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Books (937)

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- Green Mountain, White Cloud (3)
- A Novel of Love in the Ming Dynasty
- Finished on Sep 30, 2008
  
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Green Mountain, White Cloud

I picked up the French version of this in Paris. Written by a Chinese man who was a member of l'academie Francais about love in Ming China it sounded lovely. I got about half way through the French book and then stopped reading it as I had to do uni prep, and then discovered that SOAS had the Englis ... (continue)

I picked up the French version of this in Paris. Written by a Chinese man who was a member of l'academie Francais about love in Ming China it sounded lovely. I got about half way through the French book and then stopped reading it as I had to do uni prep, and then discovered that SOAS had the English translation. I thought I'd read the first half of the English translation to remind myself what happened and then go back to the French and read the rest. What actually happened was I sat down last night and read the whole thing cover to cover!!!
Everything was so lovely! I was already appreciating the story from the French version, but it was so touching and so beautiful. It's like a novel set in Chinese poetry. There are unpleasant things, like rape, kidnappings, and being sold into prostitution but it is such a beautiful portrayal of love and longing. I absolutely devoured it. The only part I wasn't sure about was the Jesuits showing up and their discussion of christian love linking in with the true love of Dao Sheng but even that was ok.
A wonderful read, the English translation is very good, though if you can read the French I'd of course recommend that. I'm now going back and reading the rest in French.

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— Oct 1, 2008 | Add your feedback
- 中国古代木刻与新兴木刻 (1)
- 英文
- By 李桦
- Finished on Sep 10, 2008
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- Empress (10)
- By Shan Sa
- Finished on Aug 27, 2008
  
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Empress

I read this book in French a couple years ago but re-read it in the English translation. It's a good historical fiction. It has all the main events of Wu Zetian's life, though an interesting interpretation on the reasons behind the events and whether she did or didn't do certain things.
I tho ... (continue)

I read this book in French a couple years ago but re-read it in the English translation. It's a good historical fiction. It has all the main events of Wu Zetian's life, though an interesting interpretation on the reasons behind the events and whether she did or didn't do certain things.
I thought it was interesting that she came across as such a sexual creature, and that all the rumors about her sex life were confirmed (and more that were never said were admitted to) but that all the claims about ruthlessness that went along with her rise to power were denied. Personally I would have liked to see her a little more like Livia in I Claudius. But it was still fun for a novel, and nice to see her using translations of the actual edicts that Wu gave.
One thing I did find rather annoying was the translation of most (but not all) of the Chinese names. In particular I don't know why Chang An had to be referred to always as Long Peace whereas every other city was given the transliteration of its name. Similarly having Tai mountain instead of Mount Tai, when all the other mountains were referred to as Mout X seemed rather annoying.
Still a good read, not one to be taken as history, but still an enjoyable novel.

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— Aug 28, 2008 | Add your feedback
- Madame Bovary (2433)
- 150th Anniversary Edition (Signet Classics)
- By Gustave Flaubert, Robin Morgan
- Finished on Jul 19, 2008
  
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Madame Bovary

It was quite easy to read, I realy enjoyed the naturalistic style, and the interplay in the some of the scenes, the seduction scene at the fair in particular. It did rather seem as if Flaubert was writing a novel about a woman from a novel who got stuck in real life, and as she was in real life and ... (continue)

It was quite easy to read, I realy enjoyed the naturalistic style, and the interplay in the some of the scenes, the seduction scene at the fair in particular. It did rather seem as if Flaubert was writing a novel about a woman from a novel who got stuck in real life, and as she was in real life and not a novel ended up suffering horrendously for it. I got the impression if she were in Jane Austen, or Thackery she would have enjoyed herself much more. As it was she was a woman in a time, without any freedom or hope. She also reminded me a little of what I dislike about "modern" women, with her obsession with fashion magazines, society and fashion. So I managed to quiet enjoy the book, without caring much about the characters in the story. It some ways it reminded me quite a bit of Hardy or Zola.

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— Jul 19, 2008 | Add your feedback
- The Farewell Party (17)
- By Milan Kundera
- Finished on Jun 24, 2008
  
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The Farewell Party

This is my new favourite book by Kundera. I really liked the fact that it was more of a novel than a collection of short stories. The interaction and intertwining of the characters was great. It was more sex and relationships than politics, but it still had enough politics to remind you you were rea ... (continue)

This is my new favourite book by Kundera. I really liked the fact that it was more of a novel than a collection of short stories. The interaction and intertwining of the characters was great. It was more sex and relationships than politics, but it still had enough politics to remind you you were reading a novel from the Eastern Bloc. Highly enjoyable and highly recommended.

