What Are You Reading? (2011)

[Baas Babelaas]

Killing Kebble: An Underword Affair. Mandy Weiner.

The Saffas will know this bloke was, but there's a fair amount of politics and intrigue in the book. 5 nearly got beaten by one of the fellas in the book. Brett got his drive-by shooting delivered. Was clubbing those days, and it was hairy shit. Now I have a better understanding how nasty those dogs were..

[ThreadKiller]

Finished Rice by Su Tong (童忠贵) a few nights ago. It is the first novel translated from Chinese that I have read. A stupendously fast read.

Beautifully worded (and apparently the translator has a good reputation, himself), but delightfully horrid. How unhappy with life could one be to write something like this? It reminds me of Athol Fugard's journals and his lament (which was something along the lines of) "Where has my joy gone?"

Rice is about Five Dragons, an orphan running from the flooding that occurred in the 1930s. He's accepted into a family that runs a rice emporium - but only as a near slave. His rise from there is meteoric and the absolute lack of love between family members from then on is bleak. Fear, hatred, and crippling others - that's all this family knows and all this novel knows. I think I enjoyed it - nice to know that the horror is felt everywhere. The protagonist's/antagonist's only joy is rice and inserting it into women.

Su Tong wrote the novel that became Raise the Red Lantern. I'd recommend Rice if you want a nasty little expose of life. If you need things nicer, don't even touch the book. This is one I will remember as a stark and beautiful entry into Chinese literature.

[Whole Lotta Lotta]

I think after finishing my current reading agenda, I will start Terry Platchett's Discworld series. I have avoided it for long enough now.

[bismarck]

The protagonist's/antagonist's only joy is rice and inserting it into women.

There are better... Ah, never mind.

I think after finishing my current reading agenda, I will start Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I have avoided it for long enough now.

It's been one of my guilty pleasures for almost two decades now. I hope you enjoy the books as much as I did.

[eoflin]

Just finished Lev Grossman's "The Magicians". It's excellent, and I've not read a fantasy that gripped my attention all the way for a long while. I'm anticipating the release of the sequel here, no idea when taiwan will get it though.

Currently 250 pages into "A Game of Thrones" after catching a few episodes from the HBO series. While the tv series was really well done, I'm addicted to the book, and have decided to finish watching the series after I'm done with the book. So far book trumps show - anyone one else watching/reading this thinks so?

And, Cersei Lannister makes me SO MAD!!!

[Ecaps]

I just finished Formosan Odyssey: Taiwan Past and Present by John Ross. I can't believe I've been here a decade and never read this...

Wrote more about it on my blog (link below, if interested).

[ThreadKiller]

I just finished Formosan Odyssey: Taiwan Past and Present by John Ross. I can't believe I've been here a decade and never read this...

Wrote more about it on my blog (link below, if interested).

Aw ... c'mon: at least give us a hint about it here.

[Dougster]

nice write up, shame the book is out of print.

[Ecaps]

I just finished Formosan Odyssey: Taiwan Past and Present by John Ross. I can't believe I've been here a decade and never read this...

Wrote more about it on my blog (link below, if interested).

Aw ... c'mon: at least give us a hint about it here.

OK, fair enough...

"Along with beer, Ross seems to be a big fan of Taiwanese history and offers up some pretty interesting bits from yesteryear: George MacKay, the tooth-pulling Canadian missionary in Danshui, absolutely riveting stories of aboriginal head-hunters (there are pictures!) and harrowing tales of British POWs in Japanese-run work camps during the Second World War. For anyone remotely interested in Taiwanese history but uninterested in reading the typical, highly politicized books on the market, Formosan Odyssey is a really fun start."

[bismarck]

nice write up, shame the book is out of print.

It's a crying damned shame, is what it is! It's almost criminal!