What are you reading?

[Lu]

Well, do you wish to post about it?

[Balthazar]

On 4/18/2018 at 11:50 AM, Geiko said:

Some days ago I finished 恶童, by Janne Teller. It was quite a tough book for a young adult novel. 

 

How would you rate the language difficulty of the Chinese translation?

[Geiko]

@Balthazar, it was easy to read. The story is narrated from one of the children's perspective, so the language is simple. When reading western novels translated into Chinese, one of the trickiest things is to get used to transliterations of proper names, western names are longer and (for me at least) harder to identify. But apart from that, I didn' have any problem reading it.

If you ask because I said "tough book", I meant psychologically, children are cruel and merciless to each other, it's not a Disney story, if you know what I mean.

[Balthazar]

Thanks！

 

I understood that "tough" was referring to the content rather than the language. It was the "young adult novel" label that piqued my interest. I'll try to get my hands on a copy of it (digital if possible), always on the lookout for "real" books (as in not graded readers) that aren't too difficult language-wise.

 

On the topic of graded readers, I'm currently reading the 1000 words graded reader from Sinolingua, available through Pleco, while commuting. Almost finished. I have to say I am very pleasantly surprised (as I've read mixed feedback on the series), of all the graded reader series I've encountered this is by far the most interesting one in terms of content. While it's very convenient to be able to read it with Pleco's reader, the language is easy enough for me to very rarely have too look up anything, which is nice. I'll probably be heading on to the 1500 words book soon.

[Geiko]

@Balthazar Great! In case you're interested, I bought the ebook here: https://www.kobo.com/en/en/ebook/PzKGCiH-kDCj5EAry3llPQ

You can also have a look at the preview and see if it's at the right level for you! 

 

[Balthazar]

Thanks! Nice price too.

 

I see it's in traditional characters, that it itself is enough to conclude that's it's above my level :p. After some googling it appears a simplified version is not available. Oh well.

 

(As a side note: Interesting title. "Nothing" in English (literal translation of Danish "intet"), 恶童 in Chinese)

[yueni]

I almost never read Chinese fiction, but I recently got sucked into an old web novel by 蝴蝶蓝 called 《全职高手》.  It's about a pro-gamer and the pro-gaming scene that he's in, which I find incredibly interesting, since I work in the gaming industry myself (and also know a little about eSports and am an avid gamer). 

 

I actually got introduced to it because there's an entire anime out now, so I watched the entire first season, then I watched the 3 OVAs... and then was told that it's based on a web novel, so I found the English translations, started reading from ~Ch 300 where the anime left off, read about 700 chapters of it in English until I came to the end of the translations and realized that there are 1728 chapters (!!!) and the translators were only at chapter 1100 or so... So I found the original Chinese web novel and continued reading in Chinese. I'm at around Chapter 1300 or so right now, but I'm finding that due to really inconsistent English translations, and how many characters (and their in-game characters) have been introduced, I keep getting things mixed up, and will probably have to reread the whole thing in Chinese from scratch, but I have to know how everything ends (which is why I'm continuing on in Chinese from where the fan translation ended).

 

This is the first Chinese book that I've literally gotten sucked into and that I can't put down. If anybody's into gaming and the like, I totally recommend it! I don't think I've ever read this fast in Chinese in my life.

[sekkar]

I'm currently reading 盤龍, a 仙俠 web novel. It's far from highbrow literature, but I'm really enjoying it so far. You follow the protagonist from childhood as he levels up until he reaches what I assume will be Godlike powers by the end of the book. Also it's fucking massive (800+ chapters), so I wont have to worry about finding something else to read for a while. 

[imron]

2 hours ago, sekkar said:

Also it's fucking massive (800+ chapters)

@sekkar as per forums T's & C's please avoid unnecessary swearing.

[艾墨本]

@sekkarcan you link to that? Sounds like a fun read.

[sekkar]

11 hours ago, 艾墨本 said:

@sekkarcan you link to that? Sounds like a fun read.

 

I don't remember where I downloaded it, but here's one place where you can read it online. There's a English translation available at wuxiaworld.net as well.

 

I found the first few chapters a bit slow, but it starts to pick up when he leaves his village.

 

 

[Lu]

Over the past... while, I read, in English translation:

Lu Min, 'Hidden Diseases'. Young woman wants to find a man to marry, but everyone in her family has a shortcoming, either physical or in how they handle money.

