Reading for China trip

[rachelmanija]

oyceter and I are going to Taipei, Xian, and Hong Kong this December! I'm so excited! It will be my first visit to Hong Kong and also to mainland China!

I need three sets of book recs. NO HARDCOVERS, and please check my tags to be sure I haven't already read it.

1. Just anything you think I would enjoy. I am especially looking for fun (ie, not about the Holocaust) fiction with Jewish, LGBT, and/or people of color as protagonists.

2. Does anyone have a recommendation for readable histories of China? Preferably by Chinese authors. I am starting from a position of near-total ignorance. Each book does not have to cover everything.

3. Sooooo, my last long plane trip I read a horrendous yet vastly entertaining awesomely bad book, Daughter of the Blood, which gave rise to the tag you see below. I think this is an excellent tradition which I ought to continue. Please rec horrendous yet entertaining novels which you would enjoy seeing me react to. I am thinking of Flowers in the Attic. That's about incestuous vampire twins locked in an attic, right?

Comments

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

1. Dragon in Chains by Daniel Fox. It's a fantasy set in a cod-China in which the emperor must flee to cod-Taiwan. I've heard good things.

2. I know you said preferably by a Chinese author, but I'm reccing anything by Jonathan D. Spence anyway, particularly The Search for Modern China because it is both standard and awesome.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have to ditto Spence in general.

[sleary.livejournal.com]

I believe the Flowers kids were just incestuous siblings, but neither twins nor vampires. However, I was twelve when I read them, so, y'know... I've slept since then.

[loligo.livejournal.com]

Alas, there are no vampires in Flowers In The Attic, but you should read it anyway, just so you can appreciate its historical importance influence on fandom.

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

Also there are other follow up books (Petals on the Wind, some other ones?) that might be good. Uh, just for background purposes, not to actually enjoy or anything.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I think you should read Teachers of the inner chambers : women and culture in seventeenth-century China by Dorothy Ko. Or, indeed, anything by her. I've read one of her books on footbinding, which does not exoticize or fetishize the practice, and have had her highly recommended to me as a social historian of China.

Note: I have not read the above-named book, although it's in the library here and I fully intend to One Of These Days, but it strikes me as something that by all rights ought to be fascinating.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Yay, Stanford University Press! And yeah, that's a good book.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Jung Chang's Wild Swans is a memoir, but it helped me get a grip on the conflicting narratives of twentieth-century revolutionary China and why I'd heard such different stories about who were the Good Guys from my mom (who was alive during WWII), my Chinese teacher from Shanghai, my waishengren (Chinese-born Taiwanese) Chinese history teacher from Taipei, and my Taiwanese-Taiwanese friends. I mean, before college, obviously.

I'm afraid relatively few of the books I read as a history major focusing on China or in my MA program in East Asian studies were by Chinese authors, so most of my favorite books aren't, such as History in Three Keys by Paul Cohen (a fascinating book about the Boxer Rebellion and about the creation of "history").

If you can get it through a library, there's the Handbook of Chinese Popular Culture, ed. Wu Dingbo and Patrick D. Murphy. Of course it's awfully dated when it discusses twentieth century stuff, but it basically connects the threads of history and tradition with more recent times (including fun bits on wuxia and science fiction).

Most of the books I have are really specific and run toward things like anthologies of women's poetry and stuff like that, or cottage industry in southern China during some specific time period, so not too useful. :p

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

This is not a rec, merely noting that I've been reading the Magic Cock Ring series myself this past week...

OH GOD THE CRACK.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Not by a Chinese author, but I do recommend Volume II of Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe, which has the bits on China-- not only because I think it's pretty good, but because it has a very long, thoroughly annotated bibliography.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER is a classic, and very long. Can't remember if you've read it or not. The early parts remind me of Mary Stewart, and then there is time travel. There is a nice gay character and also an Eval one.

Carol Berg writes very meaty fantasies with lots of Terrible Horrible Angst. SONG OF THE BEAST is the only standalone, but it amps up the angst to make up for it.

[(Anonymous)]

Socialism is Great!
Lijia Zhang

To Change China: Western Advisors in China
Jonathan Spence

Spymaster : Dai Li and the Chinese Secret Service
Frederic Wakeman Jr.

An Artistic Exile: A Life of Feng Zikai (1898-1975)
In the Red: On Contemporary Chinese Culture
Geremie Barmé

almost anything by Wang Gungwu

The Talented Women of the Zhang Family
Susan Mann

Art in China (Oxford History of Art)
Craig Clunas

Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China
Leslie Chang

[oyceter]

I forget if you already read that book I mailed you by Jen Lin-Liu going around China and fooding. That one is fun.

Not by Chinese author, but I have a book on Taiwan bridal photography that was compulsively readable for me, but that might just be because it was v. weird and interesting seeing Taiwan through anthropological lenses. I kind of disagree with her about some things, but laughed at others.

Sigh. All my China history readings are from undergrad, when I was not specifically looking for Chinese authors. Jonathan Spence's God's Chinese Son was a v. entertaining read about the Taiping Rebellion.

I totally vote for Flowers in the Attic OMG! Especially if you read it while I am there as opposed to on the airplane.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Already read (and enjoyed) the food book. I have God's Chinese Son (from you!) on my to-read stack, but I think I'll read it before going since it's a hardcover and you've already read.

Definitely bring the Ko book since we both want to read it. I'd enjoy the bridal book, though don't feel obliged to bring if it's a heavy hardcover.

OK, I'll nab Flowers and read while I'm there (you're right, that will be more fun) but that means I need another nomination for plane reading!

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

The House of Night book! Unless you have already read it. (Did it arrive, by the way?)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Yes, thank you... I'll probably read it earlier, though.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Flowers in the Attic is pretty awesomely bad. The sequels are even more crackalicious and bad, complete with lots of sex and incest and dramatic reveals! and evil grandmothers! and beds shaped like swans and people who become ballet prima donnas by dancing alone in attics. (No vampires, though.)

I honestly can't think of anything that could top V.C. Andrews.

I am eagerly awaiting seeing posts about your trip!

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

Oh god I forgot about the ballet thing and I REALLY forgot about the swan bed. Right, he probably could figure out how to be a doctor from their bizarre home schooling, but the ballerina thing pushed even my 12-year-old's suspension of disbelief a little too far.

Well from what Sherwood wrote you already have one cracktastic Hong Kong book in your possession

[estara.livejournal.com]

Since she mailed me that you've borrowed the first of Kylie Chan's Chinese mythology/fantasy/contemporary/romance/Hong Kong movie-inspired series, which I love for the crack it contains (even though the protagonist is an Australian Mary Sue and they have a badass/black/gay/male/best friend of heroine/bodyguard of hero and his daughter/martial arts marvel).

I mean the hero is a power of nature/god of martial arts/turtledragon! What more could you want. And I hear they're rereleasing it [at least Red Phoenix has a release date already: Angry Robot (April 1, 2010)] so no longer will you have to import from Australia if you want to read the first three books.

White Tiger (Dark Heavens Trilogy) (http://www.amazon.com/White-Tiger-Dark-Heavens-Trilogy/dp/0732282969/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256597237&sr=8-1)

She's already delivered the fourth one to the publishers (and was talking about having three trilogies about this story).

Addendum: I'm trying to go for cracktastic in the sense of meganbmoore's Kaori Yuki reviews.

Caveat: I only know a few Asian people personally and have no idea how they view the book (I'd love to hear your impressions of it, even if you're horrified). I thought she made her love for Hong Kong clear and the Asians came across as very cool.

Re: Well from what Sherwood wrote you already have one cracktastic Hong Kong book in your possession

[estara.livejournal.com]

Oh and in case you didn't know, she mailed me the info because I asked her how she liked it, seeing as I had sent her the book.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I strongly suggest anything you can find on China by Nicholas Kristof. He was the NYT bureau head in Beijing (I think) back in Tianamen days as well as since then, and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, is also an excellent writer. They have written together.

