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Pravit -

I want to buy up a bunch of Chinese books to read when I'm not in China, but it's hard for me to
figure out what's worth reading. My reading skills are decent although I'd prefer not to read a
book with a dozen chengyu on every line - I like the books written in less "bookish" language.
Specifically, I'm looking for these types of books, if anyone has any suggestions:

History - I want a book that goes over Chinese history from prehistory to the Qing dynasty, but
with pictures and maps (especially maps!). I've been to 西安图书大厦 recently and was unable
to find any book like this. All of the comprehensive history books just seemed like college
textbooks and didn't have any pictures in them. I do have a 高中 textbook that covers the same
material, with pictures, but the book is very thin and doesn't go into much detail. As an example
of what type of book I'd like, I saw an excellent baihua version of 史记 with lots of detailed
maps, pictures of historical figures, and color photos of archaelogical findings. I also like the
"tidbits from history" type books, but preferably with less prerequisite knowledge.

If there isn't any book like this with pictures, what's a good introductory Chinese history book
(written in Chinese)?

Novels - the selection of novels not written by foreign authors seems very small. I'm open to
pretty much anything here if you think it's worth a read. Modern authors, preferably - I don't
really feel up to reading even the baihua version of 红楼梦 just yet. A collection of short
stories by modern authors would be very, very nice.

Essays - seem like quite popular reading material. Any suggestions?

Travel - the Chinese independent travel books, at first glance, seem surprisingly good, and more
helpful than Lonely Planet in many aspects - for instance, mentioning how to get to local
destinations by bus. Unfortunately, almost all of them lack decent city maps. Anyone know of a
decent one with local maps?

Translated books - it seems like half the books are translated from foreign languages into
Chinese. Many seem very tempting, but I worry that from a learning perspective there's no use in
reading translated things, and that I should stick to things by Chinese authors. What do you think?

Also, about how much does it cost to send packages to the US? I want more books than I'm willing
to carry for my later travels in China.

Thanks for your help!



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gato -

I've searched for the same things. Here are some good ones I have found.

History:
http://www.joyo.com/detail/product.a...293128-6913032
剑桥插图中国史(黑白版)
作者：（美）伊佩霞 译者：赵世瑜/赵世玲/张宏艳
English original: Cambrige Illustrated History of China by Patricia Ebrey

http://www.joyo.com/detail/product.a...293128-6913032
知道点中国历史
作者：邱立坤

Novels/Short Stories:
http://www.joyo.com/search/search.as...tid=headsearch
Collections of short stories and medium-length novels by the critic 雷达

http://www.joyo.com/detail/product.a...293128-6913032
Selection of stories published since the 1980s in the magazine "Beijing Literature"
现实一种(上下中篇小说卷)/北京文学55年典藏
作者：刘恒、章德宁

Essays:
http://www.joyo.com/search/search.as...tid=headsearch
中华散文精粹:

http://www.joyo.com/detail/product.a...293128-6913032
影响当代中国人的名家美文欣赏

http://www.joyo.com/detail/product.a...293128-6913032
影响了我的三十二篇美文
作者：贾平凹选编










gato -

Oh, you can order online on joyo or dangdang (they take foreign credit cards) and have them ship
to your US address. The shipping charge probably will be close to the price of the books, about
US$3-4 per book. Not too bad, in my opinion.










againstwind -



Quote:

but I worry that from a learning perspective there's no use in reading translated things

IMO, should you contradistinguish two versions, original and translated, it will benefit learning
both mother language and target language. I tried this way and it was of use. And what we need
concern is to find familiar reading stuff (you'd better have read the original version before) and
a fine translation. So how to judge it's fine or not? For foreigners, it basically depends on
publishing companies, I think. Commercial Press, Shanghai Translation Publishing House and SDX
Joint Publishing Company are probably the best three.










muyongshi -

Another thing to consider is perspective on the history...

I do not mean to be too derogative but the history I read of China by Chinese tends to be a bit
ummm biased (I know all History is biased but hear me out) and the focus is different. Chinese
tend to regard the people and names as important while we tend to focus more on the event. So in
that sense I wouldn't mind have the translated one for a "better" perspective and not having to
know a billion peoples names.

I'm some what of a history buff (meaning I like it not that I know everything) and Chinese history
is one I am always trying to go deeper in but too often it's about this person or that person and
to me I can't remember that stuff. Tell me the stories and why history progressed the way it did
and I will be a happy camper.










Pravit -

Thanks for the suggestions gato! I remember seeing 知道点中国历史 last time at the
bookstore. I'll look for the others next time I'm at the bookstore if I can ever figure out how
the pinyin input works on their 80's era computers...



Quote:

IMO, should you contradistinguish two versions, original and translated, it will benefit learning
both mother language and target language.

Emm, what do you mean by "contradistinguish"?

I'm not terribly interested in reading things in Chinese I've already read in English. But I did
notice a lot of interesting books translated from foreign languages, like a book on Tibetan
culture written by a Frenchman, a book on Koreans written by a Korean, etc.



Quote:

Chinese tend to regard the people and names as important while we tend to focus more on the event.

The comprehensive history books I noticed seemed quite decent w/ regards to their focus on events,
it just seemed like a bit dense reading material, esp. without any pictures! There did seem to be
many books about famous historical figures, though.

Anyone ever read 杨绛's "我们仨“? One of my Chinese teachers recommended it.










againstwind -



Quote:

Emm, what do you mean by "contradistinguish"?

Sorry for my term. I meant to do a bilingual contrasting reading.

我们仨 is worth reading. Sincere and simple memoirists of a scholar on family.










gougou -

On a related note, I seem to remember somebody recommending several books about cultural literacy,
but can't find the thread for the life of me. Does anybody remember the thread I am talking about,
or have recommendations for such books?










gato -

I think you are talking about this book below written for Chinese learners mentioned by wushijiao.
I thought about getting it, but decided to get books written for a Chinese audience, instead, as
they probably pack in more material.

http://www. /showth...182#post102182
中国文化中的典型人物与事件　陈贤纯　-编者，北京语言大学出版社。










gougou -

That's precisely the one I meant. I guess it will be a good start! Which were the books you
decided to get instead?












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