What are you reading?

[oceancalligraphy]

Finished reading 漢字的華麗轉身：漢字的源流、演進與未來的生命 (link to books.com.tw). It's a collection of essays by about the history of Chinese characters. The beginning essays on calligraphy are pretty short, but the later essays get longer as they cover things like modern printing, computers, and modern art. I already have plenty of books on calligraphy history, and the book filled in some modern history that I wanted to learn.

[jannesan]

About to finish 活着, which is a great read.

All good things are 3 so I'll do one more by 余华：在细雨中呼喊

[imron]

2 hours ago, jannesan said:

All good things are 3 so I'll do one more by 余华：在细雨中呼喊

在细雨中呼喊 will be the exception to the rule!  It's a difficult book to read and doesn't have a linear storyline.  If you want a 余华 trifecta, I'd go for《兄弟》instead.

[imron]

Also see here for more discussion.  In another post, @murrayjames also recommends 第七天。 I haven't read it, but from the sound of it, it will probably be an easier read than 《兄弟》

[Lu]

1 hour ago, imron said:

In another post, @murrayjames also recommends 第七天。 I haven't read it, but from the sound of it, it will probably be an easier read than 《兄弟》

It's certainly shorter. I haven't read 《兄弟》but I have read 《第七天》 in translation and liked it. Some Chinese readers didn't like it, feeling Yu Hua cribbed too much from headlines. They are right, but I still liked the book.

 

If you also happen to read, or have read, Lincoln in the Bardo, I'd be interested in your thoughts on the differences. Both books take place in the afterlife, but while I liked 《第七天》 I found Lincoln a drag that lacked all urgency and didn't have a single character that interested me. I can't put my finger on what exactly it is that Yu Hua did right and that Saunders did wrong or neglected to do.

[murrayjames]

Congratulations on reading through another book in Chinese. Enjoy the ending to 《活着》.

 

While I recommend 《在细雨中呼喊》, it is a harder book than 《活着》 and 《许三观卖血记》 in terms of vocabulary and narrative structure. 《第七天》 is easier, shorter, and also a good read.

[Luxi]

I recently finished《北妹》(Northern Girls) by Sheng Keyi 盛可以 (what a fantastic nom-de-plume!), and it so happens that this week's translation challenge in Paper Republic is from the opening chapter.  I thought it'd be an easy read, much of it was indeed easy, but it has an awful lot of 'specialised' vocabulary and in the end it took me a long time to get through, my Chinese vocabulary is no good for euphemisms. The introduction by Jack Hargreaves on Paper Republic and this earlier one by Eric Abrahamsen give more information.

 

I liked it, it is a good antidote to the common portrayal of women as pretty doormats, saintly mothers or harrowing mothers-in-law in Chinese literature. The novel also contains a strong, though not on-your-face and quite entertaining, critique of the way women (especially young ones) are treated by society - a treatment that is by no means confined by China's borders. I think some of it will feel familiar to many women from everywhere in the world. I very much liked the way 'Northern Girls' central character, Qian Xiaohong,  develops in the novel, she feels real rather than a stereotype. I like that she has a strong personality and a fierce willpower, but at the same time, she's no saint and she's quite undaunted by moral mores. She's a good fighter and loyal to her friends. There are several rather raunchy passages in the book, and also some very funny ones. 

 

I read 2/3 of the novel from a downloaded text, until, at the end of Chapter 8,  I came upon a note saying that the publishers hoped we had enjoyed the novel but  those who wanted to finish reading it l had to pay a small fee (I would of course have paid, but couldn't without a Chinese bank account). I read the last third of the book in Shelly Bryant's English Translation, which reads well and seems quite faithful to the original (though not as colourful in language, and a lot faster to read). Unfortunately Sheng Keyi seems to have fallen in disgrace (not surprisingly) and it's now quite difficult to find any of her novels either as e-books or tree-books from outside China. I want to read "Death Fugue", but will have to do it in translation. 

