1 comments about China Ink: The Changing Face of Chinese Journalism (Asian Voices).

1. (with apologies to WS, Twelfth Night II:5)
   
   This is a wonderful book - a testament, really, to karma, commitment, compassion, and surrender to the personal tao. It is also an easy and engaging read - easy, that is, when one is prepared for the flood of evocations inevitable when such universal stories are recounted so intimately.
   
   The book comprises a well-orchestrated score of lively reminiscences by Chinese journalists in diverse positions and media (from Finance & Economics Magazine to call-in radio), each a unique and yet broadly applicable path to service. Since the personal dramas are set on the largest of national stages, the dynamism of recent Chinese decades naturally infuses and enriches the subject matter.
   
   This volume could be read profitably as a book on the startling evolutions in expression and other freedoms, turmoil in power politics, subtle and gross international relations and influences. For the non-historian (and non-journalist), there emerges a portfolio of powerful recountings of the one Hero's Journey: variously driven by intention, led by happenstance, entrained in strange eddies and whorls as the energies of empire expand into capitalism and post-Confucian self-determination, all following the ancient pattern of Separation from swaddling role - Initiation - Existential challenge - Transformation - Return with gifts to the tribe. In every case, the subject-speakers tell nakedly honest stories (eliciting them is only part of the genius of the author) of how speaking for the many happened to and through them, rather than something admitting of solipsistic or egotistic ownership. The power of this narrative is both greater and more subtle than that of narrator or subject.
   
   Is this a guide to good journalism? I wouldn't know; I aren't a journalist, and don't even take the papers. Is it a guide to great story-telling, in the sense of unadorned truth told warmly and compellingly? Unexceptionably.
   
   More than both, and the magic of its universality, it is an engaging guide to trusting both inner wisdom and evanescent opportunity in honor (not pursuit) of life and meaning that could not even be imagined in anticipation. It calls itself a book about Change, China and Journalism. Like the I Ching, it is also a book about Being, Life and Humanity.

4 comments about Women Poets of China (New Directions Paperbook, 528).

1. An exciting selection of poems by known and previously unknown women poets. Ling Chung's scholarship and sensitivity gave the late great Kenneth Rexroth the insight and inspiration to outdo himself here. Buy two copies and give one to a friend.



2. This collection was a huge surprise. Unlike the steryo type of what women in China was like, subservient to husbands they are forced to marry, with little thoughts and feelings for themselves.

   These women poets starting from 1644-1911, shout out thier love of thier partners, discuss drinking, sex, lust, romance, infactutation and even loving other women.

   The metaphors are soft and light at the first reading, yet if you look deeper you realise some of the subjects are far from the softness the poetry is conveyed in.

   A good histrical text on Chinese Women and a good read. As the previous reviewer said, buy two and give one to a friend.




3. Probably my favorite of the asian poetry books that I've read. Thanks for the compilation, Kenneth.



4. The editors made a good try to translate the poems, but the result makes me laugh!
   
   They can translate the meanings but they can't keep the feelings, formats, sounds, favors, and metaphors.
   
   This book can fool people who can't read Chinese. Chinese is my first language, this book can't fool me!
   
   If you are a professor or teacher, please stop showing off your "good taste" by forcing your student to read this piece of stupid translation. You need to learn Chinese to read real Chinese poem.

1 comments about Memories of Life in Lhasa Under Chinese Rule.

1. Tubten Khetsun provides a remarkably detailed and vivid account of what Tibetans have undergone during and following the brutal take over of their land by China during the period between 1959-1979. He takes you in with him during his struggle to survive in what has been the darkest period of Tibet's history and leaves you amazed and grateful in his personal victory and emancipation while simulataneously feeling open-hearted for the terrible suffering that the Tibetans have undergone. This is not only of interest from a hisorical perspective, but more importantly, from a humanitarian perspective...it's a must read!

5 comments about The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson, aka Chung Ling Soo, the Marvelous Chinese Conjurer.

1. This book is about the world of magic in the early 1900's full of illusion and sometimes deception at the time vaudeville was being formed. Described as a combination of minstrel (Al Jolson), circus (fire-breathing acts), and variety saloons (singing, dancing), along comes William E. Robinson who leads a double life.
   
