What are you reading?

[heifeng]

So I finished reading the first Twilight book, now I'm onto New Moon, but when I get sick of reading about Edward and Belle I switch it up a bit and read: 死亡签证 instead.

[skylee]

I think in New Moon you get to read about Bella and Jacob ...

I am reading Eclipse for the 3rd time (I think). In parallel I am also reading "The Reader".

[redmini]

the twilight series is awesome... have a read of her other book called 'the host' - surprisingly enjoyable in the end. didnt think i would like it

can anyone recommend me something in chinese fiction thats not too complex? im intermediary in chinese... never know what books to pick out when im at the bookstore

[heifeng]

yeah, I think the story is just now changing and Edward is outta the picture (for now I guess?)

ohh, according to the inside cover of my book 暮色破晓 just came out this month in China..

and

宿主is s'ppose to come out in 6/2009 in China

[skylee]

i started reading the "host" in Feb (bought it in an airport) but still haven't finished the first chapters.

[heifeng]

Hey Skylee, do you happen to remember who published the book w/ the bad translation？

(The books I have are published by 接力出版社,...)

[skylee]

Looks like the bad ones are by 接力. People on the baidu forum keep complaining how had the translation is (e.g. Dr Fang becomes 芳醫生 ) ->

为什么读中文版的月食比读英文版的还要费尽心思去理解它的含义？

This is the Taiwan version on sale in HK (which people think is the better version) -> http://www.spp.com.tw/spp2006/other/07/twilight/dl/read/read-1.htm (click on it to read it)

[heifeng]

Thanks a million for the links!

( 回复：为什么读中文版的月食比读英文版的还要费尽心思去理解它的含

同意啊！超级迷茫，感觉上句不接下句啊！

OMG this is so true and here I thought it was just b/c I read late at night so my own comprehension was a bit 'off'...it's not completely my fault...phew...I'm so relieved.)

[redmini]

skylee, trust me, it took me ages to get through the first few chapters as well (i had to keep on re-reading them cos i was putting away the book so many times) and probably like you, i had the expectation that it would be as engaging as the twilight series. it gets better towards the middle and the end..

but ultimately, i admit i still prefer all the vampire stuff lol

[Lu]

Long stories (and a few short ones) by 朱文. I really like his tone, and the way he sometimes starts at A, continues to B, but then veers off to K and L, never to return to C after that.

[wushijiao]

Long stories (and a few short ones) by 朱文

Nice! I just saw a lecture with him and Julia Lovell at the HK Man Literary Festival last Friday! I also was thinking of getting some of his short stories.

[Lu]

Let me get you started.

Now also reading a manuscript by a mysterious author named Bob Chen. The stories appear to be rather autobiographic, and the man is getting more and more intriguing. Can't find any information on the internet (not so strange with a name like that).

[renzhe]

Just got my copy of 巴金's 家, and will start to read it next week.

My girlfriend finished it over the weekend, and I expect that it might take me slightly longer than that. Still, after Jin Yong, nothing can scare me anymore.

[randall_flagg]

Just finished "The Man on Mao's right" by Ji Chaozhu (English).

Ji Chaozhu 冀朝铸, a Shanxi 山西 native who spend much of is youth in the US and was educated at Harvard, returned to China soon after 1949 to start a long an interesting career. He served as Zhou Enlai and Mao's English interpreter, met with Nixon, Reagan, Kissinger and Carter, among other's. He later became ambassador to Fiji and Great Britain.

Interesting read, especially if you are interested in a few details of Sino-U.S. relationships during the last 60 odd years -- told by a Chinese.

[randall_flagg]

What a productive day!

Just finished 许三观卖血 by 余华。 I really don't know why I keep reading these heartbreaking stories. Sometimes I get so frustrated with the characters (the people, not the 汉字） that I want to throw the book at the oncoming subway. Haven't done that (yet!).

[yersi]

.

[heifeng]

ok, finished new moon and onto 月食 now. Maybe the movie ruined it for me, but I think I like the 2nd book better than the first one...we'll see about the 3rd...

[roddy]

If anyone here has some good recommendations for original non-fiction in Chinese (not really interested in literature), I'd love to hear them.

I've been reading off and on, mostly off, 血酬定律, which I mentioned earlier and might be worth a look. I guess it's the history of the economics of life and death in China. Lots of interesting snippets about the penalties for helping an escaped slave (very severe) compared to being an escaped slave (not so severe, we want them in working order, after all); the practicalities of kidnapping (unmarried women are very valuable, but if you don't ransom them the same day they drop rapidly in value); etc. You can find the whole thing online, so no trouble to take a quick look, and it's quite readable. I haven't made as much progress with it as I might have liked, but that's just me, not the book.

[skylee]

Finished reading "the Host" last night. The books gets much more interesting after the main character gets caught by the humans in Chapter 12.

Will move on to read about 濟南 and 曲阜, my destinations next week.

[Shadowdh]

The snow lion and the dragon (more just recapping), The dragon in the land of snows, Theories of International Relations, International Relations Theories, Understanding International Relations.... loads of articles on China and Tibet... sigh... cant wait till I get some time to read just for me...