Books on Beijing

Via Shelf Awareness:

In anticipation of the Olympic Games, the Guardian‘s book blog showcased “Catherine Sampson’s top 10 books on Beijing:”

1. Beijing Coma by Ma Jian
2. Please Don’t Call Me Human by Wang Shuo
3. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li
4. The Uninvited by Yan Geling [It looks like this is titled The Banquet Bug in the USA.]
5. The Crazed by Ha Jin
6. The Last Empress by Anchee Min
7. Serve the People by Yan Lianke
8. I Love Dollars by Zhu Wen
9. The Dragon’s Tail by Adam Williams
10. Beijing Doll by Chun Sue

“Most of the books below are written by Chinese writers who have chosen to live abroad in order to write freely about their country,” Sampson says. Why should we take her recommendations? Read the short article, linked above, which also contains brief descriptions of each of the proffered novels and short stories.

I’ve been looking for a list of good Chinese books, and it seems I’ve found (albeit a short one) one! And I love the Olympics! What fun. These have gone straight to my wishlists. The only Chinese book I’ve read so far was the 5-volume Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin, which I loved (the David Hawkes translation).