Theroux, Paul "Riding the Iron Rooster"

Theroux, Paul "Riding the Iron Rooster" - 1988

The name Theroux is well known in the United Kingdom. Though not with the first name Paul but with that of his son, Louis. So, I had never read anything by the elder Theroux until I was given this book by one of our book club members.

I love travel books and this one doesn't make an exception. The author travelled through China in the 1980s, first with a travel group, then on his own. The members or the travel group are described the way that I would probably see them, as well. I have always preferred to travel with family or some good friends rather than some strangers that might turn out to be real bores or terribly annoying. But also when he carries on on his own, he is hardly ever alone as the Chinese like to give him a babysitter.

In any case, the descriptions of the voyage is interesting, the people he meets on the train, one is more weird than the other, the landscape is depicted to well that you can imagine seeing it yourself, the food seems to stand just in front of you.

I liked the interaction with the Chinese people and the exploring of areas where they hardly let any foreigner travel. A good book about a country still very unknown to us. I wonder what Paul Theroux would see today?

Some books, Paul Theroux was reading while "Riding the Iron Rooster":
Avedon, John "In Exile from the Land of Snows" - 1984 (Goodreads)
Balzac "Old Goriot" (FR: Le Père Goriot) - 1834 (Goodreads)
Lewis, Sinclair "Elmer Gantry" - 1927 (Nobel Prize in Literature 1930) (Goodreads)
Lewis, Sinclair "Main Street" - 1920 (Goodreads)
Morrison, Arthur "The Hole in the Wall" - 1902 (Goodreads)
Stevenson, Robert Louis "Kidnapped" - 1886 (Goodreads)

From the back cover:

"An eye-opening and entertaining account of travels in old and new China, by the author of The Great Railway Bazaar

Paul Theroux left Victoria Station on a rainy Saturday in April thinking that taking eight trains across Europe, Eastern Europe, the USSR and Mongolia would be the easy way to get to the Chinese border - the relaxing way, even. He would read a little, take notes, eat regular meals and gaze contentedly out of windows. The reality, of course, was very different. In fact, Theroux experienced a decidedly odd and unexpected trip to China that set the challenging tone for his epic year-long rail journey around that vast, inscrutable land - a journey which involved riding nearly every train in the country."

Buck, Pearl S. "Love and the Morning Calm"

 

Buck, Pearl S. "Love and the Morning Calm" - 1951

Like many of Pearl S. Buck's books, I read this many years ago. Although the story of the two sisters can be a bit dated, it shows what it's like when two different cultures meet, how people who grow up in one sometimes have a very difficult time fitting into another.

And that is a topic that is more current today than ever before.

From the back cover (re-translated by me):

"They grew up in Korea, the two sisters Deborah and Mary; the active Christianity of their missionary parents and the ancient wisdom teachings of the East formed their world view. When they, one seventeen, the other eighteen years old, arrive in New York, they appear to their relatives like flowery creatures from another planet, bewildering and alienating - just as they themselves are bewildered and alienated by the strange mysteries that American life throws at them. It is an encounter portrayed with great grace and a humour almost mischievous between East and West, which Pearl S. Buck has made the subject of this little novel. But behind the grace and the mischievousness stands a very serious concern, because the quiet work of the two sisters, carried by selfless concern for the fate of their fellow human beings, in their new environment, like a pure, clear mirror, reveals all the hollow, meaningless nothingness of our own self-centeredness on existence. A story to think about, presented in the most entertaining form."

Pearl S. Buck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938 "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Buck, Pearl S. "The Patriot"

Buck, Pearl S. "The Patriot" - 1939

Pearl S. Buck was always a great writer of historical fiction. Here, she talks about the problems between China and Japan during Chiang Kai-Chek's time and the Sino-Japanese war.

A mixed marriage brings two families together, and nobody can tell the story of two cultures clashing better than the Nobel Prize winning author.

The history intermingles with the lives of the protagonists - it would, of course, and we can see how politics influence the family and how their reactions influence their lives.

As all books by Pearl S. Buck, a great tale of different cultures.

From the back cover:

"A Chinese dissident is torn between love and country in this novel from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Good Earth.

When Wu I-wan starts taking an interest in revolution, trouble follows: Winding up in prison, he becomes friends with fellow dissident En-lan. Later, his name is put on a death list and he’s shipped off to Japan. Thankfully, his father, a wealthy Shanghai banker, has made arrangements for his exile, putting him in touch with a business associate named Mr. Muraki. Absorbed in his new life, I-wan falls in love with Mr. Muraki’s daughter, and must prove he is worthy of her hand. As news spreads of what the Japanese army is doing back in China, I-wan realizes he must go back and fight for the country that banished him."

Find other books by Pearl S. Book that I read here.

Pearl S. Buck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938 "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Buck, Pearl S. "Kinfolk"

Buck, Pearl S. "Kinfolk" - 1949

A story that tells us about the question everyone who has lived in a different country asks themselves, especially those that are born in another world than their parents or who moved there when they were little. Do I belong to the country where I live or to the country that my passport shows.

This is a story about a Chinese family in New York who moves "back" to China. My children have lived in different countries all their lives, the youngest wasn't even born in Germany. And while the difference between several European countries is probably not as large as that between countries from different continents, I know they don't exactly feel as belonging to a certain country, they are simply "European".

