What Are You Reading??

totally excellent first post jimbo but I personally didn't like Magic seeds even though I am keen on Naipaul.Not acquainted with the others,though-please update on those 

Sorry,that should be "bibliophiles".Hi there,the Yuyin Li is a set of short stories about contemporary issues (divorce,care of the elderly,spinsterhood etc)in today's PRC.(Not a mention of HIV surprise,surprise)Well worth a read.The Jules Verne is a good clean arctic adventure.Loads of references to actual discoveries & if you're technically minded there's all the early scientific blurb he does so well.The Naipaul is not in the same mould as his usual stuff.Defo the odd one in the set. I recommend Erica Jong's 1980 "The adventures of Fanny Hackabout Jones" for the most euphemisms for the "jade gate" & other body parts!Cheers ,Jim

Working through Will the Boat Sink the Water? The Life of China's Peasants is one of the most difficult reading experiences I've had. With the possible exception of a few works about suicide and the holocaust, this book has had the largest emotional impact of any work I've read.

The book, which is banned, was written by two Chinese journalists, who have been forced to live in hiding, about mistreatment of peasants by village- and town-level Party officers.

"Mistreatment" is the wrong word to use, really, since in most of the cases the peasants are extorted, abused, beaten, and murdered by local officials, who then go uninvestigated and unpunished...unless the case somehow becomes publicized and garners enough public outrage that Beijing is forced to act.

What makes this book so difficult to read is that every nasty, petty, irritating thing about Chinese society is magnified and personified in the thugs who have wound up as local authorities.

The rural life depicted in this book is basically feudal. It is horrible to read, but vital. It gives context, for example, to recent reports about a certain blind activist who is under house arrest enforced by a band of 100 thugs hired by local authorities to keep everyone out. Stories like that sound too fantastic to be true, even to Chinese who are skeptical about conditions here; after reading this book, I believe them.

Highly recommended. Essential China reading. The most difficult thing I've read.

Yeah I read that one a few years back before coming to China. It is a difficult read but one that is worthwhile.
There is a retired minister that publicly told everyone at the tsinghua anniversary celebration last year that said this book should be required reading for every Chinese citizen. That was pretty kick ass.

I..hmm...I seem to have fallen victim to the infernal machinations of my inner child...I started reading "A Series of Unfortunate Events"...and now I can't stop...

I..hmm...I seem to have fallen victim to the infernal machinations of my inner child...I started reading "A Series of Unfortunate Events"...and now I can't stop...

Cause their awesome, that's why you can't stop!

Although now that I think about it, those books are tailor made for you ETR. Snarky, random literary/historical references, and cheesy action. Right up your alley!

As for me I just finished The Diary of Mattie Spenser, historical fiction about a woman moving out on a wagon to the uncharted terrain of Colorado, and all the adventures and trials of living during that time period. It was pretty good.

It's getting worse...I have been assaulted by the collected works of E.Nesbit, F.Anstey and James Branch Cabell... ...my inner child is soooooo mean....

I read this short story/novella this morning. Recommended.

The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window by Rachel Swirsky

You can read it here : http://is.gd/qC00V3

I just purchased the entire Castle Perilous series from Amazon (may the chap who invented the Kindle be forever blessed with all kinds of good things)...John DeChancie is, as far as I have read, one of the pioneers of comic fantasy.

For those of you who are looking forward to a dreary, explosion-filled Spring Festival, may I recommend you start reading the Louis Knight series by Malcolm Pryce. Noir meets alternate history, set in Wales...it sounds odd but they will have you giggling inapproriately loud in Starbucks.

For those of you Saloonies who, like me, at times feel the need to indulge the inner child, I can wholeheartedly recommend the "Artemis Fowl" series by Eoin Colfer. A criminal teenage genius discovers the hidden underground world of the fairies and hilarity ensues.

If you are already familiar with these authors, a recent one I came across is the young Texan writer, A. Lee Martinez. So far I have only read "Chasing the Moon", "In the Company of Ogres" and his debut novel "Gil's All-Fright Diner" all of which were awesome.

Just finished "World War Z"....I know, I know, where have I been?
Cracking read, couldn't put it down!
Glad I read it before the film came out.

 

I like Jack London short stories and novels.
I also like science fiction short stories.
Does that count?

Is there anything similar out there?

 

Happy Bang Bang season, ETR. Yes to Louis Knight and No to Artemis Fowl (foul sidc)

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

There's a clear enough line of development between here and now and the scenario of the story that you could call the book a work of speculative fiction. But it's gone pretty far out along the line of development that you could say it's scifi too. It was however important to the book (and the author) that the story maintain its roots in "reality", and it does, despite how outlandish that reality becomes. Either way, the book's really a story about several people and I was willing to read it all the way to the end because those people where interesting. (As is the central question, not really a mystery, of what is going on around these people.) Right at the very end the book feels unfinished, but that does only appear at the end--for the rest of the story the narrative is complete and compelling. Lovely writing too.

 

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (it's pretty damn good).

Yeah Oryx and Crake was brilliante all right.