Wei Wei, 'George's Book'. Man seduces women with a little help of his English-language copy of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The narrator comes to his room, but then he has lost his book and can't get her into bed, and it's pretty pathetic. Nice story, well-told, although I thought the ending was a bit meh.

Guo Wenbin, 'Blessings of Good Fortune'. A young brother and sister enjoy a traditional festival together, and the particularities of the festival are nicely tied into how they will eventually grow up and fall in love and get married and have sex, even though at this point they are too small to understand all that.

A Yi, 'Common People': when someone doesn't see any other way than murder in order to be 孝顺 and pay for his father's medical treatment. The rules of society (thou shalt not murder) clash with the rules of confucianism (thou shalt take care of thine father, no matter the cost) and everybody loses.

 

Also reading Sanmao, 雨季不再来 (in Chinese). Really, really sentimental, romantic and angsty. These are fictional stories, though there appear to be a lot of autobiographical elements in them. The young female main characters feel cripplingly misunderstood and lonely, despite their broad circle of nice and artistic friends. Their True Love is lost, or leaves them, or they leave him, either way it never works out. Although the title story ends on an optimistic note.

Sanmao apologises for the lack of quality in her foreword (these are early stories, written before 沙哈拉的故事, published after the latter book was a huge succes), but although the subject matter is less interesting than in 沙哈拉的故事, in my (not too expert) opinion these stories are better written. Like I said, they are very sentimental, but if you feel like reading something in that genre, this book is a good choice. Not too difficult either.

[Lu]

I've been reading faithfully but have neglected posting about it. So, since my last post, I read, in English translation:

Tie Ning, two stories: 'Irina's Hat', drama on a small scale: small space (inside a plane, in just a few rows/seats), small cast (just a few characters), potential big stakes but it is resolved neatly in a small gesture. 'Pregnant woman with cow', even smaller cast of characters and even less action, but much bigger dreams.

A Lai, also two stories: 'The Hydroelectric Station' and 'The Threshing Machine', both on how electricity and the modern world comes to a small village. The villagers are suitably impressed with the engineers, the electricity and the threshing machine and happy with all the benefits they bring, but at the same time they lose something in the exchange: the old-fashioned quietness and togetherness.

Chi Zijian, 'A Jar of Lard': woman recalls how she and her young children travelled far to join her husband and made a life in a new community, with the jar of lard symbolising her... youth? fertility? attractiveness? A bit of all of that I guess. I really liked this story, it was very well put-together, everything in it was there for a reason.

Wang Gang, 'Recollections of the Hunan Cemetary', the experiences of a young boy during the Cultural Revolution. Most of the troubles go over his head (fortunately for him), but some of it apparently rubs off on him, the story ends on a very violent and cruel note. Reminded me a lot of Yu Hua and Mo Yan and such: CR, young boy, violence.

Xu Kun, 'Visa Cancelling': important provincial bigwig has to jump through embassy hoops and is very angry about it. The more I read, the more it read like an outright denunciation of those evil foreigners who dare humiliate us Chinese, and also the Chinese who enable them and are running dogs of said evil foreigers. None of it said in so many words, but that was the sense I got of it. (Sideline here: I once spoke to a Chinese friend who still was mad about how he had had to wait in line for hours and hours in front of the Dutch embassy when he went to get his visa. I told him I had stood in a similar line for hours and hours in front of the Chinese embassy in the Netherlands. These days, both embassies have moved to an appointment system, thus getting rid of most of the wait, but this was not some kind of intentional humiliation only the Chinese were forced to endure.)

Feng Tang, 'Mahjong'. Woman goes to the US to further her career and find a husband, returns with a great career and a daughter (but no husband). The story was alright I guess but I seem to have missed the point, or I am just not the target audience.

Qiu Huadong, 'Friend of the Moon'. Man makes his fortune in real estate in 1980s Beijing, then turns his back on all that and becomes a sheep herder in Xinjiang (while still having his fortune, so if his sheep die it's unfortunate but no disaster). Reminded me of 'Shenzhen is located...' (which I mentioned here) and also a bit of 原谅我红尘颠倒 by Murong Xuecun. I have a feeling this 'modern world failed me, I'm going to live with the primitive but happy natives' is a bit of a theme.

Xu Zechen, 'Outdoor Film', former projectionist returns to his old stomping grounds, where he remembers how celebrated he was 20 years ago for showing movies, but doesn't remember any of the people, especially the women he slept with.