This is not so easy for the chldren of Dr. Liang, they are American but their ancestors are Asian, and they have to discover the difference between those two countries.

As any of Pearl S. Buck's books, this is a highly interesting book about a culture that is quite foreign to us. But she has depicted it so well, as always. The characters are so alive and every single one of them shows us their life.

From the back cover:

"Kinfolk is the story of a Chinese family. Dr. Liang moves to America in search of a better life, but his children long to return to China. Each responds to their new life in China differently, providing rich insight into the struggles between Eastern and Western culture, and the differences between generations.

A tale of four Chinese-American siblings in New York, and their bewildering return to their roots
In Kinfolk, a sharp dissection of the expatriate experience, Pearl S. Buck unfurls the story of a Chinese family living in New York. Dr. Liang is a comfortably well-off professor of Confucian philosophy, who spreads the notion of a pure and unchanging homeland. Under his influence, his four grown children decide to move to China, despite having spent their whole lives in America. As the siblings try in various ways to adjust to a new place and culture, they learn that the definition of home is far different from what they expected."

Find other books by Pearl S. Book that I read here.

Pearl S. Buck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938 "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Buck, Pearl S. "My several worlds"

Buck, Pearl S. "My several worlds: A Personal Exile" - 1954

I read this book ages ago and don't know why I never reviewed it. It left a vivid memory about Pearl S. Buck and her life. She belongs to my list of favourite authors, she was actually the first grown-up author I read and therefore occupies a special place in my heart.

In her autobiography, she writes just as well as in her novels where she manages to show us Chinese life as if we lived there ourselves. And here she becomes a close acquaintance of us, if not even a friend.

I know there was a controversy about her award of the Nobel Prize for Literature but that might have been because many men couldn't see a woman getting the award. So they had to find a reason why this was wrong. But her biographies are truly masterpieces and her descriptions of peasant life in China truly epic and rich. There certainly have been laureates who didn't deserve the prize, Pearl S. Buck isn't one of them.

She was a remarkable woman and writer.

From the back cover:

"Autobiography of Pearl S Buck. A memoir of the life of the first female Nobel Laureate for Literature, who was also a world citizen and a major humanitarian, Pearl (Sydenstricker) Buck (1892-1973) three quarters of the way through her life. Published by the John Day Company to whose president, Richard John Walsh (1886-1960), she was then married, the book was successful and temporarily revived her waning reputation. The China oriented writer Helen Foster Snow described her partnership with John Day and Walsh as 'the most successful writing and publishing partnership in the history of American letters.' The firm had published everything she'd written since their marriage in 1935. Her biographer, Professor Peter Conn, describes the book as 'a thickly textured representation of the Chinese and American societies in which she had lived.' Friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, cultural ambassador between China and America, tireless advocate for racial democracy and women's rights and founder of the first international adoption agency, this is a book by and about a special American citizen of the twentieth century."

Pearl S. Buck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938 "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces."

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Engberding, Hans; Thöns, Bodo "Transsib Reader"

Engberding, Hans; Thöns, Bodo (Ed.) "Transsib-Lesebuch: Reiseerlebnisse auf der längsten Bahnstrecke der Welt" [Transsib Reader: Travel Experiences On The Longest Railway Line In The World] - 2002

Usually, I don't review books that have not been translated into English. But I promised to do so in this case. And some of the articles have been written in English. Whenever I found the original title (or the translation into English), I added it in bold.

I found this collection at an antiquarian bookstore. It contains articles, excerpts from books, short stories by well-known writers who have all at some point traveled the Trans-Siberian Railway and recorded their experiences in writing. The first description is from 1901, the last from 2001, i.e. a report that goes back over a hundred years in which a lot has happened.

The authors all have an interesting point of view, everyone experiences the trip differently, even if they travel around the same time. While some accept any inconvenience as if it were the most natural thing in the world and are happy to be able to gain this insight into a culture that is foreign to them, others get upset about small things that would probably have happened to them on other routes, as well. And then there are those who support communism (or rather Stalinism) a hundred percent that everything is glorified.

In any case, it is fascinating to see how the railway was built, how it has changed over time, especially when the political situation has changed.

John Foster Fraser, Sir, UK, 1868-1936
Das wahre Sibirien (1901)
The Real Siberia

Eugen Zabel, D, 1851-1925
Auf der sibirischen Bahn nach China (1903)

Karl Tanera, D, 1849-1904
Zur Kriegszeit auf der sibirischen Bahn und durch Rußland (1904)

O.T. Tuck, UK, 1876-?
Tagebuch (1909)

Marcus Lorenzo Taft, US,
Fremdes Sibirien (1909)

Fridtjof Nansen, N, 1861-1930 - Nobel Prize for Peace 1922
Sibirien ein Zukunftsland (1913)
Through Siberia the Land of the Future/Gjennem Sibirien

Otto Goebel, D, 1872-1955
Über Sibirien nach Ostasien (1914)

Sven Hedin, S, 1865-1952
Von Peking nach Moskau (1923)

Richard Tröger, D, 1879-1965
Tagebuch über eine Rußland-Japan-Reise (1929)

Kurt Faber, D, 1883-1929
Weltwanderers letzte Fahrten und Abenteuer (1930)

Peter Fleming, UK, 1907-74 (Ian Fleming's brother)
Mit mir allein. Eine Reise nach China (1933)
One's Company: A Journey to China in 1933

Erik Bergengren, S, 1900-1977
Gelbe Gesichter. Sibirische Nächte und japanische Tage (1936)

Mildred Widmer Marshall, US
Zwei Schullehrerinnen aus Oregon reisen um die Welt (1937)

Sławomir Rawicz, PL/BY, 1915-2004
Flucht durch Steppe und Wüste (1939)
The Long Walk?

