About book Radio Shangri-la: What I Learned In Bhutan, The Happiest Kingdom On Earth (2010)
Napoli writes extremely well and her tale in Bhutan takes place so that it is more relevant to the reader than a lot of Bhutan memoirs that takes place in the '90s (Bhutan is a very, VERY different place since then). That said, Napoli begins her memoir by talking about the problems with writing about the Himalayas from a Shangri-La perspective and then continues to basically perpetuate the issue by writing about Bhutan as a Shangri-La that HAS to modernize, it's just too bad that it must. It's an interesting read, but not the best Bhutan memoir, so be warned that you might not get as much cultural information as you might about Napoli's personal drama surrounding the country. Growth National Happiness. A policy that Bhutan embraces in everything from government to trivial matters. A journalist takes a work trip to the happiest kingdom on Earth and discovers a lot on her journey that she couldn't get over when she comes back home. Back and forth to Bhutan, hopeless Lisa Napoli creates an attachment with the simple people of Bhutan and finds herself and her happiness there. Is it because Bhutan is the only happy place on Earth? or is it like any other country, has its good and bad? Bhutan is a kingdom that has been isolated from the World for far too long, only starts mingling with the rest of the world, a couple of decades ago. Would that affect the happy people? their ethnicity? their dreams and lifestyles? It was a pleasure knowing that there is a place on Earth that is still not materialised as the rest of the world. It was a good trip for Lisa and formed new channels between Bhutan and the rest of the world.
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An absolutely charming book that gave me more insight into Bhutan than regular travel guides.
—katreads
This book served as one of the reasons I decided to visit Bhutan.
—montana