   He'd been the backstage manager for Hermann the Great, America's #1 magician, and married his assistant. They re-invented themselves as the "Marvelous Chinese Conjurer," Chung Ling Soo, and Suee Seen (Water Lily). He was a New Yorker and performed in the Black Art act, costumed as a king at the Bijou before he went out on his own. Harry Kellar, born in Erie, Pennsylvania, was the #2 magician at the time.
   
   As the Chinese marvel, Robinson wore an oriental costume with long pig-tail and slippers with up-turned toes. London had a whole troup of Chinese performers led by Ling Soo, and they arrived at the theaters in a long red Panhard touring car, top down, in style. In England, he also formed a second family with wife, Lou, and three children, Hector, Mary, and Ellsworth.
   
   There is a picture on p. 387 of him in costume, about to catch the bullet with a porcelian plate, the act in which he was killed. After his death, an investigation revealed the deception played out on the world stage, not just Amreica.



2. I don't give out a lot of 5 star reviews. This book gets 5 stars from me because of 3 reasons:
   
   1) It's a great story about a complicated and interestingly flawed person. Will Robinson was an ambitious showman, who recoginzed the flaws in his professional self and worked tirelessly to overcome them, but failed to overcome the flaws in his personal self, leaving an estranged wife and an abandoned son behind him. That he's a world-class illusionist and turn of the century entertainer makes him a lot more interesting.
   
   2) The author is a great historical writer, and he brings turn of the 20th century vaudeville to life in a real page-turning way. He does a great job exploring not just the main character and his wives and children, but the giants of magic at the time. Will Robinson spent a lot of time going back and forth between the two greatest magicians of the day, who were also bitter rivals. You learn so much good stuff about Kellar and Herrmann that the book feels like it's two or three books in content, without being two or three books in length. The author must've worked really hard to keep the book this packed and this short and accessible.
   
   3) And to me, this is what earned the 5th star in a big way: the author actually explains how the cutting edge (at the time) illusions worked. In detail. With no warnings about how "the brotherhood of magicians would kill me if they knew" or other such blather. He warns us at the beginning that illusionists don't protect the secrets from the audience, but the audience from the secrets. Once you know how it's done, you a) don't enjoy the trick anymore and b) feel foolish for not figuring it out yourself. So, knowing that ahead of time, when he reveals all the ingenious stuff the magicians build and skills they learn, he does it in a way that makes you feel like an insider, like a performer or production assistant. It makes you (well, it made me... your mileage may vary) feel like a part of the story somehow, since the discovery, invention, and espionage behind illusions is an important, sexy, and treacherous part of being a professional conjurer in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
   
   Anyway, that's why I love the book and give it a perfect score. Can't wait for his next one.



3. Jim Steinmeyer gives us a labor of love with this fantastic book. For the professional or the curious, the book tells the story of magic during that exciting time of Keller, Herrmann, and Houdini (and many others)from the perspective of a man who touched the lives of each of them and contributed to their success as magicians. Only someone with the technical and historical knowledge and experience of Steinmeyer could explain the life of William Robinson aka Chung Ling Soo in the depth and with the understanding that this book achieves.



4. I'm puzzled by the many rave reviews for this book, which I enjoyed but found took effort to get through. The book reads like a list of stories about Robinson's life, told without the benefit of insight into the magician's psyche, and lacking much of a plot or theme to pull them into a continuous whole. At times the book seems to be a collection of loosely related encyclopedia entries. Moreover, the writing style is overly simple and lackluster, as if dumbed down. Fortunately, the stories are often interesting -- the tales of the Great Lafayette are entertaining.



5. I've always been a fan of magic, and had heard of just about every magician in this book except for William Robinson. This amazing story touches on the lives of all the greats and gives you a peek into the world of turn of the century entertainment and magic. With detailed descriptions of the theaters, costumes, the magic tricks (even some of the secrets behind them) and the colorful personalities of the time, this book sets the stage for the amazing tale of William Robinson and his evolution into Chung Ling Soo. If you have any interest in magic, or just want to learn more about vaudeville and the rough and tumble world of live entertainment in the late 1800s and early 1900s, this book takes you on an amazing journey. Highly recommended.