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— Jun 25, 2008 | Add your feedback

- The Peony Pavilion (2)
- Mudan Ting
- By Xianzu Tang
- Finished on Jun 21, 2008
  
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The Peony Pavilion

This was an enjoyable translation. It seemed accurate enough that when I went to look up a translated passage in the original Chinese I found it immediately. It was nice to read the whole story and find out what happened in the scenecs that were missing from the production that I saw the week before ... (continue)

This was an enjoyable translation. It seemed accurate enough that when I went to look up a translated passage in the original Chinese I found it immediately. It was nice to read the whole story and find out what happened in the scenecs that were missing from the production that I saw the week before. It turned out that my favorite night, in addition to being about ghosts and hell, also had the fewest missing scenes, and the night I found the weakest, the last night, had the most. I got this copy from the SOAS library, but will buy my own so I can use it to help me read the original, as it is such a poetic piece it really does need to be read in the original language.

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— Jun 21, 2008 | Add your feedback
- My Name Is Red (348)
- By Orhan
- Finished on Jun 14, 2008
  
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My Name Is Red

I enjoyed the rich setting of this book. The format was a little confusing at first but it didn't take too long to get the hang of it. The murder mystery was perhaps the least interesting part, the suspects being the least defined characters in the book. I enjoyed the discussions about art and cultu ... (continue)

I enjoyed the rich setting of this book. The format was a little confusing at first but it didn't take too long to get the hang of it. The murder mystery was perhaps the least interesting part, the suspects being the least defined characters in the book. I enjoyed the discussions about art and culture. I'm not going to rush out and read anything else by him, but it was still enjoyable.

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— Jun 15, 2008 | Add your feedback
- The Joke (123)
- Definitive translation
- By Milan Kundera
- Finished on May 23, 2008
  
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The Joke

2 people find this helpful

I liked this best of the three of Kundera's books I've read so far. I loved the interweaving plot and characters. It was good to see the different perspectives of what was happening and was all around very enjoyable. It was nice to read about the younger characters, the part when he was in "the arm ... (continue)

I liked this best of the three of Kundera's books I've read so far. I loved the interweaving plot and characters. It was good to see the different perspectives of what was happening and was all around very enjoyable. It was nice to read about the younger characters, the part when he was in "the army" was reminiscent of Kerouac. The impossibility of ideals (whether love or communism) was a lovely theme for the book. Definitely recommended.

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— May 27, 2008 | Add your feedback
- The Devil in Love (1)
- Followed by Jacques Cazotte : His Life, Trial, Prophecies, and Revelations
- By Jacques Cazotte
- Finished on May 12, 2008
  
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The Devil in Love

I learned of this book reading the Dumas Club, in that story the Devil (also in the form of a woman) gives this book to the man she is trying to help. I loved the idea of the female devil attempting to seduce the man. This was short but very fun. The devil is highly amusing. I particularly liked how ... (continue)

I learned of this book reading the Dumas Club, in that story the Devil (also in the form of a woman) gives this book to the man she is trying to help. I loved the idea of the female devil attempting to seduce the man. This was short but very fun. The devil is highly amusing. I particularly liked how she taught him not to waste his money gambling without skill and acted most virtous in order to get him to marry her. I'm glad the ending was re-written as the longer version made much more sense.

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— May 13, 2008 | Add your feedback
- The Golden Ass (23)
- By Apuleius
- Finished on May 1, 2008
  
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The Golden Ass

I thought this book was ok. I thought it started quite well, and enjoyed the first few stories. I enjoyed all the descriptions of witchcraft and really liked the setting of the city full of witches. It remineded me an awful lot of Xena (but unfortunately with less lesbian subtext). I started to loos ... (continue)

I thought this book was ok. I thought it started quite well, and enjoyed the first few stories. I enjoyed all the descriptions of witchcraft and really liked the setting of the city full of witches. It remineded me an awful lot of Xena (but unfortunately with less lesbian subtext). I started to loose interest with the story of Cupid and Psyche. Instead of being about interesting and different popular superstition it seemed to turn into a story very much like any other in Roman mythology. (Which I hate to say but I've always found rather dull). I also felt like the secound half became rather judgemental. Instead of enjoying the events, it seemed like he became much more moral and judgemental. I found myself loosing interest as it became less humorous, despite the "inter-species erotica". But then I think it picked up again for the last chapter and I enjoyed reading about the Cult of Isis quite a bit. But for the most part it was just too Roman for me. I just felt like it could have used some fox spirits.

