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"The Silent Traveller Returns! Distinguished author, artist, calligrapher, and poet Chiang Yee wrote and illustrated a dozen "Silent Traveller" books, from 1937-1972. The second to focus on an American city was The Silent Traveller in Boston, originally published in 1959. Long out-of-print, the book captures Mr. Chiang's quiet and observant views, a new take on an old city, from Beacon Hill to the Fenway, from Copley Square to Jamaica Pond. Mr. Chiang travels further afield to neighboring show more towns on Cape Cod & the Islands, as well as to Concord, Salem, Rockport, and Plymouth. Illustrated with 16 color and 60 black-and-white illustrations by Mr. Chaing, the book presents a city that is both fresh and familiar. The reader who knows all about Boston will find new charms; the reader who knows only a little will find an urbane guide with a warm regard for the traditional and a refreshing interest in the human side of the city's past and present."--Amazon.com. show lessTags
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Chiang Yee was a Chinese scholar, poet, painter and calligrapher, who taught Chinese first in England, and later in the United States. Over a period of about four decades, he wrote the "Silent Traveller" series, describing his travels in various countries and cities around the world.
The Silent Traveller in Boston was published in 1959, but Yee's descriptions of the important landmarks of Cambridge and Boston are still relevant. I was glad that I had read of his visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, though I envied him his invitation to dine there!
It was most interesting to read Yee's comparisons of American and Chinese ideas and customs, as when he contrasts the New (and Old) England concept of witches with the Chinese. (At the show more end of the book, he comments on the McCarthy-ite "witch" hunts earlier in the '50s, and notes that Joseph Welch was a Bostonian and that "[t]he Boston spirit of love of universal liberty had acted again."
Yee has the artist's eye for detail, and he continually surprises by what he notices and the relationships that he sees. He has an intense curiosity and desire to learn all about the places that he visits, and we are fortunate that he shares his what he learns, and, more so, what he thinks, with us. The books are greatly enhanced by Yee's illustrations, both full page color pictures and black-and-white drawings, as well as poems which are given in both English and Chinese.
If you are visiting a city which Yee included in his "Silent Traveller" series, I would strongly recommend that you find a copy of his book and read it before you go. show less
The Silent Traveller in Boston was published in 1959, but Yee's descriptions of the important landmarks of Cambridge and Boston are still relevant. I was glad that I had read of his visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, though I envied him his invitation to dine there!
It was most interesting to read Yee's comparisons of American and Chinese ideas and customs, as when he contrasts the New (and Old) England concept of witches with the Chinese. (At the show more end of the book, he comments on the McCarthy-ite "witch" hunts earlier in the '50s, and notes that Joseph Welch was a Bostonian and that "[t]he Boston spirit of love of universal liberty had acted again."
Yee has the artist's eye for detail, and he continually surprises by what he notices and the relationships that he sees. He has an intense curiosity and desire to learn all about the places that he visits, and we are fortunate that he shares his what he learns, and, more so, what he thinks, with us. The books are greatly enhanced by Yee's illustrations, both full page color pictures and black-and-white drawings, as well as poems which are given in both English and Chinese.
If you are visiting a city which Yee included in his "Silent Traveller" series, I would strongly recommend that you find a copy of his book and read it before you go. show less
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27 Works 825 Members
Chiang Yee (1903-1977) was born in Jiujiang, China and lived in London for several years before settling in the United States. A painter, calligrapher, poet, lecturer and travel writer, he wrote the classic textbook Chinese Calligraphy as well as the renowned Silent Traveller series, covering cities as diverse as Oxford, New York and Dublin
Series
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1959
- Important places
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Classifications
- Genres
- Travel, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 917.446 — History & geography Geography & travel Geography of and travel in North America Northeastern U.S. Massachusetts Suffolk County
- LCC
- F73.52 .C48 — Local History of the United States, Canada and Latin America United States local history Massachusetts
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 60
- Popularity
- 512,255
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 6
