Broadway Books A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East

Beautiful story, worth reading...

A nice book, makes you think on Asian tradition and westernisation, it's impact, boring definition of development (concrete jungle).

I cannot express in mere words what this book has done to me. I am about 2/3 through it and really do not want the journey to end. It's not so much the fortune telling but Tiziano's perspective of people and his sorrow over the loss of traditions that are being replaced by "modernization," or Westernization. And what a shame, as he states in the book, losing these ways is like removing a page or chapter from the book of human knowledge, gone forever. He shows through the many shamans he meets, the rulers, the "common" people (like you and me), how these traditions are "weathering" as the West collides into the East, and it's not faring well. Those he meets are still practicing the ways of the earth, they still know our place in this world, this life, and how we fit within it rather than reign superiority over it, but many are dying off and their descendents are taken by westernization and are not interested in carrying on these traditions. The west has lost its ability to perform magic if you will, instead we cure illnesses with drugs that make companies rich rather than through meditation, herbal remedies, spiritual manipulation, knowledge we all once knew. And here in Asia, and in Africa, through the native people of the Americas, Australia, etc. where our old ways are still being practiced, we still have something we could take and bring back if we'd just recognize its value, a real treasure we are so fortunate to still have and one we must grasp before it is too late!One reviewer here mentioned how all of the fortune tellers the author met predicted that he would live a long life, often stating he'd live well into his eighties, but he died a few years ago at the age of 65 from a brain tumor.This is not the first time I've heard fortune tellers predict long lives only to be proved wrong when their subjects die much younger. I had a friend who visited a fortune teller for his 25th birthday. She was extremely accurate about his past and present as well as what she believed would be his future, much of which he had planned but never told her. She told him he would have a very long career in politics. My friend was killed in a car accident while riding in a taxi only 2 months later. Another friend told me while stationed in Haiti many years ago that he had his fortune told with a few of his army buddies. The fortune teller told everyone's fortune but when she got to one of the men, she refused to tell his fortune. He was killed a week later.I don't know, perhaps it's all bunk or perhaps there are folks who can truly see into the future. It's just that maybe they see the future, but not all of them want to tell the truth about when that person will die. Why tell someone they will die young when you can give them hope that they will die old?Tiziano does not have a specific perspective, he's open minded, but he pines for the old ways that he sees were more human, and contrary to what others have written here, he never states he either supports or opposes communism, he simply observes, loves individuals and people, wishes for the days when we could all be connected to the earth again, and each other in a spiritual way, and not for business. And he's open to all possibilities when it comes to spirituality, true spirituality, not the kind that too often is used to control people. He does not dismiss these religions outright, he only notices they always seem to appear as either a way to westernize a country (Christianity) or fight against that westernization (Islam), like polar opposites, but no real balance or the recognition of a people's true will.Whatever your perspective, open your mind and take a wonderful journey with this man. You'll long for a time you may know or remember, or have heard of but wish you could experience too, a time that even existed here in the US for a spell.

Super bien raconté, un regard bien vif, un état d esprit bien préparé fontde ce livre une merveille de lecture du voyage, sa description du mondeAsiatique est sans appel, lui qui a vécu et voyagé pendant plus de 25ans en Asie du sud-est connaît bien son sujet. Comment un jour à Honk Kongun médium lui interdit de se déplacer par air pendant toute une année afind éviter un mauvais sort, entre ésoterisme asiatique et pragmatismeoccidental Tiziano avec son passé de voyageur nous conte un récit desplus magiques qui soit, ses comparaisons avec l Asie qu il a connutavant et celle des années 1990 nous laisse perplexent, ses point de vuessont incisifs parfois mais on ne peut s empêcher de rire tout au longde son périple avec les "dukuns", les voyants et autres charlatansqui partout ou presque utilisent les mêmes formules...Un magnifique livre que je recommande fortement à tous ceux qui aiment voyager.

Grazie Tiziano