The Kingdom of the Golden Dragon by bestselling author Isabel Allende is, quite simply put, a terribly bad book. The plot is utterly predictable and cliched; the characters uninteresting and uni-dimensional; and the writing bored me to tears (it may be better in the original Spanish, but I very much doubt it). The book is marketed as "young adult", but I doubt whether any discerning youngster would be enthused by it.The story is simple. Big Bad Americans want to steal the legendary Golden Dragon from small Himalayan kingdom. This plot is thwarted by Brave Young American, his friend and grandmother, with help from a fighting monk, the prince of the kingdom and an army of Yetis. Good things happen to the good guys and bad things to the bad guys and all ends well.The jacket blurb calls it an "Indiana Jones-style adventure", and I would tend to agree. But whatever the Indiana Jones movies lack in the way of intelligent content, they make up in sheer pulse-pounding excitement: something which is conspicuous by its absence here. From the first page, you know exactly where the story is meandering to. It is like a slow train journey where the start and destination are known, you only have to get through the torture of the actual trip!But for brainlessness and a total lack of knowledge of Asian culture and religions, the book can compete with Edgar Rice Burroughs and Indiana Jones. It seems to me that Ms. Allende draws all her knowledge of India from outdated guidebooks and adventure stories of yore. Picture the following scene: Fictionyoung Alexander Cold and his grandma, Kate Cold, come out of New Delhi airport and is immediately mobbed by beggars. They somehow make their way to the hotel through similar hordes of beggars, which is a haven of peace with peacocks fluttering on the lawns and armed guards guarding the gate! It is also mentioned that the hotel was the former palace of an Indian prince who still stays there! Alexander Cold, out of "compassion" for the poor beggars camping outside the gates, goes out to give them some money and is immediately mobbed and almost trampled to death by the greedy ungrateful wretches. Then another American rushes out of the hotel, grabs a gun from one guards, and fires a few salvos into the air when the mob disappears!FactEven though India has a lot of poverty and there are a lot many beggars, they don't line the streets all the way from the airport (in fact, it would be difficult to find beggars anywhere near the airport and main roads). And they don't camp outside hotels, ready to mob any tourist venturing outside-their begging schedules are much too full! Begging is a serious profession in India! As for the hotel with peacock-filled lawns, it may be some hotels in Rajasthan that the author may be meaning: there are no lavish palaces in New Delhi, nor are there any princes. And the legal possession of firearms by civilians is near-impossible in India: Tex Armadillo's caper of firing off a few shots into the air would have definitely landed him in the chokey.To think that this drivel was written in 2003: it would have been insulting had it not been so ludicrous!It is stated that the king of the Forbidden Kingdom (where the Golden Dragon resides) is a Buddhist: but their religion seems to be a strange mix of Buddhism, Hinduism, Tao and New Age science, with a liberal mix of martial arts and metaphysics (the original Buddha avoided speculative metaphysics like the plague). The powers gained by the monk Tensing through meditation are extraordinary, making him almost superhuman. I knew from the beginning that the poor villains didn't stand a chance. And also, there is the Scorpion Sect who seek immunity from the venom of their namesake by taking small bites from childhood onwards. Their bodies are blue-black in colour due to the venom, their teeth red due to the constant chewing of betel nuts, and they kidnap girls to produce male offspring to join their foul band (the female children are killed at birth). They worship the goddess Kali, of course (the poor goddess cannot cast off the image of the evil pagan deity, it seems, even in the 21st century!).Not recommended for anybody; adult, young adult, or child.
