The Many Roads to Japan: A Search for Identity, Robert W. Norris, 2002
John Banks is your average American teenager who, upon reaching 18 years of age, registers for the military draft. He gets a very low draft number. The thought of killing another human being while in the Army is repulsive to him, so he starts thinking about alternatives. He joins the Air Force, having been assured that he will never have to carry a gun.
He goes to Texas for basic training, where he begins to realize that this was a very bad idea. After more training in Texas, he is sent to an air base in California, where he has been assigned the job of guarding B-52 bombers as a military policeman (MP). So much for never carrying a gun. Later, he is given 30 days leave, then told to go back to Texas, on his way to Southeast Asia.
Instead, John returns to California and registers as a conscientious objector. He is sentenced to 6 months in prison, during which many attempts are made to get him to feel like a criminal for refusing to go to war. While in prison, he gets an angry letter from his father, disowning him and calling him a coward.
After getting out of prison, John goes back to California and gets a job at a lumber mill in Humboldt County. He even tries a couple of semesters at the local junior college. Feeling isolated and alienated from everyone around him, and America in general, he hitchhikes across America, and flies to Europe, where he backpacks for the next several months.
In Paris, he meets Hamid and Abdul, a couple of Persian carpet traders. Hamid tells John that jobs for foreigners are plentiful in Iran, his homeland. The two undertake a harrowing car journey through southeast Europe, Turkey and Iran. Harrowing because Hamid drives like an insane person, darting in and out of traffic, creating his own travel lanes when necessary and with one hand always on the car horn. After spending time in Iran, John continues to Afghanistan, where he again meets up with Abdul. John continues on to India, where he witnesses poverty and human degradation on an unimaginable scale.
Back in America, John tries his hand at being a writer, though it doesn't work very well. Seized with wanderlust once again, John hears about jobs available for foreigners teaching English in Japan. He goes there, and, after a couple of years, when he has to decide whether or not to apply for a permanent resident visa, decides to stay in Japan.
This book is written in simplified English, and questions at the end of each chapter make it a very good choice for people learning English. Aside from that, it's a very fast read and a good tale of one person's search for identity. It's well worth reading.
Showing posts with label norris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label norris. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Looking for the Summer
Looking for the Summer, Robert W. Norris, Jacobyte Books, 2000
American David Thompson is a Vietnam War conscientious objector. After spending a year in military prison, during which time he became estranged from his family, he travels around Europe, not really sure where he's going or what he's doing. In Paris, he meets a man named Hasan, who encourages David to accompany him back to Iran, his homeland. David is assured that plenty of jobs for foreigners are available. Their paths diverge for a while, and they meet up again a few weeks later, and undertake a harrowing journey to Iran by way of southeast Europe and Turkey.
The mountains of southeast Turkey are full of the sort of people who shoot first and don't bother with asking questions later. The two pass many disabled vehicles along the way, but don't even think of stopping; the philosophy is "every man for himself." They eventually reach Teheran, the Iranian capital. It's a dirty, noisy, congested place, like a city that's grown up too quickly. They continue to Mashad, Hasan's hometown, a much cleaner and nicer place.
David is invited to a meeting of an informal group of young people to discuss political philosophy; they have heard about his political rebellion. It's during the reign of the Shah, whose secret police, the SAVAK, are everywhere, so many precautions are needed. A few days later, the leaders of the group are arrested, and David is told to leave Iran immediately. He continues on to Afghanistan.
While there, he meets some Westerners who are more interested in drugs than in getting a different perspective of the world around them. He is told that he must continue on to India, to experience it first hand. Emotionally, it will hit him harder than anything in his life, but it's something he must do. Throughout his whole trip, and expecially in India, he experiences great kindness from total strangers. He also witnesses poverty and misery on a scale inconceivable to the average American.
This book is short, but it works on several levels. It's a good travel story, it's a good political and personal philosophy story, and it's a fine tale of an average person looking for his place in the world. It's well worth reading.
American David Thompson is a Vietnam War conscientious objector. After spending a year in military prison, during which time he became estranged from his family, he travels around Europe, not really sure where he's going or what he's doing. In Paris, he meets a man named Hasan, who encourages David to accompany him back to Iran, his homeland. David is assured that plenty of jobs for foreigners are available. Their paths diverge for a while, and they meet up again a few weeks later, and undertake a harrowing journey to Iran by way of southeast Europe and Turkey.
The mountains of southeast Turkey are full of the sort of people who shoot first and don't bother with asking questions later. The two pass many disabled vehicles along the way, but don't even think of stopping; the philosophy is "every man for himself." They eventually reach Teheran, the Iranian capital. It's a dirty, noisy, congested place, like a city that's grown up too quickly. They continue to Mashad, Hasan's hometown, a much cleaner and nicer place.
David is invited to a meeting of an informal group of young people to discuss political philosophy; they have heard about his political rebellion. It's during the reign of the Shah, whose secret police, the SAVAK, are everywhere, so many precautions are needed. A few days later, the leaders of the group are arrested, and David is told to leave Iran immediately. He continues on to Afghanistan.
While there, he meets some Westerners who are more interested in drugs than in getting a different perspective of the world around them. He is told that he must continue on to India, to experience it first hand. Emotionally, it will hit him harder than anything in his life, but it's something he must do. Throughout his whole trip, and expecially in India, he experiences great kindness from total strangers. He also witnesses poverty and misery on a scale inconceivable to the average American.
This book is short, but it works on several levels. It's a good travel story, it's a good political and personal philosophy story, and it's a fine tale of an average person looking for his place in the world. It's well worth reading.
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