La Chine "profonde" des années 80 vu par un contemporain en questionnement sur lui-même et le régime dans lequel il vit. ( )

"Red Dust: A Path Through China" by Ma Jian is a combination travelogue and personal journal. Ma is something of a stereotype: he is an artist who gets tired with his life and decides to hit the road recording his personal observations and thoughts.

There were large parts of "Red Dust" that I enjoyed. It was interesting to read about the growing counterculture after the Cultural Revolution. Ma's world is full of long-haired poets, musicians, and artists, all of whom are discontent with their lives in Beijing. Ma spends large parts of the book thinking about these friends and writing to them with a longing, and this was off-putting, as was Ma's constant womanizing.

When he comes across different ethnic groups, Ma describes them with old language that at times borders on racism. While he sympathizes with their poverty, he also frequently refers to other ethnic groups as savages. For example, the Lahu are head-hunters, the Miao are hot-headed, and the Tibetans are spiritually void capitalists. He even helps set up an unironic "ethnic zoo" with his friends in the middle of a large city park during his travels.

I liked the geographic descriptions and reading about the bus stations. Unfortunately, I didn't find his personal thoughts to be revelatory. In addition, I was disappointed that Ma skipped over important tracts of his journeys where he was lecturing at universities and making money in other ways.

Ma Jian's early life as a Red Guard is mentioned but not discussed, as is his professional life as a government employee - he worked as a photographer for a state-run propaganda newspaper. I wish he explored the contradiction between that life and his criticism of the surveillance state.

I read that "Red Dust" is fictionalized. I don't know which parts are completely fiction. Several times he almost dies, such as when he wanders through a desert, gets swept up in a tropical river, and is robbed but ends up befriending and then robbing the thieves. I suspect some of these are fictionalized. ( )

Comparison's to Kerouac's On the Road are unfair. This authors is more sympathetic and takes more interest in the world around him. All the events are believable but whether or not it all happened exactly as described is probably not important. It's not a history book but it offers raw and exciting glimpses of it. ( )

What an amazing book! Ma Jian is a Beijing photographer who flees Beijing just ahead of a smallish cultural purge in the 1980s. He's travelling not just to to escape the politics, but to escape his discontent with his love life and work life. He's off to find himself, and to find the real China. He travels in alarmingly precarious ways, nearly kills himself getting lost in deserts and jungles. He survives by doing small art works or selling souvenirs, or relying on the kindness of strangers and old friends.

It's a fascinating view into a very different world. At times it's hard to get into, Ma can seem callous and unsympathetic on first glance, but his love for the people of his huge, sprawling, complex country is a constant background glow. ( )

Really enjoyed this. An interesting book, I wasn't sure as to what to expect. Ma Jian decides to go on the road after his inspiration had gone and the chances he would be picked up again was getting higher each day. His trip turns into a 3 year trek around the vast country of China, and into Chinese controlled Tibet. The book is the combination of a narrative and notes made from the trip.

His commentary is good, the people he met a good cross-section of Chinese (and minority) society. I especially enjoyed his forays into Tibet and Yunnan province.

I would thoroughly recommend this book. ( )