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— May 2, 2008 | Add your feedback

- The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (226)
- Finished on Apr 17, 2008
  
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The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Parts of this book were simply amazing, others a little strange. I was hoping for more interconnectedness between the stories, but the themes were great.

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— Apr 18, 2008 | Add your feedback
- Love and Revolution (1)
- A Novel About Song Qingling and Sun Yat-Sen
- By Ping Lu
- Finished on Apr 14, 2008
  
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Love and Revolution

After the enjoyment that was The Lost Daughter of Happiness I decided I read Love and Revoultion next. I came across it on Amazon and thought that a 21st century Taiwanesse author writing about Sun Yatsen and his wife was interesting and strange enought to add to my wish list. I was slightly put off ... (continue)

After the enjoyment that was The Lost Daughter of Happiness I decided I read Love and Revoultion next. I came across it on Amazon and thought that a 21st century Taiwanesse author writing about Sun Yatsen and his wife was interesting and strange enought to add to my wish list. I was slightly put off be the author's declaration at the begining of the book that stated that it would be responsible for bringing these to people to the attention of the Western World. (Surely if nothing else Sterling Seagrave did that in The Soong Dynasty)
The book itself was a little odd. There were 3 narratives, one focused on Sun Yatsen, one on Madame Sun and one on the daughter of Madame Sun's former aide. (Though at first the daughter character was totally unclear who she was). The stories of Sun Yatsen and Madame Song both focused on them getting old and looking back at their lives. There was very little of them actually interacting which I found terribly dissapointing. The parts of Sun Yatsen read a lot like a history book, they focused almost entirely on his meetings and contained very little new or insightful glimpses into his life. (The rather unneccesary sex bits nonwithstanding). Throughout the book the author made reference to history books that read like novels, this was a novel that read like a history book.
While it was very nice to go back and see so many familiar names from the time what was even more dissapointing was Madame Sun's sections. Nowhere where any ideals, polictical or otherwise given to her. She was entirly focused on physical relationships and emotional relationships with men. Her beliefs were totally surpressed. I just couldn't buy the idea that the entire reason she was interested in Sun Yatsen (who was 30 years older) was pure lust! Surely the revolution and politics has something to do with it! I found it very strange that a woman who is such a leading feminist in Taiwan would write a book about the politics of a man and the love of a woman.
It was a pleasant enough book and nice to go back and look at that period of Chinese history again, but it was not the story I was hoping for.

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— Apr 15, 2008 | Add your feedback
- The Lost Daughter of Happiness (6)
- By Geling Yan
- Finished on Apr 12, 2008
  
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The Lost Daughter of Happiness

I was given this book by a friend who read it but didn't care for it so she offered it to me. At first I wasn't sure as I'm not terribly keen on modern Chinese literature (the little I've read) but saw the author was the same woman who wrote "xiu xiu the sent down girl" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt ... (continue)

I was given this book by a friend who read it but didn't care for it so she offered it to me. At first I wasn't sure as I'm not terribly keen on modern Chinese literature (the little I've read) but saw the author was the same woman who wrote "xiu xiu the sent down girl" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115005/ which is one of my favourite films terribly disturbing and sad. So I became curious.
I loved this story. The main character Fusang was a perfect embodiment of everything Laozi suggested. She was weak, yielding, unintelligent and untouchable. The book took a stark look at the history of racism against Chinese immigrants in the 19th century and with the new 5th wave. The author spent part of the book carrying out a one sided dialogue with the main character that I found rather touching. (If a little confusing at first). The style reminded me a lot of the early 20th century Chinese writers who littered their prose with descriptions of physical unpleasantness. Even translated it came across beautifully.
I shall have to add this to my list of books to read in Chinese when I'm able. (Hopefully in a year or so). In the meantime I've added her other books translated into English books to my amazon wishlist. I'm very glad to have discovered this author.

