What are you reading?

[Toffeeliz]

I'm reading a Naruto 漫画 i picked up at a newsagents. i don't know some characters so i suppose there will be a post soon with all the ones i don't know

[heifeng]

I guess I'm reading 寻秦记, but I can only read it online since I haven't had much luck finding the book (Ok, maybe I'm not really looking that hard). Otherwise I'm reading the Chinese version of Sherlock Holmes since I stumbled upon it at Wangfujing a little bit ago...

[bhchao]

Finished reading The Jungle. A very socially-conscious book with a socialist agenda from the author. Exploitative labor conditions at low wages in an unsanitary working environment, high living costs greatly reducing an immigrant family's disposable income, political corruption and being able to get away with the law if you had connections with government bureaucrats; are the main themes of the book.

I liked how this early 1900's book closely relates to the labor environment in developing countries today, although I disagree with the author's socialist agenda.

Teddy Roosevelt pushed successfully for the Pure Food and Drug Act after reading the book. Sinclair hoped for a different result though, one that focused on the plight of workers. The author said "I hoped to aim for the public's heart, but instead I hit it in the stomach."

Currently reading The Asian Mystique by Sheridan Prasso. It's interesting to read how many Western passengers at Cathay Pacific try to approach the airline's flight attendants while in flight, and the tactics the flight attendants use to avoid them, like throwing the passenger's card containing his personal phone number into the trash bin after receiving it.

The Asian Mystique points out how Hollywood is responsible for perpetuating stereotypes of Asian women as feminine and submissive, when in actuality many are independent minded and career-driven. A recent example is Memoirs of a Geisha which caused great controversy in Asia.

[skylee]

I am reading "葡萄牙 早、午、晚", a cute little book about two Japanese girls travelling/living in Portugal.

[snowlion_cn200]

I am reading the English novel the guy next door written by Meg Cobat, which is so funny that I have started my second time of reading it!

[bhchao]

I have been reading Madame Chiang Kaishek, a new book by Laura Tyson Li. This book is far more objective and interesting to read than Sterling Seagrave's The Soong Dynasty. Seagrave's book was so negatively biased that I really wanted to throw the book in the gutter.

It is interesting to read from Tyson Li's book how Song Meiling was the person most instrumental in saving Zhang Xueliang's life. Chiang Kaishek really wanted to kill Zhang for kidnapping him, but Song Meiling went out of her way in persuading him not to do it.

She and Zhang met each other in 1920's Shanghai before she married Chiang. The two of them became lifetime close friends. During a banquet in Beijing in 1930, she greeted Zhang warmly when he arrived at the door and addressed him by his personal name "Hanqing". Shocked, Chiang demanded "How do you know him?" Mei-ling smoothly replied "I met him before I met you."

Apparently Mei-ling still had feelings and sympathy for Zhang even after he kidnapped her husband. As a result, Zhang escaped the fate of his co-conspirator Yang Hucheng, who with his family were dragged out and killed by Chiang's personal order. Yang had first suggested the idea of kidnapping Chiang.

It turned out that Zhang was not completely isolated in house arrest in Taiwan. Song Mei-ling secretly took him out of his Yangmingshan residence in Beitou, and took him out on excursions in the vicinity. In 1964 she helped Zhang and his companion Chao Yi-ti get married after 30 years of companionship, and offered them support.

Another book I am reading is Doris Kearn Goodwin's Team of Rivals, about Abraham Lincoln's political genius and understanding of human nature that allowed him to successfully lead his Cabinet and military subordinates during the Civil War.

[skylee]

Before I left home I was reading Jane Austen's Persuasion (haha). But now I am always so tired I can only read Lonely Planet (the ones on Spain and Portugal are old and really not that good, btw).

Oh this post is from my pocket pc at a starbucks in Barcelona btw.

[elizaberth]

biography of Huo Ying Dong.

[skylee]

I am reading Anne Rice's novel "Christ the Lord - Out of Egypt".

[Lu]

Reading a book on the Taiping Rebellion. Historical novel, by one Chin Shun-shin, a Japanese author. Not sure why it was translated into English, it's very long, not that well-written (from a literary pov), the subject is not that famous and neither is the author.

[student]

I'm reading "Mao's Last Revolution" (MacFarquahar and Schoenhals), and an english translation of "The Wrath of Heaven" by Chen Fang.

[wushijiao]

I'm reading "Mao's Last Revolution" (MacFarquahar and Schoenhals

Any thoughts about it as of yet? I was thinking of buying it.

I am still working on 天葬：西藏的命运 by 王力雄 (it clocks in at 543 pages). The author, a famous novelist, has an amazing amount of friends and contacts among Tibetans and Han people of all sorts. He has also extensively traveled through the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the areas of “Greater Tibet” in Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan, so he has a lot of interesting firsthand stories about those areas. Combined with that, he is really well-read on Tibetan history and politics. So, all in all, he is a trustworthy analyst about an emotionally and politically sensitive issue. Even when I have a gut feeling that he is wrong about something, he still presents solid arguments backed with plenty of evidence and citations, and I wouldn’t doubt the sincerity of his views. Also, the book has given me a chance to improve my traditional character reading ability. My favorite book of the year!

[student]

I'm reading "Mao's Last Revolution" (MacFarquahar and Schoenhals

Any thoughts about it as of yet? I was thinking of buying it.

Well, I just finished it. It is the first account I've read that left me feeling that I understood some of the extremely complicated underlying dynamics. It isn't an easy read, and indeed, will probably be worth re-reading later, but it is certainly the best account I've yet read.

[purepearl]

I keep reading Buddhist teachings every day now given by Fu Weiqin on line. I feel modern individuals are easily led astray in the world of mind, and I among these people. I have tried to return to where I used to belong, but it is really difficult. Luckily I find that Buddhism helps a lot.

I also try to re-read what I have read during my teenage years, and try to reconstruct my world spiritually, not least Chinese classic poems.

[Lu]

Got part 1 of the Hong lou meng (in translation) for Sinterklaas, so I started rereading it. Can't wait to go home and read on :-)

[Lu]

Crying love in the centre of the world. The first paragraphy was heartbreaking, the rest was badly translated (bad style, unnatural), so I was mostly annoyed. I guess I should watch the series (or was it a movie?).

[skylee]

There are a Japanese TV series, a Japanese film and a korean film (!!!). I actually liked the Japanese film because it tells the story better.

The book is not worth it IMHO.

Oh I haven't read anything lately ... it's TV everyday ...

[Lu]

I agree, not worth it. I'll take your advise and watch the movie sometime then.

[holger]

Hi

I've discovered a great source of english science fiction literature dating from the beginnings of the genre up to now.

Asimov, Heinlein etc.

Theres one good story called "China Mountian Zhang" but I forgot the name of the Author.

Sorting out the trash among the countless short and longer stories there are certain elements that make a good science fiction story that move the definition of the genre quite far away from what most people incl me regard as normal science fiction.

I wonder if there are any chinese authors writing utopian literature about a society in present or future time with some scientific background?

Thanks for any recommendations!

ok - I just found the thread on chinese science fiction on this forum. sorry for not paying attention.

[Ardison]

HABITUDES:

The Art of Self Leadership (Subtitle)

by Dr. Tim Elmore

People influence people. An average lifetime of the most introverted people influence 10,000 others. But how do you influence others? How do you make a difference in the world you live in? How do you add value? In his HABITUDES, Dr,. Tim Elmore furnishes us with images that form leadership habits and attitudes—images, (such as the thermostat vs. the thermometer; drivers and passengers) that teach leadership truths and that go straight to the heart.

This is a useful book for lifetime.