wushijiao Posted August 31, 2005 at 01:08 PM Report Share Posted August 31, 2005 at 01:08 PM This is similar to this post , would anyone be interested in starting an (informal) "book of the month" club? We could read books that seem important, popular, and hopefully, not too long. People could post new vocab learned, plot outlines, names of main characters...etc. Would anyone be interesed in something like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madizi Posted August 31, 2005 at 01:27 PM Report Share Posted August 31, 2005 at 01:27 PM I came to this idea too, but who would decide, which book should members of the club read? I mean, every person have his/her own interests and reads books, which are in accordance with these interests. I propose, that we make together a book reading plan. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wushijiao Posted August 31, 2005 at 02:00 PM Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2005 at 02:00 PM but who would decide, which book should members of the club read? That's a good question. Maybe the month before, people could toss out ideas for books to read, and then people could vote on it. The difficulty would come from: A) choosing books that aren't too hard, too boring, and that people would feel enthusiastic enough about to make good, detailed posts. B) choosing books that everyone could buy. It would be easy enough to do this for people living in the Mainland, but it might be harder for people who live abroad to order books. But maybe dangdang.com can send abroad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted August 31, 2005 at 02:22 PM Report Share Posted August 31, 2005 at 02:22 PM It wouldn't be too hard to restrict yourself to books that are available in full text online. Alternatively, as you can't get everything online, and plenty of people prefer paper, members within China could buy copies for those who aren't and mail them out - and perhaps be rewarded by food parcels of fine foreign delicacies not yet available in China Again, anything the forums can do to support this will be done - probably a very good case for a usergroup / seperate forum. As an aside - anyone thought about a soap opera watching group? One episode a day, discuss the plot and how much you understand online afterwards . . . Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madizi Posted August 31, 2005 at 03:41 PM Report Share Posted August 31, 2005 at 03:41 PM Soap opera? Hm, better to read books which are feeding our brains with useful knowlwdge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wushijiao Posted September 1, 2005 at 12:22 AM Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2005 at 12:22 AM I think soap operas may not have too much thought value, but they certainly have a great linguistic value to learners of Chinese. People speak slang, slur words, and use and invent common expresions. I've been watching the sitcom "东北一家人" . This sitcom is kind of stupid, with a typical, redneck, Dongbei family getting in adventure after wacky adventure. It's somewhat entertaining, but I think it's doing wonders for my listening comprehension （for lisening to things like 啥玩意儿 over and over). http://www.dangdang.com/product_detail/product_detail.asp?product_id=8994069 In any case, I think this is also a project worth looking into. This would have been a good idea for something like 汉武大帝 last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madizi Posted September 1, 2005 at 09:29 PM Report Share Posted September 1, 2005 at 09:29 PM I think soap operas may not have too much thought value, but they certainly have a great linguistic value to learners of Chinese. People speak slang, slur words, and use and invent common expresions. I agree. That's how many people excuse themselves when they are watching telenovelas in Spanish: "I'm only watching it beacuse of the language practice." But yes, you're right. This is a good one for learning language. But the problem is that many people cannot watch Chinese soap operas in their countries. So, the question still remains, which books to read. Maybe we should start with Quotations of Chairman Mao. They are written in simple language and are good for beginners as well as for more skilled learners. Are they available online? Ma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beirne Posted September 1, 2005 at 10:07 PM Report Share Posted September 1, 2005 at 10:07 PM What I've been doing for my own study is reading articles in the Chinese Wikipedia. The nice part is that there are a variety of topics and the articles aren't too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madizi Posted September 2, 2005 at 06:36 AM Report Share Posted September 2, 2005 at 06:36 AM Brilliant idea! Wikipedia is available to everyone! Where should we start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevelyan Posted September 2, 2005 at 02:11 PM Report Share Posted September 2, 2005 at 02:11 PM Count me in. Perhaps someone can take the lead in organizing the readings, and if people have suggestions to make, they can message them privately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted September 2, 2005 at 02:42 PM Report Share Posted September 2, 2005 at 02:42 PM I think what we are going to wind up with is two different streams 1) A book of the month reading club. Wushijiao seems keen on this and I'm hoping there'll be a list of suggestions for the first month soonish. I think in these cases it's impossible to please everyone, and a certain amount of executive decision making may be necessary, but that's no problem 2) A more frequent, shorter reading group, which people can dip in and out of as necessary. Off the top of my head I'd say three pieces a week, with perhaps one newspaper / magazine article, one short story and one other genre - maybe a post from a Chinese weblog? I'm hoping to get something set up which will allow pop-up annotated content, as seen on newsinchinese.com, to be posted on the forums. Technically it shouldn't be difficult, but there's an upgrade of the forums software coming up soon (nothing major, don't panic) and I'm reluctant to do too much before that happens. When it is up and running though it will be very helpful for the shorter pieces, and it might be possible to post entire books - though I'm not sure it's necessary. I also think the soap opera watching idea is actually a very good one - anyone interested? Register your interest here - and if anyone thinks they'd be in a position to find and post the material for the 'short attention span' group, speak up now! Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraldc Posted September 2, 2005 at 02:51 PM Report Share Posted September 2, 2005 at 02:51 PM I'm up for the soap watching idea, esp as I now have easy access to mainland TV and have nothing better to do. I've only really watched HK soaps, so I look forward to the "gritty realism" of mainland soaps... As long as it's on one of the CCTV channels I shouldn't have too many problems tracking it down and setting my video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beirne Posted September 2, 2005 at 03:26 PM Report Share Posted September 2, 2005 at 03:26 PM Register your interest here - and if anyone thinks they'd be in a position to find and post the material for the 'short attention span' group, speak up now! I can help get Wikipedia articles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowdh Posted September 2, 2005 at 03:28 PM Report Share Posted September 2, 2005 at 03:28 PM Well I would be interested in joining.. but really only on the fringes as my level is just beginner... I will probably not be ready to read even the most basic stories for several weeks/a few months yet... soaps, stories and all... count me in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in_lab Posted September 3, 2005 at 05:45 AM Report Share Posted September 3, 2005 at 05:45 AM I'd be interested in short stories or articles on any subject. I'd probably participate in reading books if I thought they were interesting. (But I can't help thinking that a book that has 調查 in it's title can't be very interesting. But I wouldn't want to discourage those that are interested.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wushijiao Posted September 4, 2005 at 01:03 AM Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 at 01:03 AM So, I’ve decided to just go ahead and start a “book of the month” club. This first month might be a little shaky and odd, getting out the quirks in the system. But hopefully after a few months we will start to realize the most efficient way to run it. Anyway, I’ve bought three books that I’m looking to read. I’ll give a brief rundown on each of them, and then if you feel like you’d like to read one in particular, vote today. We have to get going quickly because September, of course, has already started! 1) 土门 贾平凹. This book is the one I’m strongly leaning towards, mainly because it has 229 (small) pages. The edition I bought as well also has commentary on the side. I’ve wanted to read a book by贾平凹 for quite a while because he’s one of China’s premier novelists, and this short novel seems like a good place to start. The disadvantage is that the book has a lot of description and is told in non-sequential order. Anyway, it’s about the economic and social changes that befall a small village that is being usurped by a nearby town. 2) 我本英雄 周梅森. This seems to be a political thriller by周梅森, who I’ve seen described as a man who’s fightin’ the corrupt system by exposing the Dickensian injustices that many oppressed people live under in the Mainland. The vocab doesn’t seem too difficult, but the book clocks in at 452 (albeit, big fonted) pages. 3) 霸王别姬 李碧华. This is the great book that the movie was based on. The vocab seems a bit difficult and the narration style isn’t always straightforward, but it has lot of dialogue and people might at least know the general character outlines due to the movie. It’s also relatively short at 231 pages. Well, right now I’m leaning towards土门, but if anyone has any preferences, please respond to this post or PM me quickly. Otherwise, in a few days I’ll post in the Literature section, with a plot outline, character outline, and new vocab about土门. Anyway, I hope that this club can help us improve our Chinese vocabularies through extensive readings, while at the same time learning and discussing some good books at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted September 4, 2005 at 01:45 AM Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 at 01:45 AM Wushijiao, how about going with a book whose text is available online? That'd be easier for those who're using Wenlin or such software reader. I'm leaning towards 周梅森's corruption investigation novel, 《国家公诉》, available at the sina.com site below. BaWanBieJi ("Farewell My Concubine") is here: http://www.whereshow.cn/book/chinese/literature/100big/bawang/index.htm And other writings by the same author can be found here: http://www.white-collar.net/01-author/l/05-li_bihua/li_bihua.htm I couldn't find either 土门 nor 我本英雄 Websites with books by Jia Pingwa: http://goldnets.myrice.com/navi/5064-31.html http://www.white-collar.net/01-author/j/04-jiaping-ao/jiaping_ao.html Zhou Meisen: http://www.mypcera.com/book/2003new/da/z/zhoumeisen/ 英雄出世 永远是矿工 中国制造 我读哲夫 http://book.news.sina.com.cn/nzt/1077504441_gongsu/index.shtml 周梅森反腐小说力作：《国家公诉》 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wushijiao Posted September 4, 2005 at 02:05 AM Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 at 02:05 AM What about 我本英雄? I found it on-line: http://book.sina.com.cn/nzt/lit/wobenyingxiong/index.shtml Any other thoughts or suggestions? I guess it is much better to have on-line texts, both for those using Wenlin and those abroad. Personally, I have to have a paper text because I do a lot of reading away from the computer (on buses, at work...etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted September 4, 2005 at 04:48 AM Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 at 04:48 AM Thanks for the text of 我本英雄. Just looking at its description on sina.com, though, I think it may be too much about running a business and economics to be a good novel. The corruption angle of《国家公诉》probably provides for a more gripping drama. And since it's one of the books that made his name, it might be "fresher" than 我本英雄, which is a more recent book. The author seems to be cashing in on the success of his books on business and corruption by coming with similar books. It's possible that it's as good as his earlier books, but sometimes authors do get tired and become caricatures of themselves. I don't have a strong feeling either way at this point. I can read either one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sui.generis Posted September 4, 2005 at 06:30 AM Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 at 06:30 AM I'm interested, especially if the book selection is availible online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and select your username and password later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.