Sigrid Undset, DK, 1882-1949 - Nobel Prize for Literature 1928
Wieder in die Zukunft (1940)
Back to the future/Tilbake til fremtiden

Ryszard Kapuscinski, PL/BY, 1932-2007
Imperium. Sowjetische Streifzüge (1958)
Imperium

Siegfried Meissgeier, D, 1924-1988 and Günter Linde, D, 1925-1992
Sibirien ohne Geheimnisse (1959)

Paul Theroux, USA, 1922-
Abenteuer Eisenbahn. Auf Schienen um die halbe Welt (1965)
The Great Railway Bazaar

Hugo Portisch, SLK, 1927-2021
So sah ich Sibirien (1966)

Vittorio Lojacono, I
Die Straße der Gefahr (1969)

Eric Newby, UK, 1919-2006
Auf der großen roten Bahn (1977)
The Big Red Train Ride

Hans-Otto Meissner, D/F, 1909-1992
Sibirien-Expreß (1979)

Wolfgang Seidl, D, 1933-
Ins rote Reich des gelben Drachens (1984)

Hardy Krüger, D, 1928-2022
Sibirienfahrt (1984)

Johanna Hornef-Blau
Unterwegs mit der Transsibirischen Eisenbahn (1994)

Colin Thubron, UK, 1939-
Sibirien. Schlafende Erde - Erwachendes Land (1998)
In Siberia

Kurt Drawert, D, 1956-
Nach Osten ans Ende der Welt (1999)

Mark Bauch, D 1971-
Transsibirisch Reisen (2001)
Das wahre Sibirien (1901)

Pictures by Claudia Mathea (D, 1969-) complement the stories.

Book Description (translation):

"The Trans-Siberian Railway has fascinated travelers from all over the world for a century now. This beautifully designed reader brings together prominent and less prominent Trans-Siberian travelers from all decades of the 20th century, who report on their journey on what is probably the world's most famous railway line.

Lively descriptions of the day-to-day organization of life on the Trans-Siberian Railway, the events on the train and the experiences with fellow travelers stand alongside historical observations from the checkered history of Russia, Mongolia and China. This creates a diverse picture of the countries traveled through.

Sven Hedin, Fridtjof Nansen, Hardy Krüger, Paul Theroux, Sigrid Undset, Peter Fleming and many others take the reader on an adventurous journey through the Siberian expanse. The Transsib Reader is the ideal complement to the Transsib Handbook."

Rutherfurd, Edward "China"

Rutherfurd, Edward "China" - 2021

I was really looking forward to this book that I received for Christmas (thanks, Zach) because I love anything written by Edward Rutherfurd. And I was not disappointed. He delivered what he promised with his other books.

There is only a slight change. In most of his books, he tells stories of families over throughout the centuries, often starting way before our calendar. This one starts in 1839 and ends in the early 1900s, long enough to see the lifetime of all the protagonists. And that is the only criticism I have about this book. I would have liked a list at the end or the beginning about all the different characters, as he has done in all his former historic novels. That way you know where you are in history. Granted, this spans not even a century but the Chinese names make it a little more difficult to remember who is who, especially since sometimes there are several others who tell their story before we return to a certain one. It was still alright to remember who was who but it would have been easier otherwise.

As in all his other books, we learn a lot about China's history. I have read many books about it but this one is very detailed and gives us so much information about the opium wars and the rebellions that more or less formed the new China, and when we complain about something the Chinese are doing today, our countries were responsible for a lot of it. Not mine in this case but we have enough other skeletons in our closet, so I won't even go further into who was there and who wasn't.

I can understand that Edward Rutherfurd didn't want to go through all of China's history, it is so vast and the country is so huge, the book would have been a lot longer than the 784 pages of my edition. I think concentrating on this part was an excellent idea because many of us know our history from that time and can compare.

I wouldn't say I prefer this way of writing the story of a country to the other one, I probably still like the whole story better, but there is so much to learn from this book, I can only highly recommend it. Reading his books is better than any history lesson I remember from school.

I do hope, he'll write many, many more.

From the back cover:

"China in the Nineteenth Century is a proud and ancient empire forbidden to foreigners. Western merchants desires Chinese tea above all other things and resort to smuggling opium in exchange.
The Qing Emperor will not allow this trade to continue. The Opium Wars begin - heralding a period of bloody military defeats, reparations, and one-sided treaties which will become known as the Century of Humiliation.

From Hong Kong to Beijing to the Great Wall, from the exotic wonders of the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City, to squalid village huts, the great clash between East and West rages across the Celestial Kingdom. We meet a young village wife struggling with the rigid traditions of her people, Manchu empresses and warriors, powerful eunuchs, fanatical Taiping and Boxer Rebels, savvy Chinese pirates, artists, concubines, scoundrels and heroes, well-intentioned missionaries and the rapacious merchants, diplomats and soldiers of the West. Fortunes will rise and fall, loves will be gained and lost.

China is a feat of the imagination that will enthrall, instruct and excite, and show us how the turmoil of the nineteenth century led to modern China’s revolution and rebirth."

