十個詞彙裡的中國 China in Ten Words

[freshysauce]

Has anyone who's read 鲁迅's works and the chapter “鲁迅” comment? I'd like to hear your thoughts on the chapter and on 鲁迅 in general.

[gato]

I am reading this now. Elegantly written and autobiographical. Often very moving.

[michaelS]

I've recently finished this (in English - the edition is beautifully set and the translation is excellent). All round a very interesting book. He explains why critics and readers often think of his books as easy to read, which is something I've seen people on here often comment on.

[roddy]

Finished the Chinese version a few days back. As Gato said, it can be quite moving, thinking specifically of the bits in 差距 where he remembers catching a farm kid for selling oil ration tickets.

[gato]

I think the first half, with the autobiographical stories, is much better than the second half with the social commentary. I liked the chapter on "人民" the best. To me, it's the most deeply felt.

Here is an interview with Yu Hua where he talks about the genesis of the book.

http://www.my1510.cn...be1b592435fea6f

从十个词汇进入魔幻中国：余华对谈张铁志 / 張鐵志

2011-03-14 10:13 |

刚才铁志说到的我的新书，其实这本书是我的意外之作，我在前言也写到了，因为2008年到2009年这两年间，我主要是在欧美给《兄弟》做宣传，我到加州的时候，我这本书的英文翻译白睿文教授就问我打算做哪方面的演讲。我说，我以前在那里做过一个关於中国文学的演讲，听眾一半是学生，一半是教授。我说学生换了，但教授还在，所以不能够再讲同一个话题。然后他就说：那我们就来讲一个当代中国的话题吧，他让我来擬一个题目。我说：「还是你擬这个题目吧。过去我在国外都是邀请我的人或者译者帮我想演讲题目，反正怎么谈都行。」他就帮我想了一个很好的题目，叫《一个作家的中国》，到了学校后，我先讲了两个小故事，一个是关於「人民」，一个是关於「领袖」，讲完以后，我就跟白睿文教授说：「我发现这是一本书，刚好我现在东奔西跑的，可以一篇一篇地写。」他很高兴地说，他可以做我的翻译。回到北京后，我就先把「人民」部分给写了，因为接下来一个月，我还要继续跑七个国家。从欧洲回来以后，我就开始写「领袖」，当时我就决定写十个词汇，其实最早的书名是《十个词汇：一个作家的中国》，但是我的翻译就说，这样翻译成英文的话太复杂了，干脆是去掉前面的几个字，改成《一个作家的中国》，我也觉得这个题目很好。后面也写得非常顺利，在法兰克福书展以前，我就写完了四个词汇，他也翻译完四个词汇。然后从法兰克福回到北京，我就很快地把另外六个词汇都写完了。