About book Tales Of A Female Nomad: Living At Large In The World (2002)
Some of the reviews on here for this book are a little harsh. It makes me wonder if jealousy was a factor in some of the reviews--and if some of the reviewers would have been less harsh if the author had been a man. But then again, this book couldn't have been written by a man, because the whole gist of it is an older woman who summons the courage to start traveling alone to some really far-flung places where it's not always easy for a woman to travel or even live according to the same standards and liberties that men and male travelers take for granted. I'm also confused by any reviewers complaining that this book is all about her--well, it says so right in the title, doesn't it? I'm wondering what these particular reviewers were expecting--did they not read the title before opening the book?Not that I found this book all that riveting. The author speeds along too quickly in her tales, offering little emotional reflection and even less conflict (which like it or not usually helps to make things more interesting for readers), and at the same time loads them down with too many irrelevant details (like how she furnished her home in Seattle) or bits that go nowhere, like this (while she's in New Zealand): "One afternoon I have a chance to relax with Melissa, which is always great; she's so easy to talk to. There's something about my daughter-in-law that is so much more than just a single addition to a family. She adds a depth and dimension that makes everyone bigger and better and more relaxed."I figured this was a lead-in for some important topic that came up while talking to her daughter-in-law, something that would justify the author's bringing this up and affect the direction of the story, however so slightly. But that's it--that's the entire paragraph and the entire thought. The next para picks up a week later and discusses traveling to some sulfur baths and such. I'm guessing the author just wanted to say something nice and appreciative about her daughter-in-law. Which is fine--but it doesn't exactly make for riveting writing, and the book is unfortunately full of non-sequiturs like this, especially the last few chapters. I noticed my attention dropped off significantly after the Indonesia sections, and it really just started to seem like the author was padding the book by the end.One other problem I had was in the chapter on Nicaragua, followed immediately by a chapter on Israel. In the Nicaragua section, the author takes pains to describe how her eyes were opened politically during her visit here, and she even goes so far to title this section The End of Political Innocence. Okay. But she follows this whole experience and change in view (which I took to be sincere) with a chapter on her visit to Israel, another politically volatile place. Yet in the chapter on Israel, she makes little reference to the political situation there, and makes no mention whatsoever of the people the Israelis are fighting. The words "Palestine," "Palestinians," and "Gaza Strip" are never mentioned--not even once. At the end of the chapter, the author (who was raised Jewish but is otherwise non-observant) does make clear that she supports Israel, and while I can respect that, I think it's pretty myopic and insensitive of her not to even acknowledge by name the people Israelis are at war with, much less discuss the issue and the Palestinians' point of view. It's a big oversight on the author's part (and the editor's) to completely evade this issue, especially right after a chapter where the author has claimed her eyes were just opened to political injustice in Nicaragua and the problems of U.S. involvement in other countries' and regions' conflicts. Unlike some reviewers, I think it's fine that she focused on the sexism in Israel and in orthodox Judaism--being a Jewish woman, she has every right to call out the sexism in her religious heritage. But I think she owed the reader more political reflection and self-examination in this chapter too.I do think this book succeeds though as an encouragement to women, especially older women, to travel and try things on their own. I think the point of this book was really just to let other women who may be interested in travel and adventure but who have no one to travel with and so may be afraid to go on their own know they can do it and be happy and safe and have a good time. For women readers who may be considering a round-the-world trip or even one short, solo trip somewhere for the first time, I think this book is ideal to encourage them and inspire them to pursue their dreams.
putting this on a "good"reads list actually makes me cringe a little bit. i picked this book up because i had a hard time finding books about indonesia (fiction) online, and this came up in my search. it was touted (by one reader) as the predecessor to "eat, pray, love". well, there's a reason Eat, Pray, Love made it big and this one not so much. the author means well but her writing was choppy. you can tell that she's used to writing for kids. "they do this. i am flattered." chop chop chop. maybe it would have been a good blog or something. as a book it just didn't do it for me. i finished it more out of determination than enjoyment.other particular grievances i had were the author QUITE enjoying it when some village says that she is a gift from God. she then keeps bringing it up, she can't help wondering if every freakin person she meets "Thinks I am a gift from God too?" it got to the point where i took issue with the author and had to begin doing dramatic readings of particularly obnoxious passages for my traveling companions.and of course i almost lost it when she describes her great self-sacrifice for her daughter while they travel the Galapagos Islands together. she makes the ultimate sacrifice... she says it has been so long since she has been able to sacrifice for her children, so she is glad to do it. ask me what this sacrifice is. just ASK me.giving her daughter one of her (eye) contacts out of her eye. excuse me, i have to barf now.i'd quote the exact hilarious passage, but i ditched this book on the plane where i finished it. i stuffed it in the pocket and covered it with papers and trash because i was so worried that the diligent Cathay Pacific attendants might find it and bring it back to me. be gone, book, be gone.
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This is one of those memoirs that is all about ME. I did this, and then I did that, and then I did this. And that might be okay, if not for the fact that everyone is Gelman's book is infinitely more interesting than she. It's like being stuck on a tour bus with a chatty guide who is more interested in telling you about her experiences than anything you're seeing. Meanwhile, all the sights go streaming by.Gelman is the ultimate unreliable narrator -- she's kind of pushy, obnoxious, and self-centered, but thinks of herself as being interested only in the welfare of others. While this could be put to good use in a piece of fiction, in a memoir it is merely tiresome.
—John
3.5I, like many others, felt torn after finishing this book. Man, is this woman selfish! She seems to abandon parenting her kids and doesn't mind freeloading off of people all throughout the world. However...in order to live the life she does, she needs a certain amount of selfishness. At least, that's what I kept saying to myself.At 48, children's author Rita Golden Gelman is served with divorce papers and decides to sell all her belongings to her ex, except for what fits in her backpack. With royalties from her books, she decides that she will go wherever she wants in the world. That includes war-torn Nicaragua, the Galapagos Islands and Bali, where she spends 8 years in a palace!Her descriptions are fascinating (particularly of Balinese funeral customs), but because she wrote the book 15 years after some of these experiences occurred, there isn't the level of detail for every location that some armchair travelers might prefer. And you have to put up with her busybody personality.Despite that, I admired her chutzpah for heading out and deciding that she deserved as many adventures in her life as any man.
—Jen
Sigh . . . another person whose life is in upheaval decides she needs to know what the simple folk do, and goes a-traveling. The most tragicomic moment of complete un-self-awareness comes when the author reckons up what it would take to live in deep south Mexico for a year and decides it would be as little as $15,000!Honeybun, there are women raising five kids on one third of that where you were. And they're lucky.If this had been a male writer and about martial arts, it would've been the book American Shaolin--except that he could actually be charmingly self-aware and funny.Most of her comments are things like: I went to see the mountains. They were beautiful. They calmed my soul. The driver was very (pick one) nice/rude/handsome.Her postcard from the edge? Having a great time, wish I were present in my own life. . .Sigh - I hear she wrote some lovely children's books.Don't mind me, I have PMS and teach Cultural Anthropology for a living.
—Wendy Welch