Find a link to all my reviews on his other novels here.

I have been told by a lot of people that Edward Rutherfurd writes like James Michener. If anyone here has read books by both of them, would you agree? And which book by Michener should I start with?

Frankopan, Peter "The Silk Roads"

Frankopan, Peter "The Silk Roads. A New History of the World" - 2015

I love books about the part of the world where the silk roads used to be. So, I bought this book without much looking at it because it sounded like it would be the right one for me.

And it was. But there is so much more to this book than just the history of the Orient. The subtitle is "A new history of the world" and that is exactly what this is. It makes us understand a lot of the contemporary problems. It makes you really grasp our current situation.

When we learn history at school that is before the 20th century, it is mostly Greece and Rome that seems to be interesting to us. Who teaches us about Persia and Ancient China and all the other cultures that had a huge impact on us Europeans. We were so unimportant for a long, long time. We were only at the edge of the world, nothing much was going on here, nobody cared about those "barbarians" in the West.

So, this is not just a history of the Silk Roads, it's a history of everything. He goes on into the present day with some interesting views about last century's wars. More or less, he explains how we got into the trouble we are today. And if we're honest, we have to accept the fact that we are quite culpable of it ourselves.

You can tell that the author is a history professor, he really knows his stuff and knows how to present it, how to bring it across to readers, even if they have not much knowledge about history.

This book is not just supported through many pictures, every single chapter, and may it be ever so little, has its own map that shows you exactly where this part of the book took place and what the earth looked back then. Totally interesting.

If it didn't come out through my description, yet, I loved this book. It's great.

From the back cover:

"For centuries, fame and fortune were to be found in the west - in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of riches and adventure. Sweeping right across Central Asia and deep into China and India, a region that once took centre stage is again rising to dominate global politics, commerce and culture.

A major reassessment of world history, The Silk Roads is a dazzling exploration of the forces that have driven the rise and fall of empires, determined the flow of ideas and goods and are now heralding a new dawn in international affairs."

Sendker, Jan-Philipp "Dragon Games"

Sendker, Jan-Philipp "Dragon Games" aka "The Language of Solitude" (The Rising Dragon #2) (German: Drachenspiele) - 2009

If you liked "Whispering Shadows", you already know Paul and his family and will want to know how their story goes on. If you like books about China, expats, crime stories, you will love this series which already has a third book (The Far Side of the Night).

This is an interesting book about the life not just of foreigners in China but also about the lives of people both in urban and rural China. Paul and Christine visit her ancestor's village after receiving some disturbing news. Here they find the clash between the people in the village and the greed of a large company, the corruption of politicians. Yes, we all know those plots but Jan-Philipp Sendker has a great talent to describe it.

Like in all his other books, the author is able to tell both the story as well as describing the background. He has a wonderful way with words, you can tell he is a journalist.

I could well imagine that one day someone will make a film out of this.

I am definitely looking forward to reading his next books which will probably be the sequels to his Burma story, "The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" (German: Das Herzenhören).

From the back cover:

"Paul Leibovitz is 53, living in Hong Kong, deeply in love with the city, its culture, and most of all, Christine. When a fortune teller predicts the death of someone she loves, however, the pair are once again thrust into the murky criminal world of Hong Kong and forced to fight for their lives. We learn the details of Christine's dark family history which is mired in the horrors and iniquities of Mao's cultural revolution and now her brother and his family who are living in rural China are victims of a very modern ecological scandal that is every bit as terrifying as past atrocities."

These are the books in the Rising Dragon (China) trilogy:
"Whispering Shadows" (German: Das Flüstern der Schatten) (The Rising Dragon #1) - 2007
"Dragon Games" aka "The Language of Solitude" (German: Drachenspiele) (The Rising Dragon #2) - 2009
"The Far Side of the Night" (German: Am anderen Ende der Nacht) (The Rising Dragon #3) - 2016

Orth, Stephan "Couchsurfing in China"

Orth, Stephan "Couchsurfing in China: Encounters and Escapades Beyond the Great Wall" aka "High Tech and Hot Pot: Revealing Encounters Inside the Real China" (German: Couchsurfing in China. Durch die Wohnzimmer der neuen Supermacht) - 2019

I already got to know Stephan Orth with his book about Russia (Couchsurfing in Russia: Friendships and Misadventures Behind Putin’s Curtain/Couchsurfing in Russland. Wie ich fast zum Putin-Versteher wurde = Couchsurfing in Russia: How I almost started to understand Putin). When I came across this edition about China, I couldn't resist, I just had to read it.

And again we can take a little glimpse into the life of normal people in China. Although, most hosts are probably not completely represenative, after all, they are very social and offer total strangers a roof over their head and a bed to sleep in, guide them through their city and talk about their lives, the average citizen probably doesn't do that in any country.

Nevertheless, or perhaps because of it, Stephan Orth's books are very interesting. I've read about giant cities that are bigger than the largest European cities that you had never heard of before. But his reports from his hosts are also totally exciting and make you want to go on such a trip yourself.

Another great book. On the one hand, I will see that I will soon read "Couchsurfing in Iran" and for the second time I am curious to see where our globetrotter will take us the next time.

From the back cover:

"An award-winning writer reveals a changing China - one conversation and adventure at a time.