[snarp]

#3 - If you're up for Mercedes Lackey, you could read Born to Run, by her and Larry Dixon! It is about how good NASCAR driver elves stop bad porn-making elves from feeding runaway kids to monsters, for porn-related purposes. I'm leaving out several insane subplots here, so as not to ruin the surprise for anyone. It's not as pleasantly deranged as Anne Bishop - this whole series (there is a whole series about the NASCAR elves) is actually pretty grim - but it has a certain insane splendor of its own.

(This is not the NASCAR elf book that has the Rape Dimension - that one's When the Bough Breaks, which is also insane, but not in quite as high a concentration.)

[estara.livejournal.com]

I love the human mage taught by a dragon with his Kitsune fox girldfriend. Tamsin? Was that the name?

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

I second the recommendation for Leslie Chang's Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, which I read this month and haven't gotten around to writing up yet: good, well-written, compassionate sociology/social history.

[sophia-helix.livejournal.com]

1. Jews With Swords Gentlemen of the Road was a fun, swashbuckling read by Michael Chabon (the crossed-out title is literally what he was going to call the book until he was talked out it). I'm not totally certain it's in paperback but it's a very small hardcover, sized like that new YA lit style. Also, I read The Dragon's Village by Yuan-tsung Chen in a college history class, and while it's not the most relaxing vacation read it's a really interesting autobiographical novel about a young Shanghai woman's experience as a cadre in a rural village in the 1940s.

3. ...you know, I read Flowers in the Attic earlier this year and it wasn't awesomely bad so much as just bad. I think most of the people who categorize it that way read it when they were young enough to enjoy it, and then revisited it years later. It was mostly kind of repetitive and depressing and not very sexy.

[darius.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed Gentlemen of the Road too.

[dhobikikutti]

I am very jealous of you and Oyce. Also, if you stumble across any decent Chinese critiques of Pearl S. Buck's Good Earth books, do let me know. ::bookmarks page for book recs::

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't recognize one if I read it... are the Buck books What These People Need Is A Honky, The Tragedy of Being Biracial, or what?

PS. We will make you EVEN MORE jealous by photographing all our food!

[cofax7]

I recommend Yxta Maya Murray's novels, which are fun, bibliophilic, and have Latina protagonists. Good stuff, although I preferred The Conquest to The Queen Jade and The King's Gold.

I thought Hong Kong was totally cool and some day I would like to go back.

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

I have no recs but THAT SOUNDS LIKE SUCH AN AWESOME TRIP.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

There will be photographic food porn!

[bravecows.livejournal.com]

Hong Kong *_*

I really enjoyed Lin Yutang's The Importance of Living when I read it a few years ago -- I often bounce off books that have been translated from other languages into English (my failing, not theirs) so I am always glad to find Chinese authors writing in English. It's a massive book so it'd be a bother to cart around, but I found it great for holiday reading -- it's non-fiction, just sort of general essays on anything and everything, so good for putting down and picking up whenever. Check out the excerpt on the Amazon page and see if you like his style. I should warn you that he's incredibly face-palmy on women -- there's one chapter on all how women need to have babies or they will be STUNTED for LIFE -- and it was published in 1937, so there might be race-related dodginess especially on the Japanese, but apart from that I found him a very pleasant holiday companion.

There's also Chiang Yee, Chinese dude writing in English at around the same period (I think he and Lin Yutang actually knew each other). Chiang Yee's most well-known for his Silent Traveller books, a series of travelogues which are, again, leisurely essays in a similar style to Lin's, with accompanying poems and art. Chiang Yee is less face-palmy on women, from the two books I've read -- in one he explicitly says he supports women's rights. He is also kind of snarky about the Japanese, but to be fair they were invading his hometown at the time.

[dhobikikutti]

He is also kind of snarky about the Japanese, but to be fair they were invading his hometown at the time.

::snickers:: That does tend to make a difference, does it not?

