What a great opportunity -- thanks. This boof is now on my list.

The only 'glimpse' I have ever had into life in North Korea came from the documentary, "A State of Mind,"that follows two young gymnasts who are training for the Mass Games.

What are you reading next?

Marya: I just finished another excellent book about Zimbabwe, written by the son of white farmers who, remarkably, still remain on their land in the NE of the Country around Mutare. (Similar area, I think, to the family in MUKIWA and A CROCODILE EATS THE SUN)

Here is the book; lots of humor interspersed with the horrifying tale; recommended.


http://www.amazon.com/Last-Resort-Memoir-Zimbabwe/dp/0307407977/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264678582&sr=1-1


Here is a review of the North Korea book I mentioned, along with reviews of two other new ones about that country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/books/27book.html

I just re-read, FINDING GEORGE ORWELL IN BURMA. Very good!

I need some tips for books to take on the Pandaw cruise; I want to bring about 10 books (2 week cruise) and leave them there when I am done.

Can't you just see the OP scattering boofs hither and yon in homage to Hansel and Gretel?

How odd - that's the (library) boof I'm reading right now!

Also just bought "In the Footsteps of Marco Polo" which looks good. http://www.amazon.com/Footsteps-Marco-Polo-Companion-Television/dp/0742556832

If LAST RESORT is even close to as absorbing as WHEN A CROCODILE EATS THE SUN, then I am very eager to get hold of a copy.

As far as reccos for the cruise/EKS Floating Library, I assume that you want titles that are available in paperback so that they will be light to pack and easy to leave behind. What other specifications -- should no one title be a great big brick of a book or does that matter? Are you looking for Asian-themed reads or something else or a mix? Both fiction and nonfiction?

Much of what I have read recently probably goes on the "Don't Bother" list, but I may have some ideas.

thursdaysd -- I have one of the other Marco Polo books sitting on my pile -- MARCO POLO: FROM VENICE TO XANADU.

eks, I have a whole list of Burma books I bought and read before my trip to Burma. (It's posted as Kathie's Burma Bookshelf) I should also add to it the additional books I've found since. There is so much excellent literature abaout Burma!

Marya: Maybe not quite as good as Crocodile but also less sad. Still very, very good. I would almost say essential.

Yes, I need to take paperbacks and would prefer Asia themes for the Eks Floating Library, but will consider anything. Nothing to difficult to read or scholarly. But no junk. I like memoirs. The boof I mentioned in the OP, and the Godwin books and the Last Resort are just my style.

Hopefully, people will be willing to swap and will have books (in English) on the cruise. I don't care if the books are long. Do not particularly like short stories. I like true crime, too. When the book combines true crime and a faraway destination--bingo!! (Think White Mischief)

Kathie: Your list is terrific! I referred to it and have order a couple of books to take along. I think that I can buy some inexpensive paperbacks in Rangoon, right? (Maybe not too many of the books about Burma, though--correct?)

eks: have you read "Ultimate Journey" by Richard Bernstein? Memoir and travelog.

I didn't see inexpensive paperbacks in Rangoon, but I didn't go to a bookstore. We bought a couple of books about Burma when we were there... one on some Bagan Temples and one of historic photos of Burma. I have heard others say they found some good books on Burma in bookstores in Rangoon.

Have any of you read "Burmese Nights" by George Orwell? He was a British police officer of some sort in Burma. How he arrived at "1984" I don't know.

What is a "boof"?

Indianpearl- a boof is a book. This stems from a thread that I started a while back with the misspelled title of a Boof Report. Somehow, the word has taken on a life of its own and perseveres over time. I suspect that it has something to do with how goofy the word boof sounds as opposed to the seriousness of books. Feel free to adopt it as your own. The OP has.

old in-joke among Fodor's friends. Means book. Sometimes these posts need translators.

Indianapearl:

“Boof” is Fodorspeak for book. There are regional dialects even in cyberspace, I guess.

Ekscrunchy:

Coming up with