Tag Archives: books

BOOKS: “The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang” by Hui-li [trans. by Samuel Beal]

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The Life of Hiuen-TsiangThe Life of Hiuen-Tsiang by Hui-li
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Available free online through the Indian Gov’t

Those familiar with Chinese Literature (or smash-hit video games) will be acquainted with the tale of Sun Wu Kong, the Monkey King. The central event of the novel Journey to the West is a Chinese Buddhist monk traveling to India to gather a complete set of the Buddhist canon. In the novel (and video game, Black Myth: WuKong,) the monk’s name is Tang Sanzang (in translations – and movie / television – he’s sometimes called Tripitaka, which is actually the name of the Pali Canon — the original Buddhist books, themselves.) In real life there was also such a monk, and his name was Xuanzang (玄奘, Romanized as Hiuen-Tsiang in an earlier system,) and this book describes his travels to, through, and back from India.

It turns out the monk was not escorted by a god-tier mythical creature and his two superpowered compatriots (i.e. Pigsy and Sandy.) For this reason, the actual Xuanzang occasionally got threatened, robbed, and was once almost killed by riverine pirates. This book is a travelogue of Xuanzang’s journeys through China, Central Asia, [present-day] Afghanistan and Pakistan, and throughout India.

Needless to say, this book isn’t as taut and thrilling as the fictional account with its gods and monsters, but – for those with historical and geographic interests – it’s not without appeal. It does have extensive description of Xuanzang’s visits with various monks and royalty that is dry reading as well as discussions of where Xuanzang’s collection stood at any given point, but there are a few intense events and harrowing moments.

If you’re interested in Buddhist history, you may want to give this book a look.

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BOOK REVIEW: “Becoming Ghost” by Cathy Linh Che

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Becoming Ghost: PoetryBecoming Ghost: Poetry by Cathy Linh Che
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Simon & Schuster

This collection is built around the surreal emotionality of the author’s parents having both lived through the war in Vietnam and also having served as extras in the film, Apocalypse Now. [For those unfamiliar, Apocalypse Now was a Francis Ford Copp0la film based loosely (and partially) on Joseph Conrad’s novel,Heart of Darkness. The film follows a military officer sent upriver to assassinate a rogue Special Operations colonel during the Vietnam War, and shows the war from various perspectives as the would-be assassin travels through the country to complete his mission.]

At times, the poems read like a poem-shaped biography, but that’s not all there is to the book. There are points that imagery and language are used to shoot beyond a mere telling of events, in order to create emotional resonance with the core strangeness of living through a traumatic event only to portray a background individual (someone like one’s own past self) in a fictional retelling of events based on those through which one lived.

The poetic forms vary somewhat, though all within the modern, free verse style. Most notably, the author uses the golden shovel approach of Terrence Hayes extensively.

This collection grabbed me both with its clever language and its thought-provoking central premise. I’d highly recommend it for readers of poetry.

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BOOKS: “A Man Was Going Down the Road” by Otar Chiladze

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A Man Was Going Down the RoadA Man Was Going Down the Road by Otar Chiladze
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site

This is the English translation of a novel considered to be one of the most important literary works of Georgia (i.e. the country, not the state) in the twentieth century. The multigenerational tale adapts from Greek Mythology, most notably the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece and Daedalus and Icarus (the former taking place early in the book and the latter towards the end.)

Given its pacing, multigenerational sprawl, and the rambling ordinary life interactions between big events, this book isn’t of the highest readability, but that has its benefits. Supposedly, the author was taking digs at the Soviets and their invasions and operations in Georgia, but – apparently – the Soviet censors never made the connection due to the abstruse nature of the story. Otherwise, we might not have this book to read, today.

Regardless of my comments about readability, the book does have a number of positive things going for it. I found the translation to have some beautiful stretches of language. There was an opening paragraph of one of the latter chapters that floored me. Also, it’s not all soap opera, the more intensely plot-driven bits are compelling, most notably the Golden Fleece story.

I’d highly recommend this book for readers who don’t mind the challenge of literary fiction pacing and everyday minutiae.

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BOOKS: “Troublesome Words” by Bill Bryson

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Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It RightBryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer’s Guide to Getting It Right by Bill Bryson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Penguin Books

This is a guide to English words (and loanwords) that challenge even professional writers. It’s organized as a dictionary, and – in fact – the earliest edition of the book was entitled The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words. However, the entries are far from mere definitions, and typically include examples of grammatical, stylistic, or spelling offenses, examples that are sometimes humorous (as are Bryson’s explanations.)

The most common classes of troublesome words are those that are redundant (or otherwise fail to add information) and pairs or groups of words that are frequently confused because of similar spellings or close — but not identical — meanings. That said, there are many other varieties of linguistic challenges confronted by the book, such as spelling mistakes and migrating meanings.