When Stephan Orth lands in China, he knows it’s his last visit, having lied about his job as a journalist to get into the country. So, he makes the most of it, couch-surfing with locals instead of hitting the nearest hotel. Starting in Macau - a former Portuguese colony and now gambler’s paradise - Orth takes on the world’s biggest casino. Next, he visits Shenzen, where more than 200 million sidewalk cameras monitor citizens who win and lose points on Sesame Credit, an app that sends data to Alibaba - and to the government. As his adventure continues, Orth encounters a bewildering mix of new tech and old traditions. Over a steaming bowl of hot pot, he learns ancient chopstick etiquette from a policewoman who later demos the facial recognition app she could use to detain him. He eats dog meat as a guest of honor one day - and finds himself censored on live TV the next. He even seriously considers joining an outlawed sect. Self-deprecatingly funny, compassionate, and observant, High Tech and Hot Pot is a formidable addition to a well-loved series, and offers a timely travelogue of an enigmatic country poised to become the world’s next superpower."

See, Lisa "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan"

See, Lisa "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" - 2005

Lily and her friend Snow Flower were both born on "the fifth day of the sixth month of the third year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign" which translated into June 5, 1824 in our calendar. Because of that and some other traits they have in common, they are destined to be "laotong", we would probably say BFFs (best friends forever) today. Yet, same as their husbands, they don't choose the laotong themselves, it's the stars that predict it.

I have already read another book by Lisa See, "Peony in Love", where she mainly writes about the Chinese culture about death and how to take care of your dead ancestors. This one is more about the living, especially the women, the way women in the 19^th century in China lived. Not only were they more or less confined to the women's chambers (and the kitchen) of the house, they also had to endure foot binding. This horrible custom gets described very well in this book and while I have read many books about China (my first ones were by Pearl S. Buck when I was a teenager), I don't recall it ever being described so vividly. It's also interesting to see how important it was to have small feet, the smaller, the more marriageable a young girl would be, the better her station in life later on.

It is hard for us today to even understand how parents could do that to their children. And how women were treated in general. How could a mother do that to her daughter? Well, first of all, they all get told all their life that women aren't worth anything and that they raise their daughters for another family. But they want them to have a comfortable or at least half-way decent life. And culture dictated that women had to have small feet. The smaller the feet, the better the marriage. I doubt I could have done that today but it's easy to make that judgment from our point of view. We can decide not to get married or choose our own husbands without big problems. But back then it was essential for survival.

But we also read about Nü Shu, a secret phonetic form of 'women's writing which is something that fascinated me from the moment I heard about it. And the custom that a woman only started living with her husband (and his family) once she had given birth to her first child. Until then, she stayed with her parents and then she would only return to them on certain days of the year when everyone else did the same.

In the book, Lily starts looking back at her life from the view of an 80-year-old woman. She tells us all about her life in her native family, her married family, her friendship and breakup with Snow Flower, her life during the Taiping Rebellion (Wikipedia), her roles as daughter, wife, mother, friend. She doesn't leave anything out.

I also thought it was interesting how important horoscopes were. Lily and Snow Flower were horses which meant they were free-spirited and independent, but also hardworking.

But the language in the book is also beautiful, makes you want to read on and on.

A very interesting novel if you are interested in history, China, or the life or women in general.

From the back cover:

"In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, 'old same', in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men.

As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart."

Brecht, Bertolt "The Good Person of Szechwan"

Brecht, Bertolt "The Good Person of Szechwan" (German: Der gute Mensch von Sezuan) - 1938-40

A story about good and bad people. And how we can or cannot distinguish one from the other. In this play, even the Gods have difficulties in doing that.

No wonder, the author was in trouble finding even one good person in the times that he lived in. But would that really be so much easier nowadays? We hear about riots in countries that are supposed to be peaceful and democratic, we have refugees coming from everywhere, children go hungry or die of all sorts of illnesses contracted through the problems imposed on their countries and families through others.

Bertolt Brecht has been one of my favourite German authors ever since I went to school and had to read his pieces. (See also here: Life of Galileo). If you haven't heard from him, he also wrote the "Three Penny Opera" which I should review one day.

From the back cover:

"The Good Person of Szechwan is one of Bertolt Brecht's most popular works. When three gods come to earth in search of a thoroughly good person, they encounter Shen Teh, a goodhearted but penniless prostitute, who offers them shelter. Rewarded with enough money to open a tobacco shop, 'Angel of the Slums' Shen Teh soon becomes so overwhelmed by the demands of people seeking assistance that she invents a male alter ego, 'Tobacco King' Shui Ta, to deal ruthlessly with the business of living in an evil world. The Good Person of Szechwan is a masterpiece that shines a light on human nature and social mores.

Brecht's parable of good and evil was first performed in 1943 and remains one of his most popular and frequently produced plays worldwide.

In 1952, Hannah Arendt hailed Bertolt Brecht as 'beyond a doubt the greatest living German poet and possibly the greatest living European playwright.' His plays, widely taught and studied, are searing critiques of civilizations run amok. During the thirties, the subversive nature of his work sent Brecht from Germany to Scandinavia and later to the United States. The Good Person of Szechwan, written during Brecht's exile and set in Communist China, is a parable of a young woman torn between obligation and reality, between love and practicality, and between her own needs and those of her friends and neighbours."

