Jasper Becker
Getting to Know the Neighbours
Three Tigers, One Mountain: A Journey through the Bitter History and Current Conflicts of China, Korea and Japan
By Michael Booth
Jonathan Cape 349pp £14.99
East Asia is a graveyard for the sort of visionary diplomatic ambition that gave birth to the European Union. As in Europe, there are well-established states linked by a common cultural heritage – in this case the great Confucian tradition – and a history of many cruel wars. As in Europe, too, commerce has forged new bonds. The explosion of trade between Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China over the last thirty years, not to mention investment in each other’s economies, has been extraordinary. These countries now do more business between them than the European nations do with one another. But for all the tedious international summitry that goes on, usually poorly noticed over here, no grand diplomatic superstructure is emerging.
As Michael Booth shows in this entertaining travel book, the reason is quite straightforward: they don’t seem to like each other much. Maybe it’s because ‘two tigers cannot share the same mountain’, as the Chinese proverb puts it. Or is it because there are more sinister forces at work, such as the machinations of ultra-nationalist politicians and right-wing militias, or meddling by the USA and other outside powers?
The author, who lives in Denmark, took the measure of our Scandinavian neighbours in his popular 2014 book The Almost Nearly Perfect People. He now becomes our genial host on a tour of Japan (where he is something of a celebrity, having intrigued readers with the insights of
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm