A Fortune-Teller Told Me

Warned by a fortune-teller not to risk flying, the author - a seasoned correspondent - took to travelling by rail, road and sea. Consulting fortune-tellers and shamans wherever he went, he learnt to understand and respect older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity.

Informationen zum Autor Tiziano Terzani Klappentext Warned by a Hong Kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for a whole year, Tiziano Terzani - a vastly experienced Asia correspondent - took what he called 'the first step into an unknown world... It turned out to be one of the most extraordinary years I have ever spent: I was marked for death, and instead I was reborn.' Travelling by foot, boat, bus, car and train, he visited Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Consulting soothsayers and shamans wherever he went, he grew to understand and respect older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity. "Terzani is already something of a legend. He is a wonderful journalist. But he is much more than that. His book is not the self-important tale of a journalist but the progress of a modern, sceptical and emotional pilgrim - and wilful showman... part autobiography, part journey through the comforting past, the unbearable present and the unwelcoming future, and part prophecy... He has written magnificently all his life. Never better than now." WILLIAM SHAWCROSS, 'Literary Review' "One of the most interesting and unusual travel books I have ever read." FIONA PITT-KETHLEY, 'Daily Telegraph' "A great book written in the best traditions of literary journalism... profound, rich and reflective." RYSZARD KUPUSCINSKI Zusammenfassung Warned by a fortune-teller not to risk flying, the author â a seasoned correspondent â took to travelling by rail, road and sea. Consulting fortune-tellers and shamans wherever he went, he learnt to understand and respect older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity.

Autorentext

For 25 years Terzani has lived in Asia, witnessing and reporting on its wars and revolutions. Born in Florence, educated in Europe and the US, Terzani became Far Eastern correspondent of Der Spiegel in 1971. In 1975 he was one of the few Western journalists to stay behind in Saigon and to witness the North Vietnamese take over the city. In 1984 he was living in China when he was arrested, accused of counter-revolutionary activity and expelled. His last book was translated as GOODNIGHT, MISTER LENIN: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE END OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE (Picador 1993/4).

Klappentext

Warned by a Hong Kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for a whole year, Tiziano Terzani - a vastly experienced Asia correspondent - took what he called 'the first step into an unknown world... It turned out to be one of the most extraordinary years I have ever spent: I was marked for death, and instead I was reborn.'
Travelling by foot, boat, bus, car and train, he visited Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Consulting soothsayers and shamans wherever he went, he grew to understand and respect older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity.

"Terzani is already something of a legend. He is a wonderful journalist. But he is much more than that. His book is not the self-important tale of a journalist but the progress of a modern, sceptical and emotional pilgrim - and wilful showman... part autobiography, part journey through the comforting past, the unbearable present and the unwelcoming future, and part prophecy... He has written magnificently all his life. Never better than now."
WILLIAM SHAWCROSS, 'Literary Review'

"One of the most interesting and unusual travel books I have ever read."
FIONA PITT-KETHLEY, 'Daily Telegraph'

"A great book written in the best traditions of literary journalism... profound, rich and reflective."
RYSZARD KUPUSCINSKI

Zusammenfassung
Warned by a fortune-teller not to risk flying, the author a seasoned correspondent took to travelling by rail, road and sea. Consulting fortune-tellers and shamans wherever he went, he learnt to understand and respect older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity.