Short Story Reading Club for 2014

[Meng Lelan]

Yes, still over a month until the beginning of 2014 but wanted to get started on this now to get some ideas. Our always stellar and splendid roddy asked me to start up a Short Story Reading Club for 2014 so here I am. 

 

The short stories are going to run anywhere from Lu Xun up to Yu Hua, a very eclectic mix of contemporary short stories. They will be available online and in print. This time I would like to offer a beginning and intermediate track as last time I had Short Stories in here, I felt kind of bad the beginners were getting left out. I realize that finding short stories for beginners is a challenge but I think we need to offer some options anyway.

 

What we can do is draw up a list of maybe ten or so short stories to be discussed in here during the year 2014. I have in mind a few from China mainland and Taiwan, which I can post as soon as I gauge some reader interest in here. 

[Touchstone57]

This sounds very interesting, I would definitely like to take part in it. Will any of the stories also provide audio? If they native material not aimed at foreigners then I guess not, but it would still be useful. 

 

Also bear in mind some people may be limited to simplified or traditional characters. But it certainly is a great idea! 

[gato]

For Lu Xun, I would recommend 伤逝, a lovely love story: http://www.tianyabook.com/luxun/ph/005.htm

(There is a professional audio recording available on the net, too. I can post a link later.)

I'd also recommend 郁达夫's 春风沉醉的晚上： http://www.artsdome.com/books/ydf/008.htm

[Allen Zhang]

I think Lu Xun's best work is 《野草》, a Prose Poetry:http://www.tianyabook.com/

I've read many times, and it has given me courage and strength.

 

Yu Hua's books, I've just read 《活着》and 《第七天》,

《活着》is very touching, I read all night and cried all night.

http://www.tianyabook.com/yuhua/huozhe1.htm

http://www.tianyabook.com/yuhua/hu0zhe2.htm

《第七天》is just so so.

 

[xuefang]

Very interesting! Reading is exactly what I should be doing more next year and this club would be a great motivation for me. I have to admit that I haven't really read that many books from Chinese authors, not even short stories. As I don't really know Chinese literature, I don't have any recommendations at the moment, but would love to join you in January!

[Guest realmayo]

Thanks Meng Lelan, I'm in, looking forward to it!

[Lu]

That sounds interesting, I'd like to join. As to stories, may I recommend 西西, there are some good stories in 像我这样的一个女子 and elsewhere.

[Shelley]

I would like to give it a go. My only reservations is time constrains in as much as my health can cause unexpected gaps of 1 - 2 weeks (2 maybe 3 times a year) in my life. So provided people don't mind the occasional gap and me having to catch up I feel I can participate.

 

I would have to be at the beginner end of things as I have never tried reading an actual story and simplified characters for me.

 

I will look forward to it.

[character]

I realize that finding short stories for beginners is a challenge but I think we need to offer some options anyway.

It's a great idea.  For beginners, there are the books

Traditional Chinese Tales, by Claudia Ross, at the 600 character level, available in Traditional or Simplified

Tales and Traditions: Readings in Chinese Literature Series (Volume 1), by Yun Xiao. Not sure of the exact character level; has both Traditional and Simplified

Graded Chinese Reader 3, by Shi Ji, 1000 character level, Simplified

[tysond]

Sounds cool.  

 

Assuming it's web based text, you can use plugins to switch between traditional and simplified.  新同文堂 Xin Tong Wen Tang for example for Chrome and Firefox.

[Ruben von Zwack]

Splendid! I'd love to join. Thanks for having so much consideration for us beginners

[Geiko]

Great idea!

 

Right now I'm reading Short Stories in Chinese: New Penguin Parallel text. It has eight stories, all of them written by contemporary authors (20th century), and although they're not graded readers and don't include pinyin, they have parallel translations, which is very helpful for those of us who still can't read comfortably native material.

 

In case you might want to choose one of these for your Reading Club, the short stories are:

 

1. 哦，香雪, by 铁凝
2. 祖宗, by 毕飞宇
3. 狗子, by 曹乃谦
4. 耕牛, by 李锐
5. 错误, by 马原
6. 冥灯, by 蒋韵
7. 油月亮, by 贾平凹
8. 受戒, by 汪曾祺

[JiuLing]

I am also interested and would try to gather some support from our international learners' group over here in Leiden, Netherlands. I'll check back soon!

[ouyangjun]

First time I've been active on this forum for quite a while.  I'd love to join a short story or BOTM club.  

 

Simplified Chinese.  Also, prefer books that aren't too outdated... 'm not into trying to read the classical Chinese.  The Chinese books I've enjoyed the most have still been books by 韩寒.  I'm sure people on this forum have mixed reviews on him, but I like his stuff.

[Koxinga]

I'd like to participate. I'm at a wannabe HSK5 level, but my reading habits are pretty much non-existent. Also, I prefer traditional characters. Someone should choose the book/story and I'll try to get it, provided it's possible to buy it online and have it shipped internationally.

[li3wei1]

This may be a bit off-topic, but I remember in Taiwan there was a semi-popular genre called 极短篇。 I haven't seen much of this from the Mainland, but I haven't looked carefully. Something like that might be nice to study because it is short and manageable, so if you need to skip one because of life happening, you don't have to wait forever for the next one to come along.

[Lu]

 

This may be a bit off-topic, but I remember in Taiwan there was a semi-popular genre called 极短篇。 I haven't seen much of this from the Mainland, but I haven't looked carefully.

This is a genre in China as well. There's a collection in English too, edited by Howard Goldblatt (who else), I forgot the title.

[renzhe]

Count me in, I'll try to squeeze a story or two in whenever I have time.

Some kind of ebook format would be cool, since real books will not be a realistic option for me this time.

[ouyangjun]

 

 

renzhe

Posted Today, 08:23 PM

Count me in, I'll try to squeeze a story or two in whenever I have time. Some kind of ebook format would be cool, since real books will not be a realistic option for me this time.

 

Agreed.  If it's not ebook format it's not going to happen for me.  I do all my reading on the Kindle these days.

[Ruben von Zwack]

call me old-fashioned but I still prioritise my reading by content, not format