Fatland, Erika "The Border"

Fatland, Erika "The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage" (Norwegian: Grensen: En reise rundt Russland gjennom Nord-Korea, Kina, Mongolia, Kasakhstan, Aserbajdsjan, Georgia, Ukraina, Hviterussland, Litauen, Polen, Latvia, Estland, Finland og Norge samt Nordøstpassasjen) - 2017

I usually don't review books here that have not been translated into English, yet. However, I have read that this one is supposed to be published soon and therefore, I want to whet your appetites already.

The author is a Norwegian journalist and she took a trip all around the Russian border. She visited every single country, even those that are not internationally recognized, like the de facto sovereign states in the Caucasus, though, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Adjara, Nagorno-Karabakh and Donetsk. It was not easy to get into some of them. To get into Nagorno-Karabakh, she had to travel into Armenia because you cannot enter it from Azerbaijan to which it still officially belongs.

She visited all those parts with a lot of difficulties and spoke to the people there who told her about recent and former history and you can learn a lot about that part of the world. I think it's good if we know more about the largest, very powerful and probably most dangerous country in the world.

We talk about a great, well-written book where we feel we are travelling with the author, we discover the countries with her, the people who live there and their history. Fantastic.

This is the second book about Russia and its history that Erika Fatland has written. Her first one "Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan" is on my TBR pile now. I am sure I will learn just as much from that book as I did from this one.

From the back cover: (translated)

"Russia's border is the longest in the world. Erika Fatland takes us on a trip to Russia's fourteen neighbour countries, from North Korea to North Norway and through the North-East Passage. The journey goes through wonderful landscapes and highly diverse communities what only have one thing in common: We are all Russia's neighbours.

It's also a trip through the dramatic stories of Russia's neighbours'. In any case, they have been influenced by the proximity of this mighty empire. We meet tsars that are addicted to conquests, brave adventurers and courageous individuals and Chinese dictators. The author visits contemporary conflict areas like the Ukraine whose borders with Putin's Russia have started to move again. 

Erika Fatland shows her special abilities again to get close to people whom she meets on her way and lets them tell her a bit about the big stories of living near the border."

 

Expected publication in English: February 2nd, 2021.

Yu, Hua "China in Ten Words"

Yu, Hua (余華/Yú Huá) "China in Ten Words" (Chinese: 十個詞彙裡的中國/Shi ge cihui li de Zhongguo) - 2012

Our latest book club suggestion. I am happy somebody thought of it because it is a remarkable book. I love to read about different cultures but I also love to read about language and find out what kind of words are used in which connection. To read about "disparity" or "copycat" and what the meaning of that is in modern day China is pretty interesting. Whether it's about Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution, the ever present Little Red Book or just the ordinary Chinese person, the author has experienced it all first-hand.

My favourite chapter must have been "Reading", there are some fantastic quotes that recap my feelings brilliantly:

"I did once sum up my experience in the following way:
'every time I read one of the great books, I feel myself transported to another place, and like a timid child I hug them close and mimic their steps, slowly tracing the long river of time in a journey where warmth and emotion fuse. They carry me off with them, then let me make my own way back, and it's only on my return that I realize they will always be part of me.'"

and

"If literature truly possesses a mysterious power, I think perhaps it is precisely this: that one can read a book by a writer of a different time, a different country, a different race, a different language, and a different culture  and there encounter a sensation that is one's very own. Heine put into words the feeling I had as a child when I lay napping in the morgue. And that, I tell myself, is literature."


The book teaches us a lot about life in China during the lifetime of the author (born 1960) so far as well as about the author himself. I thought it fascinating to learn about a life that could have been mine since I am about the same age as Hua Yu. Intriguing.

From the back cover:

"From one of China’s most acclaimed writers, his first work of nonfiction to appear in English: a unique, intimate look at the Chinese experience over the last several decades, told through personal stories and astute analysis that sharply illuminate the country’s meteoric economic and social transformation.

Framed by ten phrases common in the Chinese vernacular - 'people,' 'leader,' 'reading,' 'writing,' 'Lu Xun' (one of the most influential Chinese writers of the twentieth century), 'disparity,' 'revolution,' 'grassroots,' 'copycat,' and 'bamboozle' - China in Ten Words reveals as never before the world’s most populous yet oft-misunderstood nation. In 'Disparity,' for example, Yu Hua illustrates the mind-boggling economic gaps that separate citizens of the country. In 'Copycat,' he depicts the escalating trend of piracy and imitation as a creative new form of revolutionary action. And in 'Bamboozle,' he describes the increasingly brazen practices of trickery, fraud, and chicanery that are, he suggests, becoming a way of life at every level of society.

Characterized by Yu Hua’s trademark wit, insight, and courage, China in Ten Words is a refreshingly candid vision of the 'Chinese miracle' and all its consequences, from the singularly invaluable perspective of a writer living in China today."

We discussed this book in our international online book club in July 2019.

Sendker, Jan-Philipp "The Far Side of the Night"

Sendker, Jan-Philipp "The Far Side of the Night" (German: Am anderen Ende der Nacht) (The Rising Dragon #3) - 2016

Jan-Philipp Sendker is a German journalist who has been a correspondent for China for several years. He has written several great books in the meantime. His first one, the non-fiction book "Risse in der großen Mauer" [Cracks in the Great Wall] by Jan-Philipp Sendker is just fantastic.

In the meantime, he is also a renowned fiction writer. I have read most of his books, some of them a series) but not all of them have been translated into English. Yet, I hope.

