I want so badly to not like this book and yet I find myself charmed.
2 Women, So Many Books
Our "to read" stacks way exceed our life expectancy
I want so badly to not like this book and yet I find myself charmed.
Believe me, I know what you mean! No matter what preconceptions,I really do think it is a pretty good book!
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There is a lot that I will take from this book but there are lots of things that make me really uncomfortable. the way she talks about tourism and Bali is….hmm, how do I say this? Tourism is beneficial in a lot of places. it can do wonders for the economy. it can give traditional practices added value (often through commodification and often whether the traditional practitioners like it or not) and it has done some good things for languages looking to revitalize (by adding value, often). But, I think we should turn a critical eye on this when we encounter it and not just celebrate wholesale (for the very least because it can happen whether the people who live there/practice there/speak there want it or not). I don’t think she means to sound flippant or callus when she talks about everything you get for ten bucks a day, but it kind of comes off that way. (I had some of the same problems with the India section, too.)
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