[jannesan]

Thanks for the warning, I am still undecided if I will stick with 在细雨中呼喊 or go for 兄弟, which looks a bit long for my taste.

In the meantime I am gonna go for a translation of Nonviolent Communication (非暴力沟通).

Will update when I'm back to 余华

[matteo]

As per my original plan I started on Peter Hessler's 消失中的城, got to about 15% but realized that I was having a really hard time going through it. 

The language, although not difficult, is not super simple either and to make things worse there are so many names and English loan words that sometimes I really get lost (I'm thinking about the - long - description of the students performing the Hamlet).

 

In the mean time I picked up 活着 and I'm finding it so much more enjoyable to read at my level that I think I'll drop 江城...not too happy about giving it up but I figure I'll be able to appreciate it much better in a few months...

[imron]

This is the way to do it.  In the beginning it's best to work through a bunch of novels better suited to your level. The books you want to read will still be there for you in a few months time. 

[艾墨本]

8 hours ago, imron said:

The books you want to read will still be there for you in a few months years time. 

 

[PerpetualChange]

On 5/25/2020 at 8:44 AM, PerpetualChange said:

流星蝴蝶劍

 

Just started this one (apologies to the Book Club, but I took a month hiatus for personal reasons and I would have to start over anyway, so I figured I would try something easier for myself first). 

 

So far, so good. It's not too hard! It's early going still and I do find the relationships between some of the characters to be vague at times. I'm about 25 pages in to the first book, which is around 300 pages long, so I'll at least double that and then decide if it's worth going forward or if I've gotten lost. 

[matteo]

hey all, I'm almost done with 活着 and starting to look for the next book.

If I don't find anything better I'll stick with Yu Hua cause I know it's easy to read and that in itself makes kind of enjoyable but actually I wouldn't mind a change. 

I'd like a well written, interesting novel that hooks me up. Open to pretty much any genre. 

Can anyone suggest a good option that is not too hard to read and possible not too hard to procure?

 

Thanks 

[kanumo]

As my level is still not high enough, I am still sticking to graded readers.. I went through all Mandarin companion books, several multiple times.. then started to read chinese breeze books, but the story didn’t catch me... now I bought the rainbow Bridge higher bundle on pleco. When I am through with these (without the HSK5 one) I will give family (家） also the pleco version, a try.

[imron]

17 hours ago, matteo said:

Can anyone suggest a good option that is not too hard to read and possible not too hard to procure?

This?

[matteo]

yeah seems like a fun story, will try to get my hands on it! Thanks!

[jannesan]

Finished 非暴力沟通 (liked it, also the translation seemed good), now onto 古龙's 欢乐英雄 after reading somewhere here that 古龙 is one of the easier 武侠 authors. I really enjoy the novel and while there are quite a few expressions I don't understand, I can still follow the story very well. The story is pretty captivating and funny imho. Maybe also something for you @matteo, if you're interested in reading 武侠:)

[matteo]

finished 活着!

I found it just slightly harder than 许三观卖血记, but still quite easy, and the vocabulary is pretty much the same. Being able to read several pages at a time without dictionary is really pleasant and I think helps in improving the reading speed.

 

I enjoyed the book, the atmosphere and the storytelling which is always straightforward and concise. The story however is so sad at points, that can feel depressing. 

I guess some people might like that aspect of it, but well it's not my cup of tea. 

Next coming is 草鞋湾, I should receive it anytime now, I hope it lives up to the hype ?

[Lu]

3 hours ago, matteo said:

Next coming is 草鞋湾, I should receive it anytime now, I hope it lives up to the hype ?

Come post in the thread too! It'll be fun to see how you like the book.

[matteo]

Has anyone tried reading the Chinese translation of Edgar Snow's "Red Star Over China"?

I've been curious about the book for a while and will read it in English for sure, I'm wondering how big of a task would be reading it in Chinese.