No comments about Avatars and Antiheroes: A Guide to Contemporary Chinese Artists.

No comments about The Travels of Marco Polo - Complete.

No comments about Footprints in the Snow: The Autobiography of a Chinese Buddhist Monk.

5 comments about Dragons at Your Door: How Chinese Cost Innovation Is Disrupting Global Competition.

1. great book I ever read about the new wave from China , becomes a global leader with the powerful weapon that breaks our conventional rules in strategy. How can they afford high technology, variety & customization, and specialty products without increasing costs? This book can answer every your questions. forget the past that they are producers of cheap, low -quality products.
   
   Everyone who believes the world is flat must read this book..



2. DRAGONS AT YOUR DOOR: HOW CHINESE COST INNOVATION IS DISRUPTING GLOBAL COMPETITION discusses China's rapid integration into the global economy and its wide-ranging ramifications for world competition and strategy. College-level business courses will find this an excellent survey of how the emergence of China as a business force will fundamentally change the global economy and its alliances over the next decade. Business owners and any interested in global politics and economics must have this analysis.



3. Having read countless books on the topics surrounding the Chinese economy and the rise of Chinese companies, I believe that this is certainly one of the best.
   
   As suggested in the heading of my review, this is finally a book that deals with the business issues of China (and the greater issue of outsourcing) critically and comprehensively.
   
   I too have spent some time in China speaking with a number of different businesses and managers, and this book comes closest to describing the way in which Chinese managers think. In fact, this book can be read in the context of Porter's "Competitive Advantage of Nations", in order to shed light on the ways in which market space and the business environments have and will continue to change.
   
   Based on the difficulties associated with the Chinese business environment, Chinese companies have managed to develop strategies to overcome a number of basic disadvantages, and to turn these into inherent advantages.
   
   My tip, be aware of your strategic position and your competitive scope and do not sacrifice the long term future of your company on the alter of short term gains.



4. Chinese firms have a cost advantage. That is not news. However, this may be the first book to point out that emerging Chinese competitors - companies as powerful as the "dragon" metaphor of the book's title - also have a managerial advantage: Cost innovation, which involves much more than simply manufacturing products cheaply. Ming Zeng and Peter J. Williamson show how some of China's leading manufacturers combine cheap labor, competitive domestic markets and technological innovation to forge a very powerful edge. The authors contend that Western firms may have to relocate high-value activities to China to counter its cost innovation advantage. We suggest that all companies can benefit from this suggestion to march forward instead of retreating in the face of Chinese cost-innovation competition.



5. Wow, what an eye opener. The book provides "great" case studies on China's industries/companies and their relationship with the Chinese government; and how they are emerging as a world economic powerhouse. Get ready and defend our industries.....

5 comments about Midnight at the Dragon Cafe: A Novel (Alex Awards (Awards)).

1. With a quiet, unassuming elegance, Canadian-Chinese author Judy Fong-Bates sets the scene for her highly applauded debut novel, 'Midnight at the Dragon Cafe'.
   
   Perhaps this story touched me more acutely than most of its readers, as it called to mind what my father and his parents must have experienced during and after their immigration from Hong Kong to a little town in Canada in the mid-1950s. Every word to me was genuine, haunting, compelling...
   
   Little Su-Jen Chou (at the tender age of six), along with her beautiful yet bitter mother, immigrates to Canada from Communist China, to meet the father she has never known. A father who is the proprietor of the local Canadian-Chinese "greasy spoon". With Su-Jen mother constantly haunted with yearnings for her homeland, unpleasant family secrets uncovered, and the trials and challenges they face in a new and often-times unwelcoming land, Fong-Bates weaves a story full of heartbreak, tribulation and acceptance.
   
   Poignant in its simplicity and yet weighty in its inner complexities, 'Midnight at the Dragon Cafe' explores many social issues of the time, along with the disappointments, the pride, the sacrifices, and the triumphs of those who immigrated to Canada in search of something "better". Compelling and well written, Fong-Bates stunning first novel deserves a heaping spoonful of praise.



2. What can I say, this book lacked all the details I wanted to read, and was pretty darn predictable to boot. I could tell that it was written by a foreigner because it never contained any "advanced" vocabulary. Always just kept mentioning the same food and the same feelings and the same blah blah blah...Enough. I'm done with this thing!



