Review of I Am a Cat by Soseki Natsume (translated by Aiko Ito and Graeme Wilson)
This “review” consists of some quotes from the book and explanations for why I chose them.
This “review” consists of some quotes from the book and explanations for why I chose them.
I’d bet far more people have heard of this influential Chinese classic than have read it.
Yu Hua’s book is organized around ten words, but the ten essays in the book aren’t necessarily about the words themselves. They’re about the author’s experiences in the context of Chinese society as it changed and developed around him.
This is a short, entertaining, accessible book on an interesting topic.
Quibble how you will about inaccuracies in the depiction of linguistics, the fact that Hollywood deigns to depict a linguist at all is nice.
It’s as if Kafka decided to write a book with Carl Sagan, M.C. Escher, and the author of Flatland, and set it in China.
There must be better translations out there. I just read the free one from Gutenberg.