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— Apr 13, 2008 | Add your feedback
- The Debt of Tears
- (The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Volume 4)
- By John Minford, Gao E, Cao Xueqin
- Finished on Apr 10, 2008
  
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The Debt of Tears

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

The last 40 chapters of 红楼梦 are now thought to be written by Gao E rather than Cao xueqin. Vol. 4 of the penguin translation is the first 20 of these chapters, (80-100). They also have a different translator. It's hard to say whether the different translator or the different editor/author makes a di ... (continue)

The last 40 chapters of 红楼梦 are now thought to be written by Gao E rather than Cao xueqin. Vol. 4 of the penguin translation is the first 20 of these chapters, (80-100). They also have a different translator. It's hard to say whether the different translator or the different editor/author makes a difference but this book has a much different feel to it.
The characters seem to act quite differently at times. There is also much less empahsis on the maids and much more emphasis on the men in the family. The basic plot of this volume involves Bai Yu loosing his jade and going insane so the family decide to marry him off to Baichai as a chance to regain his sanity. This is largely due to a few chapters earlier Dai Yu attempting to starve herself to death when she hears Bai Yu is going to marry someone else. And it is this bout of ill health that finally convinces everyone she'd not make a good wife. I thought her dying scenes were some of the strongest parts of the book. It was also interesting to see my two new favorites, Tan Chun and Li Wan were the two of the women that were there for her death.
The rest of the plots didn't seem to ammount to much. Xue Pan being arrested for murder again didn't seem quite as interesting as when this happened in the first volume. Likewise Baoyu's return to school wasn't as in depth. Xifeng seemed to hardly be around at all, sick for no reason, and just joking rather than controlling anything. I did however find it interesting when they had the nun perform spirit writing mediumship to find out what was wrong with Baoyu.

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— Apr 11, 2008 | Add your feedback
- The Warning Voice (29)
- The Story of the Stone, Chapters 54-80 (Story of the Stone)
- By David Hawkes, Cao Xueqin
- Finished on Apr 4, 2008
  
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The Warning Voice

1 person find this helpful

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

Memorable moments from Vol. 3: Grandma Jia gives her speech about how songs aren't realistic because the young girls only have one maid. Xifeng becomes ill and the girls take over. The garden is divided up. 200 pages of mostly maids' stories. The singers are assigned as maids, love affairs, and cros ... (continue)

Memorable moments from Vol. 3: Grandma Jia gives her speech about how songs aren't realistic because the young girls only have one maid. Xifeng becomes ill and the girls take over. The garden is divided up. 200 pages of mostly maids' stories. The singers are assigned as maids, love affairs, and cross dressing ensues. Baoyu has his birthday party where everyone gets drunk, Zheng dies and the story of Jie Er and Jie San. Interesting to see that it is only after Xifeng's miscarriage that her husband goes off in search of this "2nd wife". Hawkes mentions how the story of jie san seems thrown in from a different story about the monk with the magic mirror and messes up the chronology of the er jie story. Still it was interesting this time to get that the person she was in love with was the straight opera singer who'd beaten up Huan. I think he kinda deserved such misery. It's interesting to see how after this despite her best efforts, Xifeng starts to loose some of her credibility and power within the households. Whether this is due to the new concubines, the death of erjie or the fact that she was ill for so long after her miscarriage is hard to say. Time seems to be going quite quickly in this book, and on page 400 it's already "over a year" since the last meeting of the poetry club. I wish I could find a list of what was supposed to happen when and how old everyone is supposed to be as it can be quite confusing.
The last part of the book looks has Grandmother Jia's 80th birthday, and the Moon Festival, Dai Yu and Xiang yun composing poetry was great. I also loved how fiesty Tan Chun got towards the end. And I have to say I really enjoyed Bao-Yu's elegy for "Skybright". Xue pan and his wife were amusing, I realised that xue pan is so the normal leading character of novels, (such as jin ping mei) but here he is gently ridiculed for his behaviour instead.
It seemed like things were slowly starting to unravel and everyone was growing up and dying. The families were starting to become seperated and money was becoming more of an issue, and as Xifeng became less powerful the servants gained more freedom to cause trouble. It is a shame that the next 40 chapters were not successfully kept. But will start the next volume of this translation now.

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— Mar 28, 2008 | Add your feedback