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Macau : The Imaginary City : Culture and Society, 1577 to Present (New Perspectives on Asian History)
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price:
$34.00
Asia Trips Trips Price: $34.00
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Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Westview Press
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 951.26
EAN: 9780813337494
ISBN: 0813337496
Label: Westview Press
Manufacturer: Westview Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 1999-12-09
Publisher: Westview Press
Studio: Westview Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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A spellbinding history of a remarkable city poised on the intersection between East and West with a new epilogue by the author In this evocative essay, Jonathan Porter examines Macau as an enduring but ever-changing threshold between two worlds, the West and China. Founded by the Portuguese in 1557, Macau's geographical uniqueness has made it particularly fascinating, yet the history of Macau's cultural and social history also speaks to larger issues of cross-cultural exchange in world history. The author looks at a series of images of Macau's history and reflects on the character and meaning of the multiple cultural and social influences that met and mingled there. For this, the first paperback edition of the book, Porter has written an epilogue examining the impending reversion of Macau to Chinese rule and offering perspectives on the present and future of the city.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Organization and Style Get in the Way of What this Writer Has to Say about Macau.
Comment:
I read Porter's book during my recent visit to Macau, and I have to say that I came away disappointed. Macau is a fascinating place, not quite Portuguese and not quite Chinese, and it deserves a book of this sort. But Porter's writing kept getting the way. For one, he keeps returning to a sort of cant that will be familiar, regretably, to anyone who reads much academic writing. These paragraphs add nothing to one's understanding of Macau, but seem to be there because the author has been writing so long for an academic audience that he no longer can turn this spigot off. Where was his editor? Second, Porter keeps returning to tell you how what he has just said fits into his theme of Macau as a meeting place of cultures. I got it already. Third, he has organized his book into thematic chapters, rather than (say) chronologically, but (to me, anyway) the themes were too abstract, and resulted in quite a bit of repetition. He's got some great material here, but I would have preferred that he explore some topics once, in fuller detail, rather than returning to them again and again from different angles.
Not a book I would recommend for its literary merits, but worth a look if you'll be in Macau. With all of the casinos being built there now, it takes some work to see the place's history.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Book on Macau
Comment: This is a fantastic book on Macau. I was using this book as one source for a paper I was writing on Macau for a university class. I became fascinated with Macau ever since a visit there, and this book really does justice to Macau's past. I was surprised at how interesting Macau: The Imaginary City is. The book is jam-packed with interesting historical anecdotes about the colorful people who have lived in the colony as well as the culture, historic events, and geography of the enclave. In addition, the book is always fascinating and never boring because Porter is such a good writer. This book is a must for anyone interested in the city. After reading it, I'd like to visit the city again.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The "Imaginary City" creates reality in Macau
Comment: "Macau:The Imaginary City" is a beautiful tapestry woven from the histories of "gray-brown fortress walls","great churches", "European and Chinese commercial buildings", "19th century European residential and commercial building", and the current modern buildings which "stand in contrast to the fortress walls; yet echo their starkness" as they seem to complete a circle "as modern fortresses of money not of artillery". Anyone considering a trip to Hong Kong must include in the itinerary a trip to the Macau of Jonathan Porter, and a copy of "Macau: The Imaginary City". This is not a history text book but rather a collection of historical and cultural fabrics with which Porter weaves his tapestry. The book prepared me for my recent visit in June 99, and my second reading, since arriving home, has added to my appreciation and understanding of a city which was a doorway for Europeans and Chinese to peer into each others' world perspectives. And in a history of more than four hundred years, elements of each synthesized which gives Macau it wonderful uniqueness today.
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