《兄弟》 by 余华 (with vocab list)

[abcdefg]

Well done! It looks like you finished.

 

I wound up reading the book in English translation, but still have the Chinese version on my (long) "to do" list.

[Tianjin42]

Well done. Will definitely return to this - great resource.

[StChris]

Thanks everyone, but that was just the first half of the story (it's split into two books). I did finish doing the vocab for the 2nd half too, but unfortunately my laptop stopped working completely, so the file was lost. I would have lost the first half vocab too, but luckily someone on the forums asked me to upload the vocab file, so I simply downloaded it. I'm not sure if I want to go through the 2nd book all over again. I might just start a new book instead.

[abcdefg]

For anyone who has read the book and might be wondering, White Rabbit candy is still available today. I bought these this afternoon for 7 Yuan at a supermarket here in Kunming.

 

[Tianjin42]

Haven't yet read the book but have eaten many white rabbit sweeties. 

[Luxi]

On 8/16/2017 at 3:13 PM, StChris said:

I'm not sure if I want to go through the 2nd book all over again. I might just start a new book instead.

 

Sorry to hear about your laptop. This might be too late, but have you tried rescuing your files with Ubuntu? If the laptop can still be powered up and is able to read a CD or flash drive/memory stick you can run Ubuntu from there and retrieve your files. Unless the hard drive died, in which case it becomes a very expensive professional recovery job...

I don't think anybody would expect you to go through the whole book again and I'm sure everybody is extremely grateful for all your hard work. Thanks!

Another book would be welcome of course, uploading the files here or to a cloud storage site for safekeeping to be on the safe side.

 

@abcdefg, you can buy White Rabbit Candy off Amazon.co.uk, Prime members can get it delivered overnight if anyone has the urge.

 

[zander1]

Just wanted to say thanks so much for this StChris - am reading this at the moment and your vocabulary lists have been very helpful. 

[Balthazar]

I second Luxi's suggestion, Ubuntu (or Linux Mint, or something even lighter such as Puppy Linux, the list is endless) can be used to access your hard drives if you are able to power on the laptop. Setting up a LiveUSB (or CD, if your laptop has a DVD-rom) has never been easier.

 

In any case, thanks a lot for the effort put in. I haven't started on the book yet, as I'm quite sure it's still a few steps beyond my current reading level, but will definitely bookmark this thread for future reference.

[StChris]

Thanks for the advice on the laptop, but unfortunately it won't even power up. The only solution I can think of would be to physically remove the hard drive and connect it to another computer, but I don't think it's worth the hassle.

 

The White Rabbit Candy really is available at amazon uk, but I think I'll hold off until I get to China later this year, as the price converted into RMB is around 50 - quite a mark-up! I'm also looking forward to trying some 三鲜面. Whilst even my meagre budget should be enough to cover the cost, I'd be more than happy to share the juicy details of 林红's lovely posterior to anyone willing to treat me to a bowl...

 

I hope everyone enjoys the book. The second half of the book really goes to some wacky places, and there is one plot-line in particular which I thought was a bit OTT. Still worth reading though.

[abcdefg]

2 hours ago, StChris said:

Whilst even my meagre budget should be enough to cover the cost, I'd be more than happy to share the juicy details of 林红's lovely posterior to anyone willing to treat me to a bowl...

 

I'll buy you a bowl of Yunnan Mi Xian 米线 complete with pickled greens and pig blood if you will answer a single book-related question for me. (Remember, I read this book in English translation, not in the original Chinese.)

 

In the early chapters, Yu Hua refers over and to Baldy, his brother, their enemies and their friends as being "snot-nosed kids," or "snot-nosed brats," especially when they have been crying. That word, "snot" shows up again and again and again with such high frequency as to be mildly annoying. I'm wondering what the Chinese for it was. I suppose I could just look it up in one of your vocabulary lists, but I'm taking the lazy approach this morning.

 

I know that in describing someone today who has a cold with a runny nose, perhaps a colleague or classmate, I would use "流鼻涕“ in polite company. This is also the wording that's used in most patent medicine ads I see on evening TV.

 

Throughout this book, Yu Hua uses what might kindly be called "unpolished language," or less kindly, "vulgar slang." So what was his word for "snot," or at least his most common word for it before the children grew up and he moved on to other fixations. 

 

Quote

The second half of the book really goes to some wacky places, and there is one plot-line in particular which I thought was a bit OTT.

 

In my opinion, lots of this book is "over the top." My original plan was to speed read it in English and then return to tackle it in Chinese. Did the first part of that project in a couple of days, but I'm no longer sure I can make myself undertake a second reading in its original language. Although there were some chuckles and some surprises, I found it a rather unpleasant read.

 

Appreciate your efforts! Bravo!

[StChris]

I'm pretty sure that the author just uses 流鼻涕, or some variation thereof. I'm doing one final speed-read of the Chinese version starting tomorrow, so I'll confirm in a couple of days.

[ChineseHero]

Hey! This is very helpful for chapter by chapter. The link for the audiobook doesn't work anymore. Do you have a new link for the audiobook?

Reuben