It was in a letter of 1897, about his cousin James Ross Clemens, that Mark Twain famously noted that "the report of my death was an exaggeration." He...
Continue »
It's no wonder this book topped the best seller list.
Gilbert's raw humanity, honesty, and longing for adventure exemplify that which so few of us actually act upon.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(4 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)
As one of the many expats living the surrounding area of Seoul, I can appreciate the suggestions that this book makes, specifically with regard to the urban life and the focus on the areas of the city that emphasize the art scene. However, the fact that I am able to find this book helpful at all, is only based on the fact that I go to Seoul often and am confident navigating around the city.
This book is NOT for someone just visiting the city for a long weekend or even a couple of weeks. There are three main reasons for this.
First, this book fails to divide the city into districts. This is an absolute necessity in a travel guide about a city with 10 million people. It is huge. You can look at the subway map and count how many stops from one place to the next. Just because there are only 6 stops, doesn't mean you'll get there in 10 minutes. Making 6 stops on the subway with 2 transfers between lines could take you almost an hour. If you are in Seoul, you should pick an area of the city you want to see and stick in that area for a while, instead of wasting time getting from one part of the city to another part.
Second, this book does not give detailed explanations of how to get from place to place. It does not have the address written in Korean, it only has the address in English. Also, it doesn't tell you how to get there. There is no explanation for what subway stop to get off at, what bus to take, nothing.
Third, the book gives you no idea of how much each of the suggested venues cost. For example, N Seoul Tower has an entrance fee of 7,000won per person that the book fails to mention. Also, there is no price range given for all of the restaurants and bars it suggests. If you spent an hour trying to find the one cool cafe you saw in the book's picture, and got there, only to find out there was no way you were going to drop that much money on a roll of sushi, you would be very frustrated and disappointed.
Overall, this book is decent for a local person who has a plethora of time to explore it's suggestions, but bad for a visitor who could just save their time and buy the Lonely Planet Seoul guide instead.
I just got back from a long weekend in Beijing and was so thankful that I had this little guide. Sure, it is concise and condensed as other reviewers critique, but if you are only going for a weekend trip, it is the perfect size book.
It was the most helpful in helping us decide what we actually wanted to fit in on such a short trip without feeling like we were unable to relax. Since the book is divided into districts, when we headed to one area of the huge city, we were able to stay in that area for a while, being able to find food, shopping, etc, without wasting time moving from place to place in traffic or on the subway.
What this book has that other travel guides about Beijing DON'T have is the English name and the Mandarin name side by side. This way, you can show a taxi driver the name of where you want to go, making the language barrier a little bit easier to deal with. Of course, you still have to be realistic. We tried showing a driver one of the restaurant suggestions in the book and he didn't know what it was, but that is just a part of being in a huge city.
Young recounts the death of his daughter and process of grief in a poetic and even magical narrative. This tale, set in the great Northwest, will move you to tears as you empathize with this heart broken father, as well as stir within you the need to answer the unanswerable questions about love, life, and ultimately death.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(17 of 31 readers found this comment helpful)
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
Customer Comments
meganpardue has commented on (22) products.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #07) by J. K. Rowling
meganpardue, April 27, 2009
It is perfect. This final book is all that I could have ever imagined and asked for to close such a wonderful adventurous tale.(2 of 6 readers found this comment helpful)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
meganpardue, April 27, 2009
It's no wonder this book topped the best seller list.Gilbert's raw humanity, honesty, and longing for adventure exemplify that which so few of us actually act upon.
(4 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)
Wallpaper City Guide Seoul (Wallpaper City Guides) by Wallpaper Magazine E
meganpardue, February 11, 2009
As one of the many expats living the surrounding area of Seoul, I can appreciate the suggestions that this book makes, specifically with regard to the urban life and the focus on the areas of the city that emphasize the art scene. However, the fact that I am able to find this book helpful at all, is only based on the fact that I go to Seoul often and am confident navigating around the city.This book is NOT for someone just visiting the city for a long weekend or even a couple of weeks. There are three main reasons for this.
First, this book fails to divide the city into districts. This is an absolute necessity in a travel guide about a city with 10 million people. It is huge. You can look at the subway map and count how many stops from one place to the next. Just because there are only 6 stops, doesn't mean you'll get there in 10 minutes. Making 6 stops on the subway with 2 transfers between lines could take you almost an hour. If you are in Seoul, you should pick an area of the city you want to see and stick in that area for a while, instead of wasting time getting from one part of the city to another part.
Second, this book does not give detailed explanations of how to get from place to place. It does not have the address written in Korean, it only has the address in English. Also, it doesn't tell you how to get there. There is no explanation for what subway stop to get off at, what bus to take, nothing.
Third, the book gives you no idea of how much each of the suggested venues cost. For example, N Seoul Tower has an entrance fee of 7,000won per person that the book fails to mention. Also, there is no price range given for all of the restaurants and bars it suggests. If you spent an hour trying to find the one cool cafe you saw in the book's picture, and got there, only to find out there was no way you were going to drop that much money on a roll of sushi, you would be very frustrated and disappointed.
Overall, this book is decent for a local person who has a plethora of time to explore it's suggestions, but bad for a visitor who could just save their time and buy the Lonely Planet Seoul guide instead.
Beijing Encounter (Lonely Planet Beijing Encounter) by Eilis Quinn
meganpardue, February 11, 2009
I just got back from a long weekend in Beijing and was so thankful that I had this little guide. Sure, it is concise and condensed as other reviewers critique, but if you are only going for a weekend trip, it is the perfect size book.It was the most helpful in helping us decide what we actually wanted to fit in on such a short trip without feeling like we were unable to relax. Since the book is divided into districts, when we headed to one area of the huge city, we were able to stay in that area for a while, being able to find food, shopping, etc, without wasting time moving from place to place in traffic or on the subway.
What this book has that other travel guides about Beijing DON'T have is the English name and the Mandarin name side by side. This way, you can show a taxi driver the name of where you want to go, making the language barrier a little bit easier to deal with. Of course, you still have to be realistic. We tried showing a driver one of the restaurant suggestions in the book and he didn't know what it was, but that is just a part of being in a huge city.
Overall, once again, great job Lonely Planet.
The Shack by William P Young
meganpardue, November 12, 2008
Young recounts the death of his daughter and process of grief in a poetic and even magical narrative. This tale, set in the great Northwest, will move you to tears as you empathize with this heart broken father, as well as stir within you the need to answer the unanswerable questions about love, life, and ultimately death.(17 of 31 readers found this comment helpful)
1-5 of 22next