3. I recently finished this book and loved the way it was written, the use of language, the lessons of enduring truths of humanity, etc. It was very touching and I loved it. I read it aloud to my 16-year-old son. We have read a lot of books but now I'm stuck and need a recommendation on what to read next.



4. I am a fourth generation Chinese American living in California. I loved this well written, lyrical and engaging book, and recommend it to all. I have not read much about the Chinese-Canadian immigrant experience, and this book was very rewarding in terms of telling the story of the Chinese in Canada in the background of the main story line. The characters are extremely vivid in the book, and one really cares about Su-Jen (aka Annie) right away. The author does a very good job of sketching the lonely life of this isolated Chinese family in this small Canadian town. I particularly felt she handled incidents of racial discrimination experienced by the sensitive Annie during elementary school very poignantly. You really feel for this little Chinese girl, stuck between this lovely unhappy mother, a frustrated and good looking half brother, a traditional but kindly father, and her Canadian white classmates. It is a great read.



5. I have mixed feelings about _Midnight athte Dragon Cafe_. I absolutely loved Bates' command of language and her languid, conversational tone as her character, Su-Jen narrates. The moods and emotions were so clearly expressed, I really felt I was with Su-Jen as she wrestled with the challenges and secrets she discovered through the course of the book.
   
   While I appreciated the gradual maturation of Su-Jen, her growing awareness of the wider world around her, and the secrets her family held, I really felt that the story didn't hit its stride until the final quarter of the book. Even when the book did hit its stride and plot points began to come together, the resolution to the myriad of conflicts were ultimately unstisfying. I had anticipated a stronger finish, given the repeated references to Su-Jen's fate and the constant tension between family members. I also think the underlying message Bates was suggesting - is it possible to forgive ourselves - could have been much more developed. I enjoyed the writing, but the story itself warrants only 3 stars.

3 comments about Wu: The Chinese Empress Who Schemed, Seduced and Murdered Her Way to Become a Living God.

1. This is a wonderful biography. I was somehow worried it would be boring. However, the author manages to narrate Wu's life and times in such a way that I could not put it down, and read it in less than a week's time.
   
   Starting as a 13-year-old concubine favorite in the harem of Emperor Taizong, Wu seduced his son by whom she later became pregnant and murdered her rivals - including the empress - to become empress herself. Possibly guilty of infanticide, and of murdering her own sister, once she became the 'power behind the curtain Wu schemed and cheated her way to the throne and ruled personally under the name Emperor Shengshen from 690 to 705 (the first woman ever to use the title emperor which had been created 900 years before by the first emperor of China Qin Shi Huang). After surviving two revolts against her, in her early 80s ailing Empress Wu was unable to thwart a coup. While considering her frequent portrayal as a despot, one must bear in mind the traditional Confucian idea widely held in her day that women in general, and especially influential women, caused trouble and were not to be trusted.
   
   For a better understanding of China, I would recommend reading: 1 and 2) two books by S.A.M Adshead: "China in World History" and "T'ang China: The Rise of the East in World History"; and 3) "Fools Are Everywhere: The Court Jester Around the World" by Beatrice K Otto, which is full of information on witty Chinese jesters.
   
   Additionally, another excellent biography of a much maligned queen worth reading is "Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman" by Stephen Zweig.



2. Jonathan Clements has managed to take the story of the controversial Empress Wu and make it extremely entertaining, while still maintaining historical accuracy. He keeps the narrative going at a quick pace, but provides enough details to keep the reader from becoming lost or confused.
   
   Empress Wu is a really difficult historical figure. She is neither a good guy or a bad guy. She is a woman who did some amazing things, and some really terrible things. So many biographies of Wu have an agenda, either to make her look like a martyr or a villain, and the truth is far more complicated than that.
   
   Clements provides both what is known about Empress Wu, and various opinions and constructs of her made by those who came later. He shows how the image of Empress Wu is often twisted to meet the needs of political fads, and that all of these perspectives should be taken with a grain of salt.
   
   Even if you know nothing about Chinese history, you will find this book a fascinating and lively read.



3. Brilliant, academic work w notations, just what I was looking for. Very well written and engaging, at all time critical towards sources. Recommended!