Books

[Anonymous]

Yes! Anyone wanting to read a riveting account of Mao's impact on China should read Wild Swans by Jung Chang. Chang captures life in Communist China through the voices of her grandmother, a warlord's concubine, her parents, members of the Communist elite and her own involvment with the Red Guard at the age of fourteen. I found this particularly interesting...." To arouse the young to controlled mob violence, victims were necessary. The most conspicuous targets in any school were the teachers, some of whom had already been victimized by work teams and school authorities in the last few months. Now the rebellious children set upon them. Teachers were better targets than parents, who could only have been attacked in an atomized and isolated manner. They were also more important figures of authority than parents in Chinese culture. In practically every school in China, teachers were abused and beaten, sometimes fatally. Some school children set up prisons in which teachers were tortured."

[Edit by="coneill on Feb 28, 7:38:01 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I recommend the Pillow Book by Sei Sonagon. (We saw an excerpt during the Japanese lit. class.) I read it in college in a class called Courtly Love in Medieval Literature where we studied the Pillow Book, the story of Leyli and Majnun, etc. I remember finding the Pillow Book fascinating.

[Anonymous]

I agree with some of the previous messages. I found An Inconvenient Truth to be one of the best movies I have ever seen. I guess some parents were upset about it being shown in school because of the negative comments Gore had for some Republican admininstrations and the perception that environmentalism is for Democrats. However, this is unfortunate because one of the biggest points the movie made was that Global Warming should NOT be a political issue (I believe it said "It's not a red issue or a blue issue but a green issue")! I think everyone should see this movie!

[Anonymous]

If you are a Japanese speaker, I highly recommend a book called, "Gakkyu Houkai Kara No Seikan". This basically means, "How to come back from a disastrous classroom". It is a book written by Youichi Mukoyama. This author is an educator that has become very popular in Japan. He often speaks about the issues concerning classroom management and curriculum. I enjoy his insights and methods of controlling classroom behavior. He has formed a group called, "Teacher's Organization of Skill Sharing" (TOSS) There are more than 6,000 teachers throughout Japan involved in his organization.

[Anonymous]

Hideo Kageyama has written a book called, "Gakkuryoku Teika O Kokufukusuru Hon". This title means, "How to conquer failing grades". In this book Mr. Kageyama describes methods of success for elementary and junior high school students who are struggling. Mr. Kageyama especially focuses on mathematics and Japanese language. His methods have been found to be wildly successful in Japan. He became famous for educating children in the farthest rural areas in Japan. These children usually lagged far behind the students that were educated in the city. His students were able to enter many famous universities in Japan. It is fascinating reading for those of you who speak Japanese.

[Anonymous]

Found an interesting looking book of Chinese proverbs if you're interested...

The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese

http://www.wku.edu/~yuanh/China/proverb.html

[Anonymous]

Last night I started reading the Rape of Nanking. The introduction references most of what Prof. Notehelfer told us about the Shogun and the Tokugawa clan. It was very interesting. If I hadn't had that lecture on Monday, most of the information I read wouldn't have made much sense. Has anyone else read the Rape of Nanking?

[Anonymous]

One of my library journals listed the American Library Assn's "Notable Books for 2007." In the nonfiction category is a book on China that sounds very interesting. It is called Oracle Bones: A Journey between China's Past and Present, , Peter Hessler author, by HarperCollins publisher. It was published in 2006 and is only available in hardback right now. The paperback will be out in May. I was going to buy it to read on our trip (it is available at Borders in Torrance), but it is too bulky and heavy as a hardback copy. I guess I will wait. Here is the annotation: "An American journalist compellingly contrasts China's past, as revealed through ancient artifacts, with the fiercely competitive spirit of the new generation." I rely heavily on my library journal reviews for book purchases, and the American Library Assn's list is particularly good as a resource: if a book appears on the list, it should be very good.

[Anonymous]

I am reading a book called the Wild Swan - it is a great book about 3 generations of daughters in China - and how they each survive the various changes and conflicts during the revolutionary period in China. It is unbelievable how harsh communist rule was and how strict they were in dictating what people were allowed to do in their personal lives. They dictated how many showers each person was allowed to take and weather they could take warm showers or cold showers. THe government dictated when people were and were not allowed to see their families because everything had to be exactly equal for everyone. If someone's mother came to visit, this was seen as putting family above the government. They dictated what people could eat and what they couldn't - even if someone could afford to buy more than rice. Everything had to be exactly equal. It has given me a lot of insight into the history of China. I am hoping to finish it before we leave.

[Anonymous]

Last night's lecture reminded me of a book I've recently read:The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. The professor last night mentioned that females are separated from males between the ages of 10-40. In the book, the main character mentioned often that women over 40 should be ashamed if they become pregnant. In fact, the main character's friend does give birth when she's 40 and the main character can't come to terms with it. She's so distraught, she almost stops talking to her altogether. I wonder where this idea came from?

[Anonymous]

Another note about The Good Earth. If you want to use a good example of a strong Chinese woman, this book is great. The main character completely rules her household of probably 100 family members and servants. Her husband doesn't do much to contribute.

[Anonymous]

I apologize: the last few posts where i was referring to pearl buck's novel, the good earth, is actually her novel, Pavilion of Women, instead. Sorry. The Good Earth is awesome, too.

[Anonymous]

Anything Pearl Buck has written is enjoyable and a fairly quick read too.
Currently, our resource specialist at the high school, Aileen Willoughby
is compiling a list of Chinese literature for my freshman to take advantage
of as they read a novel and watch a Chinese film to prepare for a Response
to Literature paper. I have combined this list with my own.
Some of the books I have read and others sound really
interesting. Here is the list.

The Good Earth - Pearl Buck
Sons - Buck
House Divided -Buck
China Sky -Buck
Dragon Seed - Buck
Pavilion of Women - Buck
The Woman Warrior - Maxine Hong Kingston
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
Deng Xiaoping and the Making of Modern China - Richard Evans
Tracing it Home - Lynn Pan
American Dragons: Twenty-five Asisan American Voices - Laurence Yep
The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan
Night of Many Dreams - Gail Tsukiyama
Language of Threads - Gail Tsukiyama
In The Pond - Jin
Tree of Heaven - Binstock
Red Scarf Girl -Jia
Chinese Cinderella -Mah
Red Azalea -Min
Daughter of Han -Ning
Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan -Lu
On Gold Mountain - See
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress -Dai
Donald Duk -Chin
American Born Chinese -Yang
Bonesetter's Daughter -Tan
Love Wife -Jen
Mone in the Promised Land -Jen
Wooden Fish Songs -McCunn
The Examination -Bosse
Middle Heart -Lord
Scent of the Gods -Cheong

And more to come hopefully!

-Susan Pavelka Gregg

[Anonymous]

For elementary teachers and perhaps som intermediate teachers as well, I did an
extensive book bibliography in the first seminar. You should still be able to find it there. Have fun!

[Anonymous]

Hi Alex,
I just read your posting about Flatland and Flatterland. Are these math books? What are they about? I would love to take a look at them sometime and see if I could use them in my classroom and possibly order them for Ridgecrest.
Teresa

[Author]

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