The book is dated. For some readers, that will make the book obsolete, but students of language may find it’s even more useful in showing the evolution of the language. This can be seen with respect to migrating meanings, words whose meanings started out being one thing but against the efforts of grammarians and other linguistic guardians were dragged into an alternate meaning by the force of mass usage. There are some instances where Bryson advises one to honor the original meaning and other cases where he points out that the ship has sailed and to just go with the flow. I’m sure these positions would shift if this book were to be updated again. (Originally written in the 1980’s, the book was revised and update in the early 2000’s, but language has continued to shift in these 20+ years.) In several cases words for which he suggests we stick to the original meaning have now completed their slide. (And many of the words he tells us to accept the changed meaning of are now so far past that original meaning that few readers will be aware the word ever meant something different.)

That being said, the book isn’t completely obsolete. As mentioned above, one of the most common classes of offenses are redundant and meaningless words, and these are almost all still relevant to writers today.

Bill Bryson has a unique relationship to the language, being both British and American, and one nice feature of the book is that he points out differences in spelling and usage that exist between the two countries.

There is an appendix discussing proper punctuation, a bibliography, and a glossary of linguistic terms.

If you’re reading this out of an interest in language, I’d recommend it. It’s light and humorous. However, if you’re in the market for a reference guide, you can surely find a more up to date (if less humorous) guide.

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BOOK: “The Short Story: A Very Short Introduction” by Andrew Kahn

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The Short Story: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)The Short Story: A Very Short Introduction by Andrew Kahn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – OUP

This guide provides an overview of the short story, particularly literary short stories (though it’s not without mention of genre fiction.) The book is well organized and offers some fascinating food for thought, particularly regarding the psychology of character and the distinctions between short stories and novels. (The former are not to be thought of as pared down versions of the latter.)

I will say that, for a concise introduction, the book does occasionally get into the weeds on specific issues, potentially losing the non-specialist reader who this series is ostensibly geared toward.

I found the book’s organization to be logical and productive to its task. After an introduction that explores the advent and history of the short story, most of the chapters deal with structural or compositional aspects of story, including: openings, voice, setting, plot, irony / reversal, and endings. One chapter (Ch. 6) stands out as a bit different in that it zooms in on Chekhov and his influence on the short story as we’ve come to know it. While this could be said to demonstrate the author’s tendency to zoom in the specificity more than is usual for such a guide, I did find the chapter interesting and enlightening.

If one is interested in the short story (as a reader, writer, or both) one will find this guide worth one’s attention.

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BOOKS: “A Carpet Ride to Khiva” by Christopher Aslan Alexander

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A Carpet Ride to Khiva: Seven Years on the Silk RoadA Carpet Ride to Khiva: Seven Years on the Silk Road by Chris Aslan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – ICON Books

“Travel-centric memoir” is how I’d classify this book, but it’s one of those books that isn’t easily categorized. The author cleverly interweaves explorations of Uzbek history and culture with his own story of living in the Uzbek city of Khiva for seven years as an NGO worker and traditional crafts entrepreneur. The side voyages into history and culture not only support the readers’ contextual understanding of the author’s story but also make for a fascinating journey of understanding of the locale. Uzbekistan has had many lives, from beating heart of the Silk Road to forgotten backwater of the Soviet Union, and these many lives have shaped what Uzbekistan is, and what it’s becoming.

I should point out that Uzbekistan has apparently made a hard shift since the days described in this book (late 90’s early 2000’s, i.e. fairly early in the wake of independence from the Soviet Union.) I mention this to avoid discouraging travelers through discussion of the author’s experiences. [I, myself, am planning a trip in the near future.] I’m sure that Uzbekistan continues to have deep-seated problems, but it seems to be making great efforts to be tourist-friendly these days. Which is not to say that the individuals were ever unfriendly to travelers. The author describes an Uzbek people who are warm-hearted, welcoming, and helpful. But when the author was there it was also on the list of the biggest human rights violators, corruption was ubiquitous, and tourism was almost non-existent. In fact, the penultimate chapter of the book describes the author’s experience of a visa denied, ping-ponged deportations, and a life sharply diverted by corruption.

The final chapter is intensely compelling and describes the author’s (late 2000’s) visit to Afghanistan to help apply the lessons he learned in Uzbekistan to building a rug weaving operation in that war-torn country (allowing women to make some money, an activity disallowed by the Taliban before and since.)

This is a fascinating book, and I’d highly recommend it for travelers and those interested this lesser-known part of the world. Even the descriptions of silk production, rug weaving, and natural dyes (topics that I expected wouldn’t resonate with me) were interesting and engaging.