It is the second in Isabel Allende’s trilogy of children books (or young adult books if you wish to use that derogatory, fascist term). I have read them all since, I picked up the first part after heaving read the excellent House of Spirit. I wanted to read more of her work and this trilogy was her second most popular work. I finished the series mainly because I feel the need to finish every series that I start, in this case the quality of the series was far from my main motivation. This reminded me why I dislike children books even back when I was a child, they are simply derogatory and I am not that smart of a person. I can only imagine how an intelligent child feels like when being insulted like this. It is simply not challenging in any way, it doesn’t make you think and the stories are always painfully obvious. This series tries to infuse the books with some relevant environmental and political, cultural ideas but they are so mundane and political correct that they simply make me sick. Globalism isn’t always the right way, globalism is simply something that is happening, I am sick of all the communist anti-bullshit. I am not interested in explaining the benefits of a free market here and the downsides of many of the regulations often proposed. Of course there is value in other cultures, how retarded do you think that we are, do you seriously think that we still consider people with other cultural backgrounds to be savages. There might be people out there who think so but I doubt that this book will open up their eyes. I am tired of people always trying to fool us into believing that everything was just going perfectly everywhere until evil, globalistic western scum started destroying their global culture. Read a history book, I can assure you that it wasn’t paradise on earth before 1960 in Asia. Yes, living conditions have improved since then, it is far from perfect now over there but it sure as hell wasn’t all sunshine and smiles before. I am assuming that the country where this story takes place is Bhutan, you should read up about Bhutan it is a pretty funky place. Amongst other things it is the only kingdom ever where the king choose himself to abolish kingship in order to pave the way for democracy. I might be wrong that she is referencing Bhutan, even with my limited knowledge of Buddhism, I have to question some of her claims to such extent that I am beginning to think that her research was limited to just making up things. I am all for that but please don’t try to explain an existing religion if you are just making stuff up ok? I do not remember all of my specific complaints. I question the idea of auras existing within Buddhism. Yes, there are images originating from Bhutan which show Buddha surrounded by what could be described as aura. I haven’t been capable of finding a single mention of aura in reference to Buddhism. The idea of aura originated in the 19th century in the west. Also I question the claim that astral projection is a power generally possessed by people capable of very deep mediation, occasionally yes as a side effect, that I believe but as a required integral part, this I question. As far as the story itself is concerned, like I mentioned before it is moronic all the way, characters, progression, settings. Seriously it is just painful. Maybe Isabel Allende wanted some of that sweet Harry Potter money who knows? I fear for the future of mankind if this is how kids are treated these days. I am sure that Hollywood would love to make a movie of this. Conclussion: You know the parents who always brag about how smart their children are, which is every parent that I have ever met. Seriously everyone’s children are geniuses. I have the feeling that this would make a nice gift for their children.
Do You like book Kingdom Of The Golden Dragon (2005)?
Excelente libro. Me devolvio la admiracion que sentia por Isabel Allende. Es superinteresante, porque te adentra en la cultura de los monjes tibetanos y el budismo en si; describiendo sus origenes y la manera que se ha conservado hasta hoy en dia. Tambien, ahonda sobre la cultura asiatica en general. La narracion te engancha desde la primera pagina y los personajes son excelentes, con cada quien tomando su papel y desempeñandolo de la menjor manera. Ademas, tiene ese realismo magico de aventura, que te anima a seguir leyendo e impresionarte. No le di 5 estrellas porque me parecio predecible un personaje, pero del resto es una excelente recomendacion para el que le gustan los generos: aventura y realismo magico.
—Luis Suarez
Well. This was a pleasant little children's book. On the copy I read there was a quote from Literary Review 'The kind of accomplishment to show dressers that there's more to life than Harry Potter'. Really?! God. Harry Potter is far from the best thing ever but what a stupid statement. This book was average at best. Perhaps there was something lost in translation. It didn't quite deliver. It left me full but unsatisfied. Maybe it's because it's a children's book, they often leave me feeling like I've missed out on something. I found some aspects of this book a little ridiculous - I dislike when authors change a persons character for just a moment, to suit their needs. Fantasy is well and good but when you are in the realm of the ordinary, you must stay within it. Quick little read, recommend to any who want something light but interesting.
—Heather
Otro viaje junto a Jaguar y Águila, desmintiendo las dudas y mentiras sobre mitos y leyendas, haciendo real la existencia de seres tales como los Yetis. Llena de aventura, el libro te mantiene distraído lo suficiente, aunque no me ha gustado tanto como la ciudad de las bestias, la historia está llena de datos interesantes, me encanta la forma en como Isabel te envuelve en la misión de descubrir culturas interesantes, su sentido fantástico, en donde nada es imposible, en donde además existe un punto de reflexión y una metáfora del ser humano en su andar por la etapa de crecimiento de la niñez a la adultez, los protagonistas son en cada nueva aventura, seres más espirituales, humanos, aventureros, audaces y tolerantes a los obstáculos que surgen en la vida. El reino del dragón rojo, tiene momentos predecibles, pero todo es recompensable con momentos mágicos y emocionantes de los personajes.
—Gebanuzo
