East write, west read

Author: Lu Hao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: This book is Lu Hao's "reading notes from recent miscellaneous readings," filled with interesting Chinese and Western historical and cultural materials, even small pieces composed directly of "cultural gossip." Reading it brings great pleasure—according to the principle of "finding joy in shared interests," reading could be as enjoyable as Lu Hao suggests. In this book, you can read about: how Qian Zhongshu and Yang Jiang once teased Fu Lei, Pan Guangdan's witty translation of the Greek name for the goddess of beauty, the deconstruction of the myth of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, Zhao Mengfu's accidental signature at the end of a letter written for his wife, the origin of the Chinese title "A Tree of Pear Blossoms Crushing the Elderly Peach" for the film Lolita, whether Sherlock Holmes was modeled after Oscar Wilde, how many famous Western writers and scholars did not cherish books and even took pleasure in destroying them, and how Playboy once published serious literary works written by renowned authors—all of which are small essays full of wit and unique charm. This book is a collection of Lu Hao's reading notes. It consists of 22 essays, with the first 12 being notes on Chinese books and the last 10 on Western books. The author has a broad perspective, covering works from Chinese scholar Qian Zhongshu to Western philosopher Bertrand Russell, from the classical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms to the detective classic The Complete Sherlock Holmes. The topics he focuses on range from the "unheroic" aspects of the heroes of Liangshan to the mustache of Yuan Mei. The book is not very long, but it offers insightful observations, with new and exciting ideas often emerging between the lines. For example, it reveals that the ranking of the heroes of Liangshan "is based on class and status," and it uses passages from Theatre to argue about Maum's homosexual inclinations. The text is concise, elegant, and timeless, serving as an excellent "spiritual soup" to heal the restlessness of modern urban life. In his essay "A Historical Anecdote, a Religious Allegory, and a Novel," Qian Zhongshu quoted Naftali Herz Imber: "History is a great anecdote." He also quoted Mérimée more bluntly: "I only love the anecdotes in history." This reading approach, which seeks small pleasures and ignores grand issues, may be seen by serious historians as nothing more than the shallow understanding of literati. But for someone like me who reads for pleasure rather than for academic purposes, it is almost the entirety of my interest.