China Reading
by Alex
I’m off to China for a month and have no idea whether I’ll blog the trip or not. Given the length of the trip (crossing the Pacific is _suck_) I’ve been busy planning my reading list. I’ve been aided by a recent library sale as well as one of the local bookstores in town going out of business. I really want to take more but I know that is my Bibliophile OCD talking. The plan is to ditch most of the books as I am done reading them so as to lighten my load as I travel. Here is what I am planning to take with me:
_The Ethics of Ambiguity, Simone de Beauvoir_
I am having a rapprochement with existentialism. Or at least a cease-fire. Any way it cost US$.25.
_Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology, M.I. Finley_
It’s always a good idea to read more Fnley, especially if you are also reading…
_The Iliad, trans. Robert Fitzgerald_
Its been a decade. Time to come home.
_We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families, Philip Gourevitch_
I didn’t see the movie — the least I can do is read the book.
_The Gold Coast, Kim Stanley Robinson_
I’ve never read anything by him. Don’t care about Mars, do care about California.
_Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman_
Another novelist I’ve never read.
_A Signal Shattered, Eric Nylund_
ANOTHER novelist I’ve never read. Must keep up with the sci-fi world.
_Melal, Robert Barclay_
Honolulu is to Micronesia as Auckland is to the Pacific. You walk around here and and people are shocked you call yourself cosmopolitcan and have never been to Kosrae. Melal is widely-read and -taught. Consider it remedial Micronesia reading.
_Flying Fox In A Freedom Tree, Albert Wendt_
Generally considered one of the greatest novelists the Pacific Islands has produced, I see Al Wendt at tons of events in Honolulu and have never read anything by him. Remedial Pacific fiction reading. Sometimes I wish I liked reading Pacific fiction more than I liked playing GTA.
_Guests Of The Sheik, Elizabeth Warnock Fernea_
Classic ethnography for intro courses. Will teach in fall. Particularly apropos for students connected to the military here in Honolulu.
_Eon, Greg Bear_
I saw Greg Bear speak once at LISA and thought he was fascinating. I read _Darwin’s Radio_ and was incredibly disappointed. I’m giving him another shot.
_Consider Phlebas, Iain Banks_
I used to really love Iain Banks and if I ever teach my ‘first contact in sci-fi’ course _Excession_ will be on the syllabus. But lately the culture novels seem ‘undisciplined’ rather than ‘inventive’ to me. We’ll see how it goes.
Enjoy your trip! I suspect you will enjoy _American Gods_ as much as _Neverwhere_, if not more. And if you’re trying to kill time on a plane, AG is a little longer. ;) They’re both very good.
When I travelled in China nearly 15 years ago I set out with nearly as many books and ended up ditching them the first day out. I just stuck with Mann’s The Magic Mountain and traded it for something else when I was done. Books are like little neutron stars – high density matter that weighs you down far beyond their size. Beijing is a great place for buying books, so you won’t starve for reading.
Hmmm. I’m taking these along because I bought them all for cheaps, don’t want to spend money on new ones (this is also why I’m reading Neverwhere instead of American Gods, A Signal Shattered instead of White Noise, Eon instead of Blood Magic, etc. etc.), and can ditch them when I’m done with them so the load slowly lightens (two or three will be finished by the time I touch down in Beijing). Not surprisingly, I’ve already done the whole ‘wander the earth with Hans Castorp’ thing in an eerily similar fashion as Kerim. The sad part is since I posted this I now feel the urge to take along _The Enigma of Health_ and _Partial Connections_ as well. I always feel a little weird traveling without some Gadamer. And if that’s wrong… _I don’t want to be right_ :!)
I really wish I had something clever to say, I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now and since you’re coming to China I thought I might have something to say. Unfortunately, not so much.
I’ve lived here for over a year now, way up north in Shenyang (well not way up, but far enough that that list of books has me salivating at the mouth).
Books might be like neutron stars, but they are also a necessity.
Where are you planning on travelling in China, and are you looking for something or simply wandering?
Also, given the title of your post, try Li Zhang’s Strangers in the City, not perfect, but it’ll give you something to watch.
Lattimore’s Iliad is the keeper. Have a great trip.
Gaiman, it seems to me, is for people who graduated to books from comics. While I could not possibly care less about a low/high cultural distinction (I listen to metal more than anything), I care a lot about writing. And gods. American Gods was entertaining all the way through and some scenes stuck in my head but I don’t think I gained anything from it.
Enjoy Albert Wendt. Best Friend’s a huge fan and I’m rather partial to him too.