Books about China

[awch]

Hi everyone:

I am a huge reader and I've read quite a lot of books about China. I've found many of them to be extremely worthwhile in helping me to understand a lot about Chinese culture and the recent past (post 1949).

I'm gonna put a list below here of a few, anyone else who has read something good please post it! I'm asking my dad to send me some books for Xmas.

 

1. Wild Swans- Jung Chang (This book is a must!!)

2. Red China Blues- Jan Wong

3. Riding the Iron Rooster- Paul Theroux (this book is hilarious and wonderful)

4. China Wakes- WuDunn and Christophe

5. Tears of Blood- A Cry for Tibet- Mary Craig

6. China Pop- Jian Ying Zha

[beijingjenny]

Thanks Amber, will check out those I haven't read whenever I run across them...

 

It's not well known but this girl on a plane gave me a book called "Cloud Mountain" by Aimee E. Liu. It's just fictional as far as I know, but recounts the story of an American woman who married a Chinese man in Calif and moved to Shanghai (this kind of marriage was definitely NOT that kosher in those days!) and got caught up in the Chinese revolution with Sun Yat-sen. I found it interesting.

 

I also have one called "Moment in Peking" I haven't quite finished since it's actually much longer than a moment...

 

For non-fiction, "Hungry Ghosts" on the Great Leap Forward is incredibly eye-opening and sad.

[Martytb]

I read "Riding The Iron Rooster" about 6 months ago. Very good read and some pretty funny stuff.

Add "Ancestors, 900 Years In A Chinese Family" By Frank Chin. He traces his family back to a poet in the Qin dynasty.

[sylinchinastill]

Anchee Min- all three of hers are great. Li Young Lee is great for poetry (he is a Chinese- American)- Ha Jin's "The Waiting," and others.

China Doll is great- that just came out in paperback in the US- about a Beijing girl who drops out of high school and has sex all the time. Pretty interesting- Shanghai Baby- I hate the tone of the writer but it is interesting in the same way as China Doll.

[mari]

You guys are awesome, thanks for all the good info.

[tywy_99]

"Hong Lou Meng"-'Dream of the Red Chamber' is the most fascinating novel I have ever read. It is quite arguably China's most famous novel. It was written in the 18th century by Cao Xueqin who's own real life story is just as fascinating.

 

It is a story about two powerful houses during the Qing dynasty; their rise and their fall, but really it is a story about love and a great debt that was paid for this love. The love between the flower and the stone.

 

As many as five volumes and over 3,000 pages, it covers every facet of Chinese culture and society of the time including marriage, religion, education and relationships. Although some of the appeal and beauty may be lost through translation, it is nevertheless a great and compelling tale.

[turtle]

Hmm, in the past, when visiting China, I always had tons of free time (my fiancee almost always had to work while I was there). So anyway, I got in the habit of reading chinese classics. I've now nearly completed the "Big 4" giants of classical chinese lit: Dream of Red Mansions, 3 Kingdoms, Journey to the West, and Outlaws on the Marsh. Of the four, I really love 3 Kingdoms. There's so much history there, and so many everyday chinese sayings and expressions come out of that book-- it's very useful. Also made visiting Chengdu a much more interesting experience. Red Mansions is great, but sort of the literary equivalent of a "chick-flick". Journey to the West was funny, although I could see someone getting a bit bored with it after a while. So far Outlaws is pretty good, although I'm only about halfway through it. The cool thing is that all of these books have had TV series done, and the DVDs are available. 3 Kingdoms is like 80 episodes or something. I hope to get all of them, to help with learning chinese.

[tonymasiello]

Cool thread... I'm looking forward to checking out some of the suggestions here...

 

1. Wild Swans- Jung Chang (This book is a must!!)

Agreed, one of the most amazing books I've ever read! Does anyone know if Wild Swans was ever published in Mandarin?

2. Red China Blues- Jan Wong

I'm reading this now and I'm really enjoying it. Jan has a great style of writing. She takes a hard honest look at her youthful idealism, finds humor in many of her situations, and makes stark depictions of the misery that some of those around her had endured.

