culture and Instagram. As I read, I kept picturing what Ferguson’s Instagram feed would be like. I’m happy he didn’t include any photos since it kept my imagination alive. Yet, I can’t help but think what travel writing books, the thick tomes of ideas like those Ferguson mulls over, will be like 10 – 15 years from now. Will they be as dense with human connection or littered with everything people saw?
Bonus, I've added two places to my bucket list:
1. Devil's Washboard in Miyazaki
2. The Bridge to Heaven in Miyazu Bay (Kyoto Prefecture)
While there are a lot of literal laugh out loud moments, this book dragged a bit, especially near the end. It was somewhat anti-climactic, and I would have liked a reading list at the end to reference some of the books, ideas and history Ferguson mentions throughout the narrative. I was also surprised by how much it lacked in detail about the history of the Japanese sakura front.
I was also very curious about his day job as an English teacher for a Japanese corporation. That piqued my interest and went unfulfilled.
Since I’ve had extra time for navel gazing, I was overwhelmed with the sadness of how much the experience of travel has been taken over by selfie culture and Instagram. As I read, I kept picturing what Ferguson’s Instagram feed would be like. I’m happy he didn’t include any photos since it kept my imagination alive. Yet, I can’t help but think what travel writing books, the thick tomes of ideas like those Ferguson mulls over, will be like 10 – 15 years from now. Will they be as dense with human connection or littered with everything people saw?
Bonus, I've added two places to my bucket list:
1. Devil's Washboard in Miyazaki
2. The Bridge to Heaven in Miyazu Bay (Kyoto Prefecture)