[madam-silvertip.livejournal.com]

The only awesomely awful book I keep thinking of in this context (name an awesomely awful book) is perhaps not quite awful enough in execution, as opposed to concept, to be funny, rather than disturbing--disturbing like some hentai. It's "The Jade Unicorn" by Jay Halperin.

Owes something to "Equus," but much more hentai. (Yes that's right.) Has something of the quality of the leprechaun book etc. in that one thinks, in reading, "This doesn't really exist, does it? But here I am reading it." But it's sufficiently grim and disturbing that one wonders if there are things about it that work, and if that's a good thing.

[(Anonymous)]

Er, anything by Elizabeth A Lynn? She has a fairly colourful race/sexuality palette, but they tend to average out at brown and bi, and she does interesting settings, likeable characters, and non-generic fantasy/sf plots.

Sam Delany: Nova is a great place to start, ethnicities range from gypsy (pov character), half-Senegali (hero), through middle-class educated (whatever Katin was) to un-stated-from-exotic-places. Nobody gets laid. Tales of Neveryon are perhaps a bit heavy-going for travel, but certainly interesting: in far off savage times, civilisation is breaking out like measles; there are several games of time and pain; and meanwhile there are inserts from the writer's journal, detailing how he's planning on writing a scene, or his experiences in the San Francisco LGBT when the AIDS epidemic was first noticed... People do get laid, and three-legged vs four-legged pots is a serious issue. I'm not kidding.

[madam-silvertip.livejournal.com]

I tend to think Rachel would like Elizabeth A. Lynn. She has a lot about martial arts. She wrote in the early 1980s and may be dated on that and other scores, but usually people who like Vonda McIntyre's early works, for instance, like Lynn a lot.

[madam-silvertip.livejournal.com]

In terms of genuinely enjoyable books, I haven't read this but I have heard good things about a book whose name I am, frustratingly, blanking on. It's a memoir (or a novel-memoir?) about a young woman, maybe a teenager, of mixed Jewish and African-American descent, growing up in New York City, and the title, if I'm right, is something that is funny (or was seen as funny) in context like "New York Jewish Girl" or the like. I have gone totally blank on the title. Maybe someone else knows what this is. I think the author was once quite well known and her first name may have been Fran, or something like Fran.

This was it!

[madam-silvertip.livejournal.com]

http://www.amazon.com/Oreo-Northeastern-Library-Black-Literature/dp/1555534643/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256753398&sr=8-1

"Oreo," by Fran Ross.

The title already tells you it's old (from the 1970s) and may well be dated at best, but it comes with some very good recommendations.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

One writer I enjoy and have been thinking about rereading is Richard Zimler. Recurring themes in his books are gay men, Jewish culture, particularly Sephardic Jewish, and Portuguese history, in varying combinations. He is, in fact, a gay Jewish man living in Portugal. His books have been critically acclaimed, and dammit, they deserve to be. At least three (four?) of them are part of a family saga, although all of them stand independently.

I've read The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon (Jewish characters, some background GLBT), Hunting Midnight (white protagonist, important African and African-American characters), and Guardian of the Dawn (Jewish characters, Goa, a touch of GLBT). All are part of the same family saga. I've also read The Angelic Darkness (strongly GLBT) which is a stand-alone. All are excellent, though be careful of reading some of them if depressed. Guardian of the Dawn had me reaching for the razorblades, though all of the others I found ultimately quite uplifting in different ways.

His other books, which I have not read and am going by the synopses on his website are: Unholy Ghosts (Jewish, GLBT AND Portuguese!); The Search for Sana (Jewish, Palestinian), which I believe is related to the family saga; and The Seventh Gate (Jewish, Portugal?) which is probably also part of the family saga. According to his website, he has another book out, though I don't know if it's available in English. It's listed as Os Anagramas de Varsóvia, literally "The Anagrams of Warsaw", and I'd hazard a wild guess that it involves Jewish culture.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

I rechecked and The Seventh Gate is indeed part of the Zarco family novels.