best/safest source for Chinese books in pdf form

[Xiao Kui]

I'm looking for a good and safe website for downloading Chinese ebooks in pdf form. I am a little overwhelmed by the internet and baidu wenku. I'm wary of clicking on links that may be unsafe.  Perhaps pdf's are safe files but I'm not sure. (I did a search in the forums but a lot of the threads were pretty old.) Thanks!

[fabiothebest]

well, it depends if you want to pay for it or not. I'm not sure links to paid books available on some websites as  free download are allowed on this forum. Since you are careful about clicking on links that may be unsafe (for good reason), it'd be recommended that at least you scan the pdf files before opening them if you doubt about their safety. Also pdf files can contain malware (I'm a security researcher also dealing with malware analysis :P).

[Xiao Kui]

Thanks.  I guess I have assumed that some works in Chinese are in the public domain maybe because I am accustomed to the fast and loose treatment of copyright laws in the mainland.  In the past a lot of links to sites that had books available for free download were available on these forums. I am especially looking for 平凡的世界 and 家。I also don't mind paying for books since Chinese books are usually pretty cheap at least compared to the US.  Also thanks for the warning about pdf files - nice to know I'm not paranoid after all.

[roddy]

1 hour ago, fabiothebest said:

I'm not sure links to paid books available on some websites as  free download are allowed on this forum.

Our policy is (and has been for a very long time) that we don't allow links to pirated Chinese learning material (ie, a learner's dictionary, a graded reader, an advanced listening course) but links to mass market Chinese media (a copy of 读者, the latest Feng Xiaogang movie uploaded in 14 ten-minute parts to Youtube) is usually fine. Although we might query if something is easily available at a reasonable price.

 

[Beelzebro]

I just type the book name plus "txt" into google and click one of the first couple of links. Hasn't failed me yet. I assume the same works for pdf versions but I haven't tried. I like txt format so I can easily read it in pleco document reader or use chinese text analyser on it.

[Luxi]

2 hours ago, Xiao Kui said:

I am especially looking for 平凡的世界 and 家。

 

China seems to be flexible when it is older books like those, especially if they are in the schools' reading curriculum as those are. If you don't mind reading on-line (usually chapter by chapter, which you could of course print to pdf), here is a site for 平凡的世界. 

http://www.pingfandeshijie.net/

 

[Dawei3]

9 hours ago, Xiao Kui said:

links that may be unsafe

I can't recommend any links, but as Fabio noted, you are correct to be careful.  It's amazing the way cyber criminals can use seemingly safe ways to get into your computer.  Just last week, a cyber security webinar by KnowBe4 showed how just clicking a link can give hackers a path to hack into your system.  

 

 

 

[imron]

10 hours ago, Beelzebro said:

I just type the book name plus "txt" into google and click one of the first couple of links

This is what I do too.  I don't search for pdfs because in my experience you are more likely to find .txt files than you are to find pdfs.

 

12 hours ago, Xiao Kui said:

In the past a lot of links to sites that had books available for free download were available on these forums. I am especially looking for 平凡的世界 and 家。

This site has been pretty reliable for me recently, and it has both the books you mention.

 

[Xiao Kui]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Yes, maybe I need to look for txt files as well. I often read in iBooks so I thought pdf was better for that.   

[DavyJonesLocker]

Why not just use some of the well known APPS like 百度阅读 ， 咪咕阅读. 华为 Kindle etc 

I suppose you need a form of RMB payment though and perhaps only works well inside China. Not sure.

 

Why are you specifically looking for PDF? 

 

[Shelley]

You could try Project Gutenberg, depending on what you are looking for. Everything is copyright free and consequently usually old but there are some gems in that group. Lots of old sci fi which can be fun too. Available in different languages including Chinese. If you know what you are looking for it is worth a search, not always fruitful but worth a try. Also good for a general browse and coming across something you didn't know existed, or rediscovering an old favorite. 

 

This was the result of a one word search, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=chinese

 

P.S. Please note there 356 entries and 13 pages in my link so don't be fooled that there is only one page.

 

P.P.S  There is a good choice of formats too, if you choose one for an example you will see all the formats for example .txt , ePub, kindle and more.

Happy browsing.

[billionaire philanthropist]

https://www.marxists.org/chinese/

 

the website above has an abundance of texts, essays, books, even some fiction (including the complete works of lu xun) often in both web/html and pdf forms

 

all of an obvious ideological bent obviously, but it can be an interesting way to practice your reading skills while also learning a little something about how the chinese communists of the 20th century saw the world

 

the author Xue Yiwei once said that students of mandarin can determine whether or not they've reached an early intermediate level by seeing if they can comfortably read Mao Zedong's short essay "In Memory of Norman Bethune" - which can be tested out here

[Xiao Kui]

Thanks for all  the additional resources and recommendations.

Quote

Why are you specifically looking for PDF? 

I like to access them in iBooks.  I just want to read 家, but I am actually practicing literary translation with 平凡的世界 ， just as a hobby. I work on it paragraph by paragraph, so it is no big deal to copy and paste a paragraph at a time into a word doc. I have been learning casually yet consistently for 21 years now, so can already read comfortably at this level, don't have any issues with reading 20th century Chinese literature.  (if anyone knows of an existing English translation for Ordinary World I can look at for comparison, please do let me know.I did an online search recently but didn't find anything, but maybe i need to start another topic for that... )

[mungouk]

4 hours ago, Xiao Kui said:

I like to access them in iBooks.

 

If you happen to be using an iPad, I can recommend getting a copy of GoodReader.

 

It's much faster at rendering very large PDFs than anything else I've used, plus it seems to be the only iPad APP these days that will display pages 2-up, which for books like LonelyPlanet is great. 

 

 

[Xiao Kui]

20 hours ago, mungouk said:

If you happen to be using an iPad, I can recommend getting a copy of GoodReader.

 

Ha - i think i actually got the paid version of GR years ago and deleted it cause I was using other apps such as PDF Annotator, and now PDF Expert more.  Maybe I'll give it another whirl - thanks!

[murrayjames]

@Xiao Kui, some of the websites I use to find Chinese literature are:

 

http://www.kanunu8.com
http://www.xiabook.com
http://www.99lib.net
http://www.ixdzs.com

 

I prefer to read on paper and like supporting good art. So I buy physical books, too. Usually I first download a text, then copy and paste it into @imron’s excellent Chinese Text Analyser. If the language is not too difficult, I buy the book.