By Helen Wang, March 18, '12
A recent posting on Paper Republic on recycled book covers prompted me to take a look at Chinese cover design (I’m a bit bored with the Shanghai beauties approach). I found a few, but I suspect I have missed something essential – any recommendations?
The phenomenal success of He Ma’s The Tibet Code (《葬地密码》, 何马著)—reportedly over 3m volumes sold—has spawned a host of thrillers and mysteries driven by a similar fascination with Tibetan history, religion and relics. The popular 3-volume Tibetan Mastiff (藏獒) by Yang Zhijun (杨治军), now an animated film co-produced by a Sino-Japanese partnership, is just one example.
But Tibet is certainly not the only area of the People’s Republic rich in non-Han culture and history with strong potential for such fiction. Curse of Kanas Lake (喀纳斯湖咒), published in January this year, highlights legends of the Tuvan people surrounding this beautiful lake (now a preserve) which is located in Altay Prefecture where Xinjiang borders on Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia.
By Helen Wang, March 17, '12
From Ethnic China Lit
By Helen Wang, March 17, '12
The February 2012 issue of Shanghai Literature features the following authors:
By Helen Wang, March 17, '12
While searching for podcasts and recordings of authors reading their own works I came across several sites on storytelling in China. Here are two that I liked: notes on storytelling (1998) by Richard Van Ness Simmons and shuoshu.org which focuses on traditional storytelling and storytellers in Yangzhou.
By Helen Wang, March 17, '12
The Scramble for China: Foreign Devils in the Qing Empire, 1832-1914 by Robert Bickers
as reviewed this week by P.D. Smith in The Guardian
as discussed (in an interview with the author) by Jeffrey Wasserstrom in The China Beat
and as reviewed by Chris Patten in The Financial Times
Robert Bickers' books are always really well researched and a pleasure to read ... as are the websites he develops - Visualising China is a stunning collection of photographs of China, 1850-1950.
By the way, I know that this is not fiction, but he's such a good writer and he knows his stuff. And the historical photos are a brilliant resource for translators - for example, if you ever need to know what Bubbling Well Road looked like in 1919 you can find it on the website and on the blog.
By Helen Wang, March 16, '12
From Goodreads.com, a website where people recommend books they have enjoyed. I'm not sure that they all take place in China though...
Novels That Take Place in China (Must be a novel (fiction) and must take place in China. No restriction on time period.)
By Helen Wang, March 16, '12
From Goodreads.com, a website where people recommend books they have enjoyed.
The Best Books by Mainland Chinese authors, including those currently living abroad
By Helen Wang, March 16, '12
From Goodreads.com, a website where people recommend books they have enjoyed.
Korean novelist Shin Kyung-Sook (申京淑) wins the prize for her novel, "Please Look After Mom," which had been the first work by a South Korean novelist to make the Man Asia shortlist. She will receive $30,000 in prize money, while her translator, Kim Chi-Young, will receive $5,000.
The state-subsidized Program for Overseas Promotion of Chinese Books (中国图书对外推广计划) has announced its list of leading copyright “exporters” for 2011. . .
By Helen Wang, March 15, '12
Here they are, as recommended by amazon.com…
By Helen Wang, March 15, '12
Paul Mason is not the only senior person at the BBC who is writing fiction. Jill McGivering, senior foreign news correspondent, has been writing novels too: The Last Kestrel and Far From My Father's House.
In her review of Mason's Rare Earth Julia Lovell writes 'Reading the passages rich in masochistic sex, you easily imagine Mason joyfully kicking free of BBC fact-checkers...'
This reminded me of something I'd seen somewhere else...
