Some books worthy of attention
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-29 09:27
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Books drawing attention from both critics and the lay public this year can be broadly put into the following categories:
Tibet
Besides Alai's novel King Gesar (格薩爾王), three other books helped readers better understand Tibet's past and present.
One Year in Tibet (西藏一年) comes from a one-year documentary project in Gyangze, the third-largest town in the Tibet autonomous region. Chinese writer and independent producer, Sun Shuyun, who is now based in London, followed eight ordinary Tibetans and captured some of the most important and moving moments in their lives. When the documentary was aired in BBC last March, it drew the whole world's attention. (see China Daily story on Sept 23)
A Reader on Tibet (西藏讀本), by veteran writer Su Shuyang, is a small but interesting book on Tibet's history and culture. Su's work is acclaimed as a standout by literary critics and Tibetology researchers. The 71-year-old writer looks at Tibet from a global perspective, brings history alive with eloquent language and criticizes powerfully distorted views on Tibet with evidence and analysis. (China Daily story on March 9)
From Wind to Classics: 15 Tales on Tibet's Culture and History ( 風化成典-西藏文史故事十五講 ) is the latest offering by writer Ma Lihua, who lived and worked in Tibet for 27 years. She chooses 15 striking figures and events in Tibet's long history. "The book has surpassed all pre-formed views and touches the throbbing pulse of the Tibetan culture," says literary critic Li Jinze.
Rural China
Stories of Xiaogang Village (小崗村的故事) is another in-depth report on rural China, by Chen Guidi and Chun Tao, who wrote the best-seller Investigations of Chinese Farmers (中國農民調查) six years ago. Xiaogang, a village in East China's Anhui province, is named "No 1 Village in China's Reform" after 18 farmers secretly signed a contract on Nov 24, 1978 to distribute the lands, thus drawing open the curtain of reform in rural China.
Thirty years later, the authors discover many social and economic issues hidden under the surface of affluence.
Liu Zhenyun's new novel, A Sentence is Worth Thousands of Words (一句頂一萬句) has been hailed by critics for a return to the core of contemporary Chinese literature.
After the huge success of the film adaptations of his novels - Cell Phone (手機) and Lost and Found (我叫劉躍進) - Liu again shows that his talents extend beyond the big screen to literary exceptionalness.
The novel tells the story of two quests by a lonely protagonist in search of someone to talk to. These journeys lead him through rural Henan province's Yanjin county.
Literary critic Bai Ye calls the work "an encyclopedia of the Chinese language".
Great Plain (大平原) is an autobiographic novel by Gao Jianqun, part of a group of writers from Northwest China's Shaanxi province. The novel impresses with its unique sense of history and culture, and a deep respect for farmers who strive to live with dignity in times of famine and disasters.
Social issues
The Ant Tribe (蟻族) by Lian Si is an investigative report on the lives of a growing group of disadvantaged young adults gathering around the fringes of China's bigger cities. The characters in the book are university graduates with unsustainable incomes and so-called "Beijing dreams" that make them reluctant to leave the capital, despite poor living conditions and vague futures.
These residents, mostly born in the 1980s, were the prides of their families. They're referred to as ants because they're "intelligent and gregarious, weak in power but strong in spirit". As a precise sociological survey, the book creates panoramic sketches of the ant tribe's stories and stirs up broad public concern about this group, believed to be 1 million strong nationwide.
Science
Heritage and Betrayal: A Treatise on the Emergence of Modern Science in Western Civilization (繼承與叛逆:現代科學為何出現于西方) by Chen Fong Ching is an excellent analysis of the history of Western science, that tries to answer the old question: Why didn't China develop a sound modern science system, as in the West? The author is a prominent professor based in Hong Kong.