January 29, 2007 at 1:33 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Favourite Books, Memoir, Non-fiction, World Literature
34. The Good Women of China by Xinran (memoir)
World Lit Challenge: China
During the relatively open period in the 1990s, Xinran was the presenter of a popular radio show, Words on the Night Breeze. When she became interested in learning more about the lives of her fellow Chinese women, her position as a journalist and her ability to gain the trust of these women allowed her to hear many stories about their lives. The book was published in England after she moved there in 1997.
Xinran had me hooked when she explained, in her prologue, that she had risked her life fighting off a mugger in London in order to preserve her manuscript because she wasn’t sure she would be willing or able to recreate it:
However, I wasn’t sure that I could put myself through the extremes of feeling provoked by writing the book again. Reliving the stories of the women I had met had been painful, and it had been harder still to order my memories and find language adequate to express them. In fighting for that bag, I was defending my feelings, and the feelings of Chinese women. The book was the result of so many things which, once lost, could never be found again. When you walk into your memories, you are opening a door to the past; the road within has many branches, and the route is different every time.
After reading the rest of the book, I understand where she’s coming from. The stories she recounts, from personal interviews with Chinese women, phone calls to the radio station, and letters from her listeners, are heart-wrenching. A large part of the appeal of this book is that she doesn’t forget that she too is a Chinese woman. Stories of her life growing up during the Cultural Revolution are woven into her narrative.
The stories in The Good Women of China cover many aspects of women’s lives in China, from marriage and children to rape and sexual abuse, from religion to mental illness, from love to suicide. Xinran’s writing is always engaging, and the stories are gripping even when they are tragic.
I read this for my personal World Lit Challenge, and it’s a perfect choice for any similar challenge.
Books read: 34/300
Pages read: 8,631/75,000
X-posted here.
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, World Lit Challenge, Xinran
January 21, 2007 at 10:40 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Canadian Literature, Children's Literature, Non-fiction
23. The Zucchini Warriors by Gordon Korman (Children’s Fiction, Humour)
Fifth book in Gordon Korman’s Bruno and Boots series. Definitely not my favourite. Korman’s early works were his best; his later books, although still very funny, began to lose some of the magic of the early ones. I still enjoyed re-reading this, though.
Anyone looking for funny kids’ books should try some of Korman’s stuff: Go Jump in the Pool!, Beware the Fish!, I Want to Go Home, and The Twinkie Squad are all good places to start. Don’t Care High and Son of Interflux are YA Fiction, but just as funny.
24. Curse of the Narrows by Laura M. Mac Donald (Non-fiction, History)
On Thursday, December 6, 1917, at 9:05 a.m., a ship carrying a load of high explosives caught fire and exploded in Halifax Harbour. Killing 2,000 people and injuring 9,000 others, it was the largest artificial explosion in the world until the first atomic bomb test explosion in 1945. Halifax was completely devastated.
Well-written and interesting, this is closer to a novel than most works of non-fiction; the book follows the lives of many specific individuals, from the night before the explosion through the aftermath and recovery.
Curse of the Narrows provided a very clear explanation of how the collision between the ships Mont Blanc and Imo came to occur, as well as a good overview of the different types of explosives and explosions, and an outline of the specific causes of the explosion of the Mont Blanc.
The book also introduces some interesting side-issues to the main disaster, like the complications caused by the blizzard that began the day after the explosion, the politics involved in the medical response to the crisis, and the prejudice displayed towards the poor, the less respectable, the Black Haligonians, and the nearby Mi’kmaq villagers in the aftermath.
A really interesting read for anyone interested in history, particularly disasters.
Books read: 24/50
Pages read: 5,879/15,000
I’ve been inspired by Curse of the Narrows; does anyone know of any really good non-fiction about urban disasters of the last couple of centuries, like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the 1871 Chicago fire, or the 1919 Boston molasses disaster? No recent disasters, please - reading about historical catastrophes is hard enough.
X-posted here.
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Gordon Korman, Laura M. Mac Donald
May 18, 2006 at 1:19 pm · Filed under Non-fiction
The weather’s been pretty miserable the past week or so; a few short periods of sunshine interrupted by ominous clouds, drizzling rain, thunderstorms, and even hail. Last night’s thunderstorm seems to have imbued the light in my roommate’s closet (a light bulb with a chain to pull it on and off) with static electricity. Touching the chain sends a tingling shock throughout one’s body. We must now wrap a hand in cloth to turn the light on and off. Hopefully this condition will not persist.
I’ve just finished reading ‘The Life and Death of Socrates’ (containing Euthyphro, the Apology, Crito, and the death scene from ‘Phaedo’) for a political theory course. For some reason, I expected Plato to be much more complicated and difficult to interpret than I found him to be. I don’t know if the excerpts I’ve read have just been from old or poor translations, or if his other writing is harder, but I guess I’ll find out - I’m starting the ‘Republic’ today.
Tags: Plato
January 8, 2006 at 7:02 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Non-fiction
The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis
The Return of Martin Guerre isn’t at all what I expected. Since I knew about the movie of the same title, I assumed that this was the book on which the movie was based. I was wrong.
Natalie Zemon Davis, who was the historical advisor for the film, decided to write a historical book about the events the film was based on after the filming was over. She did a lot of research in order to accurately present the true facts of the case. It’s quite an interesting story: Martin Guerre leaves his village, and returns many years later, to be recognized and welcomed by his friends and family, including his wife. Later, accusations are made to the effect that the returning man is not Martin Guerre, but another man, from another village in the same region of France. His friends and family are split on the question: is this man Martin Guerre, or not?
For a historical work, The Return of Martin Guerre flows well enough. It was written for the general public, so it’s fairly easy reading. Quite a bizarre and fascinating story, really.
