Half-German, Half-Chinese, Half-Canadian, all-bad at math, currently living to her consternation in the People's Republic of China.
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Chivalry & Sorcery 5th Edition is a comprehensive medieval fantasy role-playing game renowned for its intricate and realistic approach. The …
三字经 (The Three Character Classic), 千字文 (The Thousand Character Classic), and 孝经 (The Classic of Filial Piety) are three important …
One of the canonical works of Confucianism.
"On the other hand, Elegies of the South may be said to be the earliest collection of romantic poems written …
A collection of speeches from c. the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history expounding on political philosophy
A collection of speeches from c. the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history expounding on political philosophy
One of the canonical works of Confucianism.
Chivalry & Sorcery 5th Edition is a comprehensive medieval fantasy role-playing game renowned for its …
I initially only had the PDF and that was too much a chore to read (I hate using phones or such for reading). I finally got the hardcover in July of 2024 and read it over the summer.
Chivalry & Sorcery 5th Edition is a comprehensive medieval fantasy role-playing game renowned for its intricate and realistic approach. The …
The town psychiatrist has decided to switch everybody in Pine Cove, California, from their normal …
This is a decently funny light romp. It's comedic (and more intelligent about it than you'd expect) but it's also basically forgettable afterward. I enjoyed the time I spent reading it and it was well worth the half-price I paid for it at a bookstore's sidewalk sale.
三字经 (The Three Character Classic), 千字文 (The Thousand Character Classic), and 孝经 (The Classic of Filial Piety) are three important …
BOOK TWO OF THE CLASSIC GORMENGHAST TRILOGY
Titus Groan is seven. Heir to the crumbling …
Content warning Spoils the fate of a character, but not the whole plot.
I read Titus Groan and fell in love with the darkly whimsical world it contained. It is definitively a very dark book, however, with very little light in it. One of the only spots of light, in fact, is the cheerful (but profoundly thick and clueless) Fuchsia.
Naturally upon finishing the first book, I proceeded with Gormenghast after a short recovery period. If anything this following work is even darker and it was becoming overwhelming to read. I was finally defeated when Fuchsia died and the last ember of light in Gormenghast was extinguished and actually put the book down and stopped reading.
A decade later I re-read Titus Groan and with some trepidation Gormenghast. This time I read through to the end without becoming overwhelmed and reached the end (as well as the end of the follow-up Titus Alone).
These books are some of the absolute very few I dragged with me when I moved to China, so that should be a clue as to the esteem I hold them in. Peake has a vocabulary that rivals the Oxford English Dictionary's board of editors, and he uses it to good (if sometimes mind-spraining) effect. The books are part whimsy, part horror, part comedy, and part tragedy. But all quality and well worth reading.
One of the canonical works of Confucianism.
A collection of speeches from c. the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history expounding on political philosophy
"On the other hand, Elegies of the South may be said to be the earliest …
The Young Goddess of Fate
Autumn orchids, oh! and flowers sweet Like silver stars, oh! grow at our feet. Their leaves are green, oh! and blossoms white; Fragrance assails us, oh! left and right All women have, oh! fair ones they love. Why are you sad, oh! lonely above?
— 楚辞: Elegies of the South by 许渊冲(翻译), Xu Yuanchong (translator) (Page 59)
Mythical imagery, it seems, is used in the first stanza of this poem to illustrate a lover or desired one. Then the poem flips this on its head and portrays the fickleness of lovers as a personification of fate. The imagery used, even through translation, is first-class and the skill of the poet in navigating that transition is made manifestly clear.