BOOK REVIEWS
141
THE GLASS CURTAIN BETWEEN ASIA AND EUROPE: A Symposium on the Historical Encounters and the Changing Attitudes of the Peoples of the East and the West. Edited by Raghavan Iyer, with a Foreword by the Dalai Lama. London: Oxford University Press, 1965. xii+356 pages. HK$42.00
This book, as its subtitle indicates, is a study of the East-vs.-West mentality of both Asians and Europeans in the modern world. The "Glass Curtain" refers to this mentality, as it were, "invisible yet impenetrable." As something that divides peoples into opposing sides, it is more subtle, and therefore more difficult to recognize and deal with, than the Iron Curtain, the "Bamboo Curtain," or what have you. The result is lack of mutual understanding and the proliferation of distorted images of other peoples as well as of one's own.
Such a result, though perhaps inevitable historically, is naturally undesirable, so it is assumed in this book. This is so especially in our day of more extensive intercultural exchanges and more intense international conflicts. Furthermore, it is time to look forward to an emerging world civilization in which Asians and Europeans and other peoples should be more or less equal partners. All those who share this global outlook and cosmopolitan concern should read this book. The book is a tract for the times, a lesson in world citizenship. Though it presents a somber picture at the beginning, the book ends with an optimistic outlook. It appeals throughout to a broader understanding and a deeper sympathy. Although its material is historical (as are most of its essays), its aim is moral. Here lies the book's peculiar character.
The main purpose of the book is to expose and, hopefully, lift one particular "curtain of ignorance" that separates and misleads people about others and about themselves, for the sake of better communication and in the name of a common humanity. In the words of its editor, the book aims at least "to offer a provisional framework for a frank dialogue between Asians and Europeans on the Glass Curtain that seems to separate them" (p.312). And he adds, "the concern for a real dialogue on equal terms is indeed more significant than the anxiety to reach agreement or to find specific solutions" (p.318). The point is to get the dialogue going. This book should provide a good start.
BOOK REVIEWS
141
THE GLASS CURTAIN BETWEEN ASIA AND EUROPE: A Symposium on the Historical Encounters and the Changing Attitudes of the Peoples of the East and the West. Edited by Raghavan Iyer, with a Foreword by the Dalai Lama. London: Oxford University Press, 1965. xii+356 pages. HK$42.00
This book, as its subtitle indicates, is a study of the East-vs.- West mentality of both Asians and Europeans in the modern world. The "Glass Curtain" refers to this mentality, as it were, "invisible yet impenetrable." As something that divides peoples into opposing sides, it is more subtle, and therefore more difficult to recognize and deal with, than the Iron Curtain, the "Bamboo Curtain," or what have you. The result is lack of mutual under- standing and the proliferation of distorted images of other peoples as well as of one's own.
Such a result, though perhaps inevitable historically, is naturally undesirable, so it is assumed in this book. This is so especially in our day of more extensive intercultural exchanges and more intense international conflicts. Furthermore, it is time to look forward to an emerging world civilization in which Asians and Europeans and other peoples should be more or less equal partners. All those who share this global outlook and cosmopolitan concern should read this book. The book is a tract for the times, a lesson in world citizenship. Though it presents a somber picture at the beginning, the book ends with an optimistic outlook. It appeals throughout to a broader understanding and a deeper sympathy. Although its material is historical (as are most of its essays), its aim is moral. Here lies the book's peculiar
character.
The main purpose of the book is to expose and, hopefully, lift one particular "curtain of ignorance" that separates and misleads people about others and about themselves, for the sake of better communication and in the name of a common humanity. In the words of its editor, the book aims at least "to offer a provisional framework for a frank dialogue between Asians and Europeans on the Glass Curtain that seems to separate them" (p.312). And he adds, "the concern for a real dialogue on equal terms is indeed more significant than the anxiety to reach agree- ment or to find specific solutions" (p.318). The point is to get the dialogue going. This book should provide a good start.
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