 

This is much too long a post. I'll try to make the next one shorter.

[roddy]

Oh, please don't.

 

Xu Kun, 'Visa Cancelling': - interesting that's what you thought, I found it more about those bigwigs having a bit of a descent into the underworld - they were no longer the most powerful, they could no longer do what they want, they were reliant on their translator / guide (I forget). I'd have said it could have worked well also with a 'Chinese' underworld - say they got summoned in for a dressing down by some capricious central government inspector. 

[Lu]

No I mean, I'll try and discuss only five or so stories at the end of the week instead of procrastinate to the point that I have a huge pile.

 

I see your point and to some extent, it is about a bigwig having to kowtow to bigger wigs, but to me it still reads as an expression of nationalism. The story starts with an introduction of Sanlitun and how its development into gaudiness started from the foreigners who drunk there; later on there is a scene where bigwig Fan recalls how he had been wined and dined at this very embassy when China was just opening up and all the foreign countries wanted the business; and it ends with a little meditation on the meaning of the motherland.

 

But my reading is a little bit influenced by the fact that this is in a London Book Fair issue of Pathlight, filled with politically approved authors (OK Pathlight can't exactly go and publish Liao Yiwu in a different issue either, but this issue seems to be especially filled with 作协 chairpeople). The political correctness is not that overt, but I feel a bit of an undercurrent that comes to the surface in this story. Or I'm just too sensitive.

[Luxi]

More readings about sexism and misogyny...by women writers.

 

First, I read Nicky Harman's translation of《我们家》by 颜歌 (Yan Ge), re-titled "The Chilli Bean Paste Clan" by the publishers. It was Leed's Writingchinese group choice for June, 

https://writingchinese.leeds.ac.uk/book-reviews/the-chilli-bean-paste-clan-by-yan-ge/

 

I tried to find the original ebook in Chinese, which was in Duokan.com not long ago, but it had disappeared - together with most or all other Yan Ge's ebooks, even innocent YA literature. Having read it in translation, I'm glad I didn't invest time reading the original and also that the Kindle price  was a special offer.  

The novel had fairly good reviews, some said it was funny,   
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/zhuanlan/wenyitiandi-cite/yj-05052015114708.html  
https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2018/05/30/announcing-our-may-book-club-selection-the-chilli-bean-paste-clan-by-yan-ge/  
...but I can't see what Yan Ge wants to say here, I see no clear message or point for further thought, it all seems to be an outpouring of adolescent angst. This dysfunctional family, where every single member is selfish, dishonest and abusive, is not at all funny IMHO.  Even sex in the novel is dull and superficial, as if written by a 15 year-old talking from hearsay.  'Dad' is especially unpleasant, the whole story centers on his serial drinking, smoking and philandering, his views on women are quite revolting. The other main characters are also forgettable, even Gran - who some reviewer tries to compare to Grandmother Jia in 红楼梦 -  no way, sorry!    

Easy to see why the ebook disappeared, it's vulgar from page 1. However, the Chinese people are mature enough to reject this kind of poor literature using their own judgement, without government's interference.    

 

My next read was very different, an antidote? A short story, 珍珠泪 (Pearl Tears) by another young female author, Lin Jinlu (林津鲈), published online by Douban in this ebook:   
https://read.douban.com/ebook/49182289/   
This is an allegory in the form of a short story about a man who finds a mermaid on the beach. The man is another brute, even worse than 'Dad' in 我们家, and the story does begin with this man raping the unconscious mermaid. But this story, which is extremely sad, is beautifully and elegantly written, the imagery is exquisite, vivid and delicate, and the message is loud and clear - no question this is a woman's voice.   
The writing is literary (though not  文言文), some readers' reviews say it's modelled on Pu Songling. It was difficult for me, I had to re-read many paragraphs and approximately guess the meaning of many sentences, but it was worth reading just for the beauty of the style.
I know nothing about this author, but it is someone I want to read again.  

 

珍珠泪 has been republished by Chinawriter:  
http://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2018/0522/c404017-30006273.html

[Geiko]

This month I've been reading 支离破碎 by 石康. It was my third book from this author, and it will probably be the last one: I don't like his style, it's very conversational, but in the end it feels like meaningless chat: in this 200-page story he tells us how he changed from being a screenwriter to writing novels, and his difficult relationship with a married girl. And nothing else happens. I strongly recommend 奋斗，it's much longer (621 pages), but the story is interesting until the end, it really makes you want to keep on reading. 心碎你好 and 支离破碎 definitely don't. 