4. China Wakes- WuDunn and Christophe

I read this before I travelled to China. Intresting at times, a bit dry at others. The tag team authoring could be a bit confusing.

 

A couple of others I have read...

 

* - Come Watch The Sun Go Home - Chen Chen (similar to Wild Swans, and a very powerful true story)

 

* - Culture Shock! China - Sinclair and Po-Yee (I read this before my first trip. Accurate, from what I remember. Probably not too enlightening for someone who has already travelled to China)

 

* - Mao : A Life - Philip Short (A long tough read, but really worth the effort)

[pkroger]

The Good Women of China : Hidden Voices

Xinran Xue (2003)

 

The author worked for the state radio of China and hosted a call-in show for women to discuss the problems in their lives. Many of the stories are very sad and often tragic, but provide a glimpse into the lives or ordinary Chinese women in modern day China.

[oregonknl]

Three non-fiction selections:

 

"Stillwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45".. by the great historian Barbara Tuchman, (who herself was living in China as a young woman in the 1930's) --- traces much of the history just after the fall of Qing, and the power struggles and warlords leading up to WW2. Stilwell was in China for much of it, and became the American ground general for allied forces in China, and briefly, also commanded the Nationalist forces... Interesting look at the corrupt Nationalists, and their struggle with the Communists -- even ongoing while the Japanese occupied China..

 

"The Soong Dynasty" by Sterling Seagrave. Very complete look at the family that brought forth much that became modern China beginning with Patriarch Charlie Soong in America, (most probably don't know that North Carolina Industrialist Julian Carr: "Bull-Durham"tobacco products -- was a huge influence in the evolution of modern China) and then tracing the lives of his powerful daughters --- Ai-Ling, Ching-Ling and May-Ling.

Much about the Nationalists and the May-Ling/Chiang Kai-Shek relationship ---- and an unvarnished look at how, for most of the time, they were fronts for the brutal Green Gang in Shanghai..

 

"The New Emperors --- China in the Era of Mao and Deng" by Harrison Salisbury --- This is the best account I have read about the Communist movement in China that eventually defeated the Nationalists and rose to power. Published in the early 1990's Salisbury already had dismissed much about the communist label of Mao and Deng, and all the players of that era -- (thus the: Emperors")--- Salisbury knows the Soviet Union well --- and documents the fearful, extended power struggle between USSR and PRC --- something that we Americans never learned in school -- since we were taught both were part of the "Communist Block" Salisbury viewed the rise and fall of the players from a pure power, and practical point of view, extremely well documented, and a must read for the actual cost in specific lives (personal accounts) during the cultural revolution.

[awch]

1. Wild Swans- Jung Chang (This book is a must!!)

Agreed, one of the most amazing books I've ever read! Does anyone know if Wild Swans was ever published in Mandarin?

Sorry Tony, this book isn't and won't be translated into Chinese- it's banned in China... along with a lot of other books on this thread

[Chinese Wife!!!]

* - Culture Shock! China - Sinclair and Po-Yee (I read this before my first trip. Accurate, from what I remember. Probably not too enlightening for someone who has already travelled to China)

 

"Culture Shock! Shanghai at Your Door". Rebecca Weiner, Angie Eagan and Xu Jun.

 

A few tips about the uniqueness of the Shanghai experience, food, laungage differences and very brief travel/restaruant guide. VERY basic.

 

"The Sights of Beijing" by Zhu Qixin is GREAT for a travel and also as a HISTORY reference of the Beijing area. Although, in excess of 680 pages (and meant for tour guides) I still enjoy reading it as history tome. I will mention that there are some areas that the author's "Chinglish" is a little difficult or funny. The book was purchased here in Shanghai. Richard

[skibum]

"The Long March" covers the rise of Mao as well as the fighting and hardships they had to go thru on the March.

 

"The Tiananmen Papers" will open your eyes about the workings of the CCP and how they make decisions.

 

Any book by Pearl S. Buck but for sure read "The Good Earth" which is a classic.

 

I have read "The New Emperors" and since then I have considered the current govt to be the Communist Dynasty.

[Dan R]

I have read "The New Emperors" and since then I have considered the current govt to be the Communist Dynasty.

Whose current government?