| |
|
Kowloon Tong: A Novel of Hong Kong 32 reviews
Paul Theroux
Mariner Books, 1998
One of Several Essential Books on Hong Kong for Visitors
+ Finely Written Novel of the Ambivalencies of Hong Kong
This Hong Kong classic is both a great read and a great help for Westerners planning to live in, or visit Hong Kong. I first read it when I lived there in the late 90's, even began reading it on the Star Ferry when it came out in early 1997. Bunt is an old "Hong Kong Belonger", British, lives atop ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Monkey King 4 reviews
Timothy Mo
Paddleless Press, 2000
I loved this book.
+ Blisteringly funny look at Chinese family life
+ Poignant, ironic Hong Kong novel relevant today - Excellent!
This story of a Cantonese family in Hong Kong is filled with warmth and humor. It tracks the relationship between Wallace, a clever young man of Portuguese-Cantonese descent, and the family's shrewd, miserly, tyrannical patriarch. Perhaps it's a bit of a fairy tale that works out too smoothly in ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Hard Sleeper 6 reviews
Jennifer Scheel Bushman, Jean Artley Szymanski
Lost Coast Press, 2003
A very fine novel
+ A great read
+ the best book
+ A good read
+ Compelling story + history
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Tokaido Road19 reviews
Lucia St. Clair Robson
Forge Books, 2005
The Tokaido Road
+ Crouching Tiger On the Road
+ Superlative novel--evocative, exciting, enchanting
+ One of my top ten
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Plum Wine 18 reviews
Angela Davis-Gardner
Dial Press Trade Paperback, 2007
Exquisite writing
+ Overcoming our past
+ Reading Between Cultures
The only problem I had with this book was that at least two of the haikus were not written in the traditional format of 17 syllables....but I suppose something could have been lost in translation. That criticism aside, the book was beautifully, believably, written and captured the time, the place ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Floating World14 reviews
Cynthia Gralla
Ballantine Books, 2003
Eerie and vivid
+ Excellent exploration .... of an adult survivor?
With its foreign setting and foreboding atmosphere, "The Floating World" reminds me a little of Alex Garland's novel, "The Beach." While I can guess why some people might take issue with the language, especially if they're expecting a light summer read, I absolutely loved it. The images just wrap ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Lili: A Novel 44 reviews
Annie Wang
Anchor, 2002
A Good Read
+ Interesting look at "hooliganism"
+ Poetic and Beautiful
This book is truely a page-turner. The title character Lili is a woman who overcomes her self-loathing because she finds SOMETHING GREATER THAN HERSELF through true love and a massive political movement. If you are interested in the Far East, and historical novels, this is a book that I recommend.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Comfort Woman30 reviews
Nora Okja Keller
Penguin (Non-Classics), 1998
The best kind of ghost story
+ Accessible Prose; and a stiring tale
+ Important subject matter, needs stronger writing
+ Comfort Woman review
+ Comfort Woman
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Snow Country47 reviews
Yasunari Kawabata
Vintage, 1996
Multi-layered thematic subtlety
+ Exploration of futile emotion
+ A Beautiful Story Set In Snow Country
+ Book Order
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Moon Pearl (Bluestreak)6 reviews
Ruthanne Lum McCunn
Beacon Press, 2001
Fantastic story of friendship!
+ Limited Options for Chinese Women in the 1800s
+ The enigma of China
+ Very Engaging
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Shanghai- P9 reviews
Christopher New
Soho Press, 2002
Engaging story of East meets West in Shanghai
+ 'Hometown Project', Part I
+ An Epic on a Human Scale
+ Good Historical Fiction
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Middle Heart8 reviews
Inc. Bette Bao Lord Enterprises
Ballantine Books, 1997
one tragic chinese novel
+ The Middle Heart
+ Chinese Culture
+ Captivating
+ a true story of friendship
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Blue Poppies3 reviews
Jonathan Falla
Delta, 2003
Jonathan Falla replies:
+ Great Story
Jonathan Falla writes: Bardo Monitor (above) takes me to task for not crediting Robert Ford in a preface to Blue Poppies. In Britain, it has not generally been the custom for novelists to acknowledge sources in this way, although some now do (perhaps on the American model). Many authors, myself ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Glass Palace: A Novel75 reviews
Amitav Ghosh
Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2002
a sprawling historical novel set in colonial Asia
+ Soaring, marvelously entertaining, and always interesting multi-generational novel
+ Fantastic read, the books goes quickly and beautifully
+ Very intelligent read
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Sons of Heaven: A Novel18 reviews
Terrence Cheng
Harper Perennial, 2003
A Page Turner!
+ A High Schooler's View
+ Pretty good Debut novel
+ A bold first novel
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze18 reviews
Elizabeth Lewis
Yearling, 1990
This is a great book!
+ ChinaKid
+ as an adult I loved it!
+ Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Memoirs of a Geisha: A Novel2478 reviews
Arthur Golden
Vintage, 1999
MEMOIRS OF A MASTERPIECE
+ The best book by far
+ Excellent Portrayal of Geisha Life
+ Definitely Worth Reading
+ Memoirs of a Geisha
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Flashman and the Dragon (Flashman)19 reviews
George MacDonald Fraser
Plume, 1987
Dancing Truth's Tightrope
+ Another "Good" Flashman
+ Right, you swine, this will read well in the Morning Post
+ Wonderful Entertainment
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Breaking the Tongue: A Novel10 reviews
Vyvyane Loh
W. W. Norton & Company, 2005
"The faces fused in a kaleidoscope"
+ I loved this book
+ A GIFTED WRITER
+ A startling first novel of Nobel Prize quality
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
My Life as Emperor5 reviews
Su Tong
Hyperion, 2006
A Gripping Tale
+ Su Tong's "dream within my own dream world"
+ Wisdom in the midsts of cruelty
+ Honest not flowerly review
+ A Kingdom's Fall, an Emperor's Rebirth
|
|
|
|
|
|