 

For the next months I've chosen a couple of books / authors that were recommended in Chinese forums, so I hope I like them! 

[biyalan]

I'm reading my first novel in Chinese right now (very exciting!). I've followed the wisdom of those who have gone before and have gone with 活着. My comprehension is pretty good, but I've been reading very slowly, so it's a little hard to get a feel for the shape of the whole story (I'm most of the way through the second "chapter" at this point). Nevertheless, it's still pretty enjoyable!

 

I've also recently started Waiting by Ha Jin. Despite its massive amount of success, I'm finding it a little hard to really get into. Not giving up yet though! 

[Lu]

I read Waiting quite some time ago and wasn't too enthousiastic about it either, despite, as you say, the massive proclaim for it. Also I keep parsing the title as 外厅, but that's a different problem of course.

 

Over the past while I have read, in English translation:

- Sheng Keyi, 'Fishbone'. Man sees his life, which was tethering precariously (he has a wife but also a mistress, his job is not going too well), topple over the edge when he swallows a fishbone which gets stuck in his throat. I suppose it's possible that the fishbone is a metaphore for how the higher-ups don't let the regular folk carry on with their simple life, but I prefer reading it a bit more straight, with the fishbone as the straw that broke the camel's back. I liked this story.

- Liu Cixin, 'Taking Care of God'. Millions of elderly people of an alien master race who basically created the world & humans suddenly descend on earth and ask their human creations/their children to take care of them in their old age. Initially they do so eagerly, but the novelty soon wears off. Science fiction meets 孝顺 and it's very cool.

- Jin Renshun, 'Skylark'. Young Chinese college student finds a sugar daddy in an older Korean businessman in China. If I read it correctly, in the end the author doesn't disapprove of the whole situation as long as everyone treats each other nicely. Personally I think everyone should handle their relationships however they please as long as they do so respectfully, which, in my view, this businessman doesn't. If you have children, you are obligated to be a father to them (or a mother of course, if that is the case); if you start an affair but want to stay married, you can't expect your wife to be faithful. The story is decent enough, though not exceptional, in my opinion: nothing drastic or interesting really happens, it's just the tale of man meets girl meets boy, tiny crisis, happily for some time after.

- Tsering Norbu, 'A Sheep Released to Life'. Tibetan old man whose wife died twelve years ago lives a very devout life to help her get reincarnated, but he is lonely and unhappy. Then he meets a sheep destined for slaughter and buys it to release it to life. Man and sheep soon become inseparable, with the sheep accompanying the man on all his perambulations and temple visits. Lots of exposition on couleur locale, I felt that this story was very much written for a non-Tibetan audience, but it was a very sweet story nonetheless. And I am a non-Tibetan audience member, after all.

 

Also reading 下面，我该干一些什么 by 阿乙. A young man kills a (female) classmate and goes on the run. Eventually he gets caught and sentenced, but I haven't read that part yet. Everything is described quite factually, although with some literary flourish. I think I liked his short stories (in 鸟看见了我 and elsewhere) better, but that might be because I understood those a bit more fully, which in turn might be because I read them with a little more attention for each sentence. Still, worth reading, and I want to know how it continues and what the author makes of the boy's motives.

[Lu]

Over the past week I've read, in English translation:

- Jiang Yitan, 'China Story'. Older rural man is oh so proud of his son, who got a job at the English-language magazine China Story. The story itself is something that could well appear in such a magazine. Nice story but not very deep-digging.

- Di An, 'Williams' Tomb'. The main character is either a male to female transsexual who comes to realise her true identity, or a girl whose father tries to wishful-think and beat her into being a boy but who then comes into her own as the girl she is. I had to read it two or three times before I was sure it is in fact the latter. A good story and very well told, with that ambiguity going on. For the longest time the main character is clearly a boy, with some struggles here and there, until she declares quite clearly that she is a girl, and gradually the reader pieces together what is actually going on. I haven't read that much by Di An, but this is by far the best of her work I've read.

- Qi Ge, 'The Sugar Blower'. Fairytale-like story of a mythical journey to a mythical island where the sugar blower can grant you immortality, with underneath the author's thoughts on why immortality is not the ideal, we have to live life, that's what it's about.