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BOOK: “Rocket Yoga” by David Kyle

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Rocket® Yoga: Your Guide to Progressive Ashtanga VinyasaRocket® Yoga: Your Guide to Progressive Ashtanga Vinyasa by David Kyle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Human Kinetics

This book provides an overview of Rocket Yoga, which is newcomer to yoga’s ranks that adapts from the Ashtanga Vinyasa school of Pattabhi Jois. The objective of Rocket is to make the practice more adaptable, both in terms of being suitable for a broad range of students and for individual students to adapt the practice in ways that would fit their objectives, strengths, and limitations. There are also adjustments made in the sequence to streamline the flow.

For those unfamiliar with Ashtanga Vinyasa, it is a fixed form flow style. Fixed form means that at a given level one is repeating the same sequence the same way every session until one bumps up to the next level. This offers great advantages for building fitness, muscle memory, and connection to the practice, but many find it tedious and the threat of burnout is ever-present. Rocket attempts to keep the benefits of fixed form practice but to mitigate the burnout factor by having three sequences that can be interspersed in one’s practice, as well as by allowing more room for individual variation. Ashtanga Vinyasa is also often perceived as daunting because as a flow form it involves a lot of vigorous transitional movement and also because even some of the preliminary series asana (postures) are challenging for your average practitioner. While Ashtanga Vinyasa generally allows for modification, Rocket leans into this a bit more. (That said, the Rocket system also has ways to step up the challenge as well.)

As with many system-centric yoga books, much of the book is description of the asana (postures) that make up the system as well as elaboration on how they are sequenced. However, the book does open with philosophical and historical background and ends with discussion of how the practice might be adapted (e.g. there is a section for pregnancy.)

The book has a lot of color photographs that are clear and well captured (if of limited perspective.)

If you are an Ashtanga Vinyasa practitioner (or perspective practitioner) and are curious about how the basic concept might be adjusted to mitigate potential burnout or make the system more flexible, I’d recommend giving this book a look.

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PROMPT: Title

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Daily writing prompt
If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?
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The Bigger they Fall, The Harder They Are

BOOKS: “Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction” by Jonathan Culler

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Literary Theory: A Very Short IntroductionLiterary Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan D. Culler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher site – OUP

This brief guide tries to bring some clarity to the question of what literary theory is, a question which is a great deal more convoluted that it is in science (or even the social sciences) where the scientific method shapes our understanding of the term. Often when one hears about literary theory it’s in the context of Marxists, Feminists, or Psychoanalysts, and one might be forgiven for wondering whether those scholars don’t have a discipline of their own (not to mention how much can a Marxist – for example – illuminate The Little Prince or the poetry of Li Bai.)

I thought the book was well-arranged to shed as much light on the topic as possible. Of its nine chapters, the first two explore competing ideas of what constitutes “theory” and “literature,” respectively. There is a chapter (Ch.3) that distinguishes the field from the overlapping discipline of cultural studies. The remaining six chapters cover topical components of the field, including: language / meaning, rhetoric / poetics, story, performative language, identity, ethics, and aesthetics.

This book does a good job of offering some clarity and has a sense of humor as it does so (notably through satirical cartoons that illustrate the book.) If you’re looking for a layman’s guide to the subject, this one is readable and insightful.

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BOOKS: “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw

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PygmalionPygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available on Project Gutenberg

Pygmalion is a play about class and human connection, and is probably the best-known work of George Bernard Shaw, having been adapted into a popular movie entitled My Fair Lady.

Henry Higgins, an expert on accents and dialects, bets his friend, Col. Pickering, that he can train a poor Cockney flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) to pass as a duchess at a soiree with genteel elites. Higgins is educated and of upper-crust upbringing but is neither refined nor does he have much in the way of people skills. Pickering is a personable and mannerly gentleman. Eliza is on a journey of transformation and her interaction with the two men offers insight into how those of different classes view dignity. (Besides examining class differences, some insight into how men and women differently view human interactions is generated.)

Beginning the last act (Act V,) it felt like the earlier acts hadn’t done the work required of them to motivate the last act behavior / discussions, but — I must admit — that feeling went away by the time the dialogue was complete. (Also, I give benefit of the doubt to the fact that good acting may have conveyed inklings to an audience that couldn’t be garnered from reading dialogue and stage directions.)

There was an Afterword that sketched out what happens in the lives of the characters after the events of the play. I didn’t care for it. There is a certain level of ambiguity in the ending, and I was good with that. I understand that many readers / viewers are not, however. (If you watched Christopher Nolan’s Inception and the spinning top ending drove you batty, you’d probably appreciate this Afterword. I believe the movie (My Fair Lady) tweaks the ending to make it more definitive.)

At any rate, this is a witty and evocative play and is well worth reading (or seeing.)

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