SOURCE: Gernant, Karen. Review of Behind the Wall, by Colin Thubron. Journal of Asian Studies 48, no. 2 (May 1989): 377-79.

In the following review, Gernant argues that Behind the Wall does a better job of furthering the Westerner's understanding of China than Paul Theroux's Riding the Iron Rooster.

Both [Behind the Wall by Colin Thubron and Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux] are accounts of relatively short journeys in China and are meant for general readers. Colin Thubron's book is an authentic, balanced depiction of China—and of an outsider's struggle to understand. He brings to his journey a probing but sensitive curiosity, as well as stereotypes about Chinese inscrutability. His quest for understanding gives the lie to these latter images. At the start, China is a “luminous puzzle” (p. 2) holding “a billion uncomprehended people” (p. 3) who are “opaque” and “inhibited” (p. 7). But such references recede to be largely...