Good books about China?
I've had this interest in China lately, but it's hard to find books, or documentaries, or anything that I'm looking for. Sure, there's a lot of books trying to explain the bits here and there, especially the contemporary political and economic goings on, as well as the historical and cultural overviews and such. What I'm looking for is, something that would explain the deeper things, the things that everybody would understand implicitly but wouldn't talk about, because it's just obvious to them. Like, if you were chinese and read this book, you'd feel that it's about your own life or something. Though I'd read a historical book too if it's written by someone who really cares.
2024-12-08 · 10 months ago · 👍 stack
9 Comments ↓
☕️ protoc0l · 2024-12-08 at 19:28:
It almost sounds like you're looking more for "books about the human experience in China".
If that's the case, that would be an interesting read indeed, if anyone posts recommendations.
💎 pista · 2024-12-08 at 20:57:
Lived in China for 15 years.
I can’t think of a single book ever published in English that accurately or adequately portrays life there.
I can’t think of a single book in Chinese that does it either since who wants to read about either boring days or horrible days you don’t want to remember?
Good luck.
I agree with pista. However, a possible alternative would be biographies and autobiographies of certain chinese people that have left the country that had been translated to english. I recommend "Red Roulette" it talks about politics and corruption and history.
You might also have some luck with popular fiction novels that were based on historical events, which have also been popular enough to have been translated. Consider "The Three-Body Problem" by Cixin Liu which is based on the cultural revolution.
If you're fine with movies and shows, there might be a lot more choices. The recent "Decoded" is also based on the cultural revolution.
🐝 undefined [OP] · 2024-12-09 at 04:58:
@pista that's a shame, though entirely expected.
🐝 undefined [OP] · 2024-12-09 at 05:17:
Sorry everybody, I understand that it was a bit too vague of a question. It's just that I'm frustrated somewhat that no matter what you read, it's either trying explain China as it relates to the West (usually either labeling it as a problem or a solution to our woes), or just lists events and people without giving you any explanation of why they matter. I'm fine with other media too ofc, not just books.
💎 pista · 2024-12-09 at 13:44:
If you are looking at fiction and want to just get a general sense of Chinese society and political power struggles, author Jin Yong described his “Smiling Proud Wanderer” swordsman fiction book as a commentary on the Cultural Revolution, and really any cultural revolution.
Though these days I might argue it looks closer to America than China…
Fan translation to English is hosted as gem text on my capsule with some of his other works.
gemini://brainsocks.xyz/projects/novels/swordsman/
🚀 stack · 2024-12-09 at 20:31:
The Paper Menagerie
Ken Liu
— https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Menagerie-Other-Stories/dp/148142436X
🌧️ miragearchitect [mod] · 2025-01-21 at 21:20:
I don't think this is something you can learn from traditional books.
Now, you might want to look into web novels and manhuas. They are fiction books and comic writen by amatures, you can find a lot of good ones.
Compared to novels, here the authors are basically writing what's on their mind. And the translators provide culural references, to aid in understandind.
I could recommand you Dead on Mars by Tian Rui Shuo Fu and The first order by The Speaking Pork Trotter.
You can find them on webnovel.com among other sites.
(Did I understand what you are searching?)
🐝 undefined [OP] · 2025-01-22 at 04:34:
@miragearchitect I'll try reading those, thanks! As far as my question goes, I understand that there really isn't a way to understand the essence of an entire civilization, especially not from a few books. The thing is, I'll probably learn chinese at some point, but it's obviously a long-term project and it would be nice to understand at least some of what I'm interested in without going in the entire way. Again, sorry for being this vague about it.
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