A GRACEFUL CELEBRATION OF INDONESIA'S `PRIMITIVE ENTERTAINMENTS' AN EMPIRE OF THE EAST: TRAVELS IN INDONESIA BY NORMAN LEWIS, HENRY HOLT, $25, 237 PP. THE SECRET LIFE OF THE SEINE BY MORT ROSENBLUM, ADDISON WESLEY, $21, 287 PP. SEEING VIETNAM: ENCOUNTERS OF THE ROAD AND HEART BY SUSAN BROWNMILLER, HARPERCOLLINS, $22, 225 P. ALBATROSS: THE TRUE STORY OF A WOMAN'S SURVIVAL AT SEA BY DEBORAH SCALING KILEY AND MEG NOONAN, HOUGHTON MIFFLIN, $19.95, 210 PP. THE JAZZ AND BLUES LOVER'S GUIDE TO THE U.S. BY CHRISTIANE BIRD, ADDISON WESLEY, $15, 408 PP.: [STATEWIDE Edition]

Abstract

In Indonesia, getting to the beautiful places is increasingly a race against time. The government's convoluted attempt to transform many of its 13,677 islands and hundreds of diverse cultures into some sort of homogenized mass-tourism mecca is destroying the very thing that attracts most visitors to the islands - the sheer mind-boggling array of what [NORMAN LEWIS] calls "primitive scenes and entertainments."

In search of those entertainments, Lewis set out for some of the least known pockets of Indonesia: northern Sumatra, East Timor and Irian Jaya, the Indonesian portion of New Guinea. He finds them in abundance, as this gracefully written travelogue makes clear.

[MORT ROSENBLUM] is an Associated Press correspondent who spent the last seven or eight years living on a houseboat docked on the Seine. In his boat, he's journeyed up and down the river. The Seine, Rosenblum found, "was predictable until you tried to predict it. If you looked, there was always a secret."

An Empire of the East: Travels in Indonesia

When a question about your intended destination is answered by someone drawing a finger across his throat decapitation-style, you might think twice about actually continuing on your way.

Unless you're Norman Lewis, who at 80-plus remains a courageous and intrepid traveler with an undiminished desire "to see, enjoy and describe the beautiful places while they are still there." So what if they might be a tad dicey in terms of personal safety.

In Indonesia, getting to the beautiful places is increasingly a race against time. The government's convoluted attempt to transform many of its 13,677 islands and hundreds of diverse cultures into some sort of homogenized mass-tourism mecca is destroying the very thing that attracts most visitors to the islands - the sheer mind-boggling array of what Lewis calls "primitive scenes and entertainments."

In search of those entertainments, Lewis set out for some of the least known pockets of Indonesia: northern Sumatra, East Timor and Irian Jaya, the Indonesian portion of New Guinea. He finds them in abundance, as this gracefully written travelogue makes clear.

Lewis has managed to win that race against time. While his report from a place still happily beyond range of bus tours and charter packages is a delightful read, it is also full of foreboding. Besides the stories of backwoods communities and archaic beliefs, there is a shadow world of development run horribly amok and of misguided social policies tearing at the fabric of tradition.

"Empire of the East" should instill a special sense of urgency in anyone thinking about visiting Indonesia. Those who don't count the Southeast Asian country on their future itinerary will have a good idea of what they are missing.

The Secret Life of the Seine

Mort Rosenblum is an Associated Press correspondent who spent the last seven or eight years living on a houseboat docked on the Seine. In his boat, he's journeyed up and down the river. The Seine, Rosenblum found, "was predictable until you tried to predict it. If you looked, there was always a secret."

Rosenblum looked and on his light-spirited jaunts found lots of delightful secrets. Whether moored in midtown or following slender barges through the river's farther reaches, he manages to unreel one entertaining tale after another.

Seeing Vietnam: Encounters of the Road and Heart

When Susan Brownmiller went to Vietnam two years ago, it was to explore the country from a tourist's point of view. But as a journalist who once helped bring the war in Southeast Asia into the living rooms of the United States, she carried along a lot more baggage than your average sightseer.

That's part of what makes her account of this country so insightful. Her visit - an assignment from Travel & Leisure magazine - somehow didn't end with publication of the story she submitted, and Brownmiller continued to delve into the country's past and present. Adding that enriching context to the core of her earlier travels helped her create a perceptive, engaging work that is by turns impassioned, scholarly and adventurous. Now, with the longstanding trade embargo with Vietnam lifted, more and more Americans are going to be discovering - or rediscovering - the country. This is as good an introduction as they are likely to find.

Albatross: The True Story of a Woman's Survival at Sea

There's always something grimly fascinating about stories of shipwreck and survival at sea. This harrowing yarn has all the essential elements: a sudden storm, a sailing ship sinking like a stone, a desperate struggle for a rubber dinghy, circling sharks, dying companions and, finally, rescue. Survivor Deborah Scaling Kiley, with an assist from writer Meg Noonan, tells her story with wind-and-salt-spray-in- your-face intensity.

The Jazz and Blues Lover's Guide to the U.S.

More than 900 hot clubs and cool joints all over the country are profiled in this newly updated guide. It will also lead tuneful travelers to musical landmarks and festivals across the country.