Book 48: Peony in Love

I've read a couple of Lisa See's other books (Shanghai Girls, Dreams of Joy, On Gold Mountain) and enjoyed them, especially On Gold Mountain. I thought I'd try this one as well.

Some of the "ghost" elements of the story were a little too wacky for me and I really didn't relate at all to the narrator. But it gave me some historical perspective on the Ming and Qing dynasties. Surprise surprise, the Chinese had a movement of female writers and poets long before the West did.

Book 43: The Cooked Seed

A few years ago, I read Anchee Min's memoir of her early years in China, Red Azalea. This second volume recounts her experiences coming to the United States as a student and making her way as a writer.

If you have had cross-cultural experiences or you work with international students, you might find this interesting and relevant.

Book 83: Journeys on the Silk Road

I had read a book about the Silk Road earlier this year (China Road), so when I heard about this book, I wanted to read it.



This book focuses on Aurel Stein and the scrolls and other items he bought from the Mogao caves in Dunhuang, China. The most famous and remarkable of his finds was the Diamond Sutra, a woodblock print book printed in 868.

Stein himself was a remarkable person with a lot of admirable attributes; I can only hope to be as energetic as he was to the very end of his life. The question of whether China's treasures should have been removed from China and taken to England and India is complicated. The good news is that you can view the Diamond Sutra and many of the other scrolls online, and you'll get a better view that way than you would through a glass case in a museum: http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/sutra/sutra_broadband.htm?middle

Book 74: Life and Death are Wearing Me Out

Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature this year, and is the first Nobel Prize-winning author to live and write in China. (A previous Chinese winner is a dissident living in France.) I knew I had to read some of his work.



This was funny, eye-opening, and occasionally disturbing, and overall a great read. It was written in a magical or hallucinatory realism style, so it was often pretty entertaining, and very strange.

While Mo Yan is not a dissident, his work does express a lot of social criticism, and some of his writing has been banned in China.

Book 63: China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power

It was years ago--probably 2004--that I heard a little piece on NPR about the trip recounted in this book. Rob Gifford was China correspondent for NPR for six years, so he recorded some audio pieces during the time of his trip on route 312. The one I remember is from a Christian home church in which he was called upon to preach and lead the singing when the minister was unable to be there.

It is impossible to be neutral about China. Some foreigners hate it from the first moment they arrive, and some love it so much that they put down roots and never leave.

 I fall closer to the second category; I loved China so much and almost took a semi-permanent job in Shanghai, teaching English to software engineers who wore yellow lab coats. But instead, I came home and married a software engineer who wears goofy tee shirts. I think I made the right choice, but maybe my software engineer and I will go back to Shanghai for a little sabbatical.

I listened to this as an audio book, and the only regret I have is that it wasn't Rob Gifford himself reading it.

Book 45: The Secret Piano

This book is about a young musician who came of age during the Cultural Revolution.



I've read quite a few books about this time in Chinese history. Each person would have had a different experience during the Cultural Revolution, and this was an interesting one. It emphasized the feeling of having lost years and belonging to a lost generation.

The book piqued my interest in Bach's Goldberg Variations. I'm off to listen to her recording.

Book 35: Factory Girls

I stumbled upon this audio book on the library's website and I'm so glad I did. It was fantastic.



This was just fascinating. I was a bit confused at first when the author started weaving her own family's story in with those of the factory workers, but it really did add to the depth of the story. I became acquainted with a few shop girls in my time in China and they were migrant workers. These insights into their lives were enlightening and I wish I had known these things when I was there.

The voice talent for the audio book was great to listen to, except when it came to Chinese words. Once, she had to read a list of 20 Chinese words and I could hear the terror in her voice as she plowed through them. She could have used a little bit more coaching on her pronunciation.

Book 30: Dreams of Joy

This is the sequel to Shanghai Girls, which I read about a month ago. Shanghai Girls was good, but Dreams of Joy was riveting.



Both main characters (mother Pearl and daughter Joy) grabbed my attention. Joy was compelling because I couldn't understand how she could be so foolish, and then I remembered what I was like at 19 and 20 years old. I could understand Pearl's perspective as a mother trying desperately to keep her daughter from making more of what she perceived as terrible mistakes.

Some parts were quite distressing to read, but I could not stop reading.

Book 27: Shanghai Girls

I almost gave up on this one early on. The beginning is not to be read late at night by mothers of small children. Or maybe mothers of any size children. There should be a warning on the cover.



I'm glad I persisted. I loved the complexity of the sister relationship. There is no one like your sister to understand you, and yet no one like your sister to fight with! May says, "When our hair is white, we'll still have our sister love." Your daughters move away, your husband might be a poor match for you, but your sister will always "get it".

I also really enjoyed the way Lisa See makes you wonder about the truth of almost everything you've just read. Perspective is everything.

Now I'm anxious to read Dreams of Joy, the book which picks up where this one left off.

Book 24: Big in China

What dreams could you fulfill if you didn't have the everyday household and family stuff to do? If you had a small staff to do the cooking, shopping, cleaning, and a lot of the child care?



 This book answers that question for one man, a "trailing spouse" whose wife becomes the Beijing bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal. They move their three young children to Beijing for three and a half years and live the expat life. Alan has always done the bulk of the child care and "holding down the fort" in their family. Now, with a couple of household employees to handle much of that, he has time and energy to pursue his interest in forming a blues band.

The book was a bit heavy on descriptions of blues tunes and musicians for my taste (as in, I know nothing about the blues so it really went over my head), but I was able to imagine *just a bit* what my experience might be if we moved abroad. Hello Beijing?

A lot of Alan's descriptions of China and Beijing really felt true to me, especially this statement made by one of his friends: "Beijing encourages you to make mistakes in all the right ways." I made a lot of mistakes in Beijing, and learned from all of them.