Whether you want to read "The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" (German: Das Herzenhören) or "Whispering Shadows"or any of the other books that have been translated in the meantime, they are all great.

In this novel, we meet Paul and Christine again, the American-Chinese couple living in Hongkong with their little son. Another crime story that takes them through large parts of China where we can learn about the system people over there live in. Captivating.

We meet people who live in a town and people who live in a village, far away from any larger settlement but still not too far to be caught in the grip of the party.

Brilliant story, very emotional. I can honestly say that Jan-Philipp Sendker belongs to my favourite German authors at the moment.

From the back cover:

"During a trip to China, Paul and Christine experience the nightmare of every parent: their four year old son is kidnapped. They are reunited after a few hours but the kidnappers, very powerful people in today’s China with close contacts to the police, dearly want the child back. The only safe place for the family is the US embassy in Beijing, but they are two thousand miles away, with the police searching frantically for them, and all airports, train stations and major roads under surveillance. They’ll have no chance without help from strangers, but who will be willing to risk their lives for them?

Whom can they trust?

The Far Side of the Night is a powerful, transporting novel about the struggle to maintain humanity in an impossible situation."

These are the books in the Rising Dragon (China) trilogy:
"Whispering Shadows" (German: Das Flüstern der Schatten) (The Rising Dragon #1) - 2007
"Dragon Games" aka "The Language of Solitude" (German: Drachenspiele) (The Rising Dragon #2) - 2009
"The Far Side of the Night" (German: Am anderen Ende der Nacht) (The Rising Dragon #3) - 2016

Guo, Xiaolu (郭小橹) "Language"

Guo, Xiaolu (郭小橹) "Language" - 2017

The story of a Chinese girl who moves to England.

I found this little book at the till when paying for another book (or two or three ...) and it sounded interesting. It really is only an extract from another book, "A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers" which certainly must be interesting, as well. Anyway, our Chinese girl has learned some English but she really doesn't know much when she first comes to England. It must be quite daunting living in another country and not knowing the language, especially if you are from a completely different culture. I have lived in several countries in my life but always knew the language and the cultures between some Western European countries are not all that different.

The book is written like a diary of the young girl who comes to England and at first, her English is rather limited. But you can tell by the time you get to the end that she gets better all the time. I quite liked that.

Anyway, I have learned more about the Chinese customs in this book than about the English language and that is exactly what I like. Nice short read.

From the back cover:

"Have you ever tried to learn another language? When Zhuang first comes to London from China she feels like she is among an alien species. The city is disorientating, the people unfriendly, the language a muddle of dominant personal pronouns and moody verbs. But with increasing fluency in English surviving turns to living. And they say that the best way to learn a language is to fall in love with a native speaker…

Selected from the book A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo"

Cao, Xueqin "Dream of the Red Chamber"

Xueqin, Cao (Cáo Xuěqín) "Dream of the Red Chamber" (Chinese: 红楼梦/Hung lou meng/aka The Story of the Stone) - ca. 1717-1763 (18th century)

Apparently, this novel is "one of the four pinnacles of classical Chinese literature. The other three are: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, and Outlaws of the Marsh."

Also known as "The Story of the Stone", it is said to be the first Chinese novel of this kind and has created an entire field of study "Redology".

I found this on the list of "101 Best Selling Books of All Time" and thought it might be interesting to read.

It was highly interesting indeed. The novel has semi-autobiographical sides, it is said that it shows not just the rise and fall of the author's family but also that of the Qing Dynasty.

I found it hard to remember all the names that were homophones with another character and therefore meant something else. It also took me going back and forth to the glossary in the back and then to the story in order to know who was talking or talked about when someone referred to Big Sister or Second Son etc. Sometimes the Chinese word for that was used, then the translation, then the real name, quite confusing. I think it might have to do with the translation and that a more modern one would have taken care of that. My library's edition is from 1957 and, with "only" 574 pages, an abridged version.

Still, the novel teaches us a lot not just about everyday Chinese life in the 18th century, but also their culture, religion, science, art and literature. Really captivating. Certainly one of the most informative books I have read about Ancient China, and I have read quite a few.

From the back cover:

"The Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the 'Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature.' It is renowned for its huge scope, large cast of characters and telling observations on the life and social structures of 18th century China and is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the classical Chinese novel.

The "Red Chamber" is an expression used for the sheltered area where the daughters of wealthy Chinese families lived. Believed to be based on the author's own life and intended as a memorial to the women that he knew in his youth, The Dream of the Red Chamber is a multilayered story that offers up key insights into Chinese culture."

Ghosh, Amitav "Flood of Fire"

Ghosh, Amitav "Flood of Fire" (Ibis Trilogy #3) - 2015

After reading "Sea of Poppies" two years ago, I was happy that the second book "River of Smoke" had already been published and I could just carry on reading. Then I was so disappointed to find that the third book had not even been written, yet.

Well, it was worth the wait. I probably should have reread the first two first and then carried on with the last one but I just couldn't wait. Characters, scenes, events did come back but I would have liked a little more reintroduction in some cases. I was also happy to see what happened to some of the characters from "Sea of Poppies" that were hardly or not at all mentioned in "River of Smoke" so that it all came back together again. I was not happy to learn that the author abandoned the thought of carrying on further with the story as he had intended after the second book. What a shame. I do hope he will write more, though, because I do love his style which I already admired in "The Glass Palace".

Just  a fantastic read. Mesmerizing, captivating. So much more history of a part of the world I don't know much about. I don't think we went into much detail in our lessons about the opium war because I certainly didn't remember that but I know a lot about it today.

If you are really interested in the history of this part of the world or if you just would like to read a good adventure story or like a captivating tale about a lot of people, this trilogy is for you. Enjoy.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"It is 1839 and tension has been rapidly mounting between China and British India following the crackdown on opium smuggling by Beijing. With no resolution in sight, the colonial government declares war.

One of the vessels requisitioned for the attack, the Hind, travels eastwards from Bengal to China, sailing into the midst of the First Opium War. The turbulent voyage brings together a diverse group of travellers, each with their own agenda to pursue. Among them is Kesri Singh, a sepoy in the East India Company who leads a company of Indian sepoys; Zachary Reid, an impoverished young sailor searching for his lost love, and Shireen Modi, a determined widow en route to China to reclaim her opium-trader husband's wealth and reputation. Flood of Fire follows a varied cast of characters from India to China, through the outbreak of the First Opium War and China's devastating defeat, to Britain's seizure of Hong Kong."

This is also a book about books. Quite a few are mentioned, either because the characters are reading them or because they quote from them.

Defoe, Daniel "Robinson Crusoe"
Goldsmith, Oliver "The Vicar of Wakefield"
Haywood, Eliza "Love in Excess"
Richardson, Samuel "Pamela"
Sterne, Laurence "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman"
Voltaire "Zadig"

You can find my reviews of other Amitav Ghosh novels here.

Sendker, Jan-Philipp "Whispering Shadows"

Sendker, Jan-Philipp "Whispering Shadows" (German: Das Flüstern der Schatten) - 2007

 

So far, I had only read the non-fiction book "Risse in der großen Mauer" [Cracks in the Great Wall] by Jan-Philipp Sendker and liked it very much.

Then I found this novel in a bookstore and the description spoke to me. I usually don't read detective stories, most of them are not "deep" enough for me.

But this novel is so much more than a crime story, it gives an insight into today's China of which we still know far too little. The author reports about the grief of a man who has lost his son. And he talks about the slow healing after a heavy blow.

The book is both philosophic and informative. An excellent story. The author has previously worked as a correspondent in Asia. You can tell that he has a lot of insight and background information. I have read the next part of the trilogy "Drachenspiele" (Dragon Games) and hope they will translate that one soon, as well.

From the back cover:

"The first in a suspenseful new trilogy by the internationally bestselling author of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats {German: Das Herzenhören}, this gripping story follows a retired expat journalist in contemporary China who tries to crack a murder case as he battles his own personal demons.

American expat Paul Leibovitz was once an ambitious advisor, dedicated father, and loving husband. But after living for nearly thirty years in Hong Kong, personal tragedy strikes and Paul's marriage unravels in the fallout.

Now Paul is living as a recluse on an outlying island of Hong Kong. When he makes a fleeting connection with Elizabeth, a distressed American woman on the verge of collapse, his life is thrown into turmoil. Less than twenty-four hours later, Elizabeth's son is found dead in Shenzhen, and Paul, invigorated by a newfound purpose, sets out to investigate the murder on his own.

As Paul, Elizabeth, and a detective friend descend deeper into the Shenzhen underworld;against the wishes of a woman with whom Paul has had a flirtation;they discover dark secrets hidden beneath China's booming new wealth. In a country where rich businessmen with expensive degrees can corrupt the judicial system, the potential for evil abounds.

Part love story, part crime thriller, The Whisper of the Shadow is the captivating tale of one man's desperate search for redemption within the vice of a world superpower, a place where secrets from the past threaten to upend the country's unchecked drive towards modernization."

These are the books in the Rising Dragon (China) trilogy:
"Whispering Shadows" (German: Das Flüstern der Schatten) (The Rising Dragon #1) - 2007
"Dragon Games" aka "The Language of Solitude" (German: Drachenspiele) (The Rising Dragon #2) - 2009
"The Far Side of the Night" (German: Am anderen Ende der Nacht) (The Rising Dragon #3) - 2016

Buck, Pearl S. "The First Wife and Other Stories"

Buck, Pearl S. "The First Wife and Other Stories" - 1933

Some wonderfully described stories about Chinese life up until the beginning of the 20th century. The author talks about the clash between the traditional Chinese and the Western way, something she must have experienced herself as the daughter of a US missionary in China. The title story talks about a guy who goes abroad and doesn't really relate to his coutry wife anymore so that he divorces her and takes a new one, something that would not have happened before.

But there are also other subjects in the various other stories, some talk about the revolution and what was going on at that time, the devastations after a great flood, daily life in China at the time.

This is a great book to see what changes in tradition and life can do to people. Not just in China. If I compare my chidlren's life with that of my grandparents, there is a huge difference and I don't think my grandparents would have understood any of it. Pearl S. Buck saw this when living in China, she saw how people struggled with the newness of everything adn how a lot of them couldn't cope with it.

A nice collection of stories.

Contents:
Old and new:

• The first wife
• The old mother
• The frill
• The quarrel
• Repatriated
• The rainy day

Revolution:

• Wang Lung
• The communist
• Father Andrea
• The new road

Flood

• Barren spring
• The refugees
• Fathers and mothers
• The good river 

Pearl S. Buck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938 "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.