Remember the book by Nathan Hoturoa Gray that I thought sucked so much? Well this one is about a part of the same trip, only it’s written from his girlfriend’s perspective:

The girlfriend

The story: In 2001, PG is working as a journalist in New Zealand. She does and interview with Gray (who at the time is trying to walk the length of the Great Wall), falls in love with him and decides to tag along. They walk together for a few hundred kilometers, share the hardships and the joy, and eventually they make a decision on their relationship.

I thought it was funny that Gray’s account of the whole ordeal was just so horrible, while this one wasn’t that bad. Okay, PG doesn’t have a clue about China (like Gray), but she seems to have a broader perspective than him. And by broader perspective I mean that she doesn’t just talk about her esoteric findings all the time. There is the story of a relationship to tell here, and a strange country that is worth to explore, and PG tries her best to do that. In fact, just when she is taking her time to give us a few details about the people she meets (like the rich guy who takes them in on his country estate), her writing is really at its best.

So why is this only a 5/10 then? Well, the book could have used some more polishing. I would have particularly liked to get rid of Gray’s bullshit (“‘The Chinese can tell what you’re thinking. They’ll respond accordingly,’ Nathan told me.” p.45), and some of the factual errors were a bit unsettling (“It’s hard to believe that there’s just one official time zone for the whole of China. It’s just too big. It must surely be sunset in Eastern Kashgar while people to the far west are just preparing lunch.” p.189)

But it wasn’t a bad read after all.

A 5/10.