It is an absorbing memoir of growing up in China as part of a best described as dysfunctional family with a rather cruel stepmother. After reading it i was struck by the idea of relative poverty. This is the concept that it is not absolute dollar income that makes people feel poor, but rather how they compare theyselves to their immediate neighbors. This is important because the author is the daughter of at-one-time one of the richest men in HongKong, yet she describes her childhood in terms of impoverishment that rivals street beggars. We feel her pain and the anguish of a sensitive soul, but the problem is that she lived in the midst of one of the poorest, most deprived populations on earth while going through some of the most horrific changes a society has ever seen. Yet she poignantly tells the story of not having eggs at the boarding school in HongKong, while millions died only a few hundred kilometers to the north.... Poor little rich girl complaining... but the quality of the writing and the heartfelt attachments to her grandfather and aunt certainly override these ideas while reading the book. It is only on reflection afterwards that these issues begin to creep up. Overall a good book and a contribution to the genre of women growing up in china, although i believe the best is still _wild swans_.
Friday, September 27, 2002
The author has a pet theory to describe and convince you is important-quantum evolution. But to get to that point, he presents a very good, college level introduction to both the physics of quantum mechanics and biology as it is related to evolutionary theory. If you don't have a degree in biology or physics the book fills in the details and makes his theory understandable, quite an accomplishment in any field, to popularize leading edge science. All the more so impressive in a field, evolution and quantum mechanics, dominated by BIG controversy and extreme partisanship. I liked the style of the writing and the presentation as scientifically accurate but at an educated layman's level. As an introduction to the field and as a brief explanation of his theories I can think of no better book. Only disappointment was that I expected the book to start with the material in chapter 10, his theory, and would appreciate him writing another book that takes the reading of this one for granted and really gets into the idea that quantum events can effect macroscopic events like evolution at more than just crucial breakthrough type of points.
Thursday, September 26, 2002
Like the author i can remember the books i read as a child (with great fondness), i have those books even today, and like her they are my old and familiar friends. But unlike her most of those books have been nonfiction, for i thought/think those were the way to see the real world. After reading this book i realize that the gap i thought existed between nonfiction and fiction isn't really important. For she sees books, like i imagine most readers do, as a funny kind of mirror which reflects the reader's inner world at the same time as displaying the author's world. I think the gap is between readers and nonreaders, who like those described this book as visual or picture people, identify with films rather than books. The book is a memoir which asks the big question on our reading minds-- does it matter if i can't remember what is in the books? She answers it- "For in the end, even if all my books where to vanish, I would still have them somewhere, if I had read them attentively enough. Maybe the words on the page are not even the true book, in the end only a gateway to the book which recreates in the mind and lasts as long as we do." The book is a real treat for anyone who like her, is often asked, "haven't you wasted your life, by reading rather than experiencing life?" She answers this with the thought that her life is so intertwined with the books she has read and thereby experienced, and so made a part of her. That it doesn't matter, which is books and which is real life for they together make her, her. It's a good book, short, poignant with echoes and parallels apparent to any readers life. Go for it, spend a pleasant hour with this book.
Monday, September 23, 2002
We seem to have a vision of the ivory tower's upper floors being inhabited by philosophers, mathematicans and maybe theoretical physicists. People so divorced from reality that they can walk down the street without even noticing that they forgot to put on their pants this morning. This book effectively challenges this viewpoint of philosophers, first by starting with a downright potentially violent confrontation between K. Popper and L. Wittgenstein, and from there by delving into each man's biography and professional studies to show how their rather opposing viewpoints interact. While involved in this endeavor they manage to sneak in a decent freshman introduction to modern Western philosophy, of course with special attention to the issues that directly involve the two men, particularly the philosophy of science and of language. For a book whose reason for writing- a short meeting where these two philosophers meet for first and only time in their lives, despite both being Viennian émigrés- seems tenuous at best, it is rather surprisingly good. The issues discussed in philosophy are well presented, certainly better than most textbooks, the book is well written with a pace that keeps your attention and certainly helps keep your eyes on what is usually a rather dry subject. I'm not sure the average reader will be able to get through it but a person with some interest in philosophy will benefit from this quick read.
Sunday, September 22, 2002
where _guns of august_ is september's book.
From: "richard williams"
Date: Mon Sep 23, 2002 12:42 pm
Subject: guns of august review links
Hello everyone.
i am new to the group, just finished _guns of august_. i'd like to
tell you that both amazon and half.ebay have mechanisms to post
reviews for items.
guns of august customer reviews at amazon.com
somewhat
selfserviing link to half.com's reviews of guns of august as mine
is the only one.
I'd like to encourage everyone to write reviews of their favorite
books and put them up on the net as i for one peruse the reviews
before i invest in another book.(to say nothing of maybe making us
better writers)
From reading most of the 71 reviews posted at amazon, it is her
writing technique where _guns of august_ reads more like a racy novel
than military history, and her indepth analysis of the general's
personalities that gives the book it's remarkable reader appeal.
this week's web activities
book review of Wild Swans:
I bought the book in an English language bookstore in the PRC. I mention this because it is certainly not available in China in Chinese, for it is very critical of the party and how it treats it's members. See the chapters about the author's father, his undying loyalty to the party and the years of mistreatment he received for his efforts. Told through the eyes of three generations of the author's family, from the footbound grandmother to the author herself, the first chinese woman to get a PhD in England. It mirrors the events of history in the tales told within her family. 'Soft' history, softened by family stories yet never mushy or overly sentimental, the book has my highest rating, for it simply pulls you into her family, into her Chinese culture. So that you really feel the history as it moves, at times literally over the bodies of it's victims. Unlike many biographies it doesn't have slow chapters where the author feels obligated to cover the years despite really having nothing to say. It is evenly written, with the best parts being how she matures through the cultural revolution to eventually getting a degree in English and going to England to study.
Knowing that millions of Chinese have similar stories of sadness and heroism, deprivation and the desire to flourish, stupidity and education, all mixed up and awaiting someone to sort the stories out and share them with the world, I am certainly glad this one reached my hands. I hope that someday it will be a best seller in Chinese, in China......You don't have to be a lover of China or the Chinese to get something out of it, just a student of human behavior and history. Where people like the author overcome enormous obstacles to shine, to rise above their past, showing all the rest of us the humanity that we all share, and how motivation is the greater part of success in all endeavors.
- dream working handbook by mclean
- cheating monkey and citizen bees by dugatkin
- wittgenstein's poker by edmonds
- intro to the philosophy of sci by klee
- the iranians by mackey
- ruined by reading by schwartz
- history of arab peoples by hourani
- guns of august by tuchman
- inventing mormonism by marquardt
Saturday, September 21, 2002
I watch movies to think and to feel new things. Things which in my life I will probably never be able to experience firsthand. Most hollywood movies are escapist and discourage critical thought, luckily this movie is not hollywood-made. It pulls you into the protagnoist's lives in a surrealist way. As the other reviewers have aptly pointed out the music and the filming are terrific, adding to the suspense and the viewer's involvement. It lacked only plausible explanation/connections at a few critical points which decreased the believable factor.
i bought the book in an english language bookstore in the PRC, yunnan province, dali city. i mention this because it is certainly not available in china in chinese, for it is very critical of the party and how it treats it's members. told through the eyes of three generations of the author's family, from the footbound grandmother to the author, the first chinese woman to get a phd in england, it mirrors the events of history in the tales told within her family. 'soft' history, softened by family stories yet never mushy or overly sentimental, the book has my highest rating, it pulls you into her family, into her chinese culture, so that you really feel the history as it moves, at times literally over the bodies of it's victims.
Leo Marks is the son of the famous bookstore owner immortalized by romantic movie "84 Charing Cross Road". The bookstore and his childhood interest in codes stand him in good stead for the job he does for England during WW2 working for the cryptographic center that communicates with England's spies and secret agents in Europe. His words are enchanting, humor is evident on every page, he opens up and shares his thoughts with us as a 22-25 year old, out-of-place in the military, code maker genius. A not-to-be-missed opportunity to see the topic from the inside through the eyes of a particularly good author who will hold your attention through the entire volume. No low spots, no chapters best skipped, a real treat for a bookworm.....
Friday, September 20, 2002
- email:
- rwilliam2@yahoo.com
- rmwilliamjr@netscape.com
- rmwilliamjr1@icqmail.com
- rmwillia@fastucson.net
- rwilliam5@hotmail.com
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- http://www.geocities.com/rwilliam2
- http://mywebpage.netscape.com/rmwilliamjr
- IM:
- yahoo=rwilliam2
- aol/netscape=rmwilliamjr
- icq=104087152
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Wednesday, September 18, 2002
i can never seem to remember if it is 1 l or 2.
so i wrote this little poem to remember it by.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
hello to youall via colette
{with one "l" and two "t"s}
thank you for coming to collect
{with two "l"s and one "t"},
all the memories you could find.
from here at jamie's wedding so fine.
we will certainly remember
that your two, andrew and colette.
{with one "l" and two "t"s}
are the best cousin's to recollect.
{with two "l"s and one "t"}
So we will see you in november.
Because it is far the better,
for families at weddings to reunite.
then for the sadness of funerals.
with our eyes so much redder.
Even better for the christening,
of the next generation.
-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-
surprising how few words rhyme with colette
1-get the house fixed up and useable
2-organize my reading, write book reviews for the books i really like, join and participate in a few nonfiction book clubs, use half.com to sell the books i dont want to pass on to the kids.
3-begin to write, webpages, book reviews, short papers
4-get the welding shop working so i can design and build when i want to.