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HomeShop at BookSurgeTrue CrimeJourney to the East |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 9 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 17 found the following review helpful:
 Fictional imitation of Spalding's books May 02, 2010
By Julie O
I was disappointed to discover this book was not written by Baird T Spalding but is a poorly written work of fiction from the 1970's, originally published in Vietnamese and now translated to English. There is no record of the supposed original book of 'Journey to the East' by Spalding, because it never existed. Spalding wrote the Life and Teachings series, not this book which is a cheap attempt by Vietnamese author Nguyen Phong to cash in on Spalding's name long after his death. It is very reminiscent of many 1970's metaphysical books which make a lot of wild claims but later turned out to be fiction.
Other reviews have commented on Phong's poor writing style which is nothing like Spalding. I found an extensive review of this book online where the translator Poven Leace admits that it is fiction, and the many historical errors made by Phong are clearly pointed out. None of the scientists that Phong put in his story ever met with or traveled with Spalding.
The most obvious mistake happens in Chapter One where Spalding references events that happened during the 1960's. Phong forgot that Spalding died in 1953 and this book was supposed to have been written during an expedition at the turn of the century!
Buy this book only if you like obscure and badly written metaphysical fiction from the 1970's.
13 of 16 found the following review helpful:
 Journey to the East Nov 07, 2009
By E. Hartline
First of all I liked Spalding's "Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East" because it describes the story of their journey and Spalding's experiences. I'm a sucker for a good story, but "Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East" lacked the detail that "Journey to the East" has. As far as usefulness I find that "Journey to the East" is better overall! If I had to choose one or the other after having read them both I would choose"Journey to the East". "Journey to the East" is a book that can be used as reference material. It is a magnificent book you can go back to time and time again. It tells the story yet gives you information that you can apply.
9 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 Basics Good, Writing Bad Dec 08, 2009
By RLeone
"Bleary Eyes"
Having read The Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East (5 volume set), I thought that I would give this first book that the author wrote a shot. Truly, it was probably good that I had not read this 'first' book first. I would have never bothered to read the 5 volumes if I had started with the Journey to the East.
In a nutshell, a group of 'scientists and skeptics' go to the east to discover the kernel of truth in the true religion of that area. Their efforts to search for and engage others who know the truth are clumsy and yet, unbeknownst to them, guided by those who have the truth to share, so the outcome is that they do learn some truths and are amazed by the findings. The writing is 9th grade level and is set before you as if you are the most skeptical person in the world and the author, by his words, is trying to assure you of the veracity of his (and the other scientists) findings. It is as though he tries a bit too hard. This was not the case with the "Masters..." 5 volume set. That is written at a much higher level. (Perhaps his truth seeking did in fact, 'wise him up' a bit).
Would I recommend it as a primer to the 5 volume set? Nah. Those who are ready for the 5 volumes are those who are already seekers for something more to believe in and would not gain much from the Journey to the East. Perhaps if you were an open-minded skeptic who wanted to dip his toe into this field, it might be ok.
5 of 6 found the following review helpful:
A Book That Gives You The Peace Of Mind Jan 20, 2010
By Joseph Nguyen
I have read the Vietnamese version (Hanh Trinh Ve Phuong Dong) several times and, being able to read English as well, I always want to have a copy of the original English version of Baird Spalding, but despite my intensive search during the last 20 years, I could not find one. It is really a dream comes true for me to have a copy of " Journey to the East ", re-translated by Bien Giang and Poven Leace. I congratulate them for an extremely difficult task. There are so many Vietnamese words and expressions in sino-Vietnamese which are very difficult to understand even for Vietnamese, yet they manage to find the English equivalents. In fact there are difficult expressions such as "Dong thanh tuong ung, dong khi tuong cau" which I didn't understand until I read "Great minds think alike or birds of a feather flock together". Besides the great spiritual value, the translation is written with an English style which is so close and so true to the original Vietnamese text that I can use "Journey to the East" as a textbook to learn English by comparing it with the Vietnamese version. The greatest advantage of this English version is that it enables non-Vietnamese speakers to read and absorb the wonderful philosophy of the original author, be it Nguyen Phong or Spalding. I have read some controversy on this matter but to me, it is not important who wrote it so long as it is good in helping people follow or return to the right path to live a good and peaceful life.
In the present world where most people run after wealth and materials, books of high spiritual values like " Journey to the East " should be translated into many languages and disseminated around the world.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Journey to the East Jan 31, 2010
By P. Falk
Journey to the East is a great addition to Baird T. Spalding's master piece:
"Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East." It is replete with most
insightful, and stateside heretofore unrevealed details, about the journey.
What a welcome adddition to those who wish to further their understanding of
our everchanging universe diverse but distinct levels of evolution.
See all 9 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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