Brief book review
I have just finished reading “Destination Macao” by Paul French. Of course, I bought the book at Macau's Livraria Portuguesa (Portuguese Bookshop). Generally speaking, it’s a good read and replete with interesting information. The best chapters are those not concerning Macau directly but those about people and events rather indirectly involving Macau, one way or the other, such as the ones about Josef von Sternberg and Maurice Dekobra. The chapters about Deolinda da Conceicao and George Smirnoff (I admire both) are also quite good. Those about Macau itself, such as ‘The Myths and Realities of Macao’ are interesting but contain information about which I have my doubts, such as about Macau’s origins as a Portuguese entrepot. As a resident of Macau for over four decades who has read dozens of books about the city in various languages and has talked with quite a few people (Chinese, Macanese, Portuguese, British, etc.) about the matter, I think that the only thing that is very clear about Macau’s origins as a Portuguese-ruled settlement is that they are (still today) quite unclear. Well, that’s not really surprising as it all happened half a millennium ago. I hope that a possible revised second edition of the book would correct the various spelling mistakes and other errors. The footnotes are extensive and useful. Overall, it’s a book that I enjoyed reading and that I recommend.
Harald Brüning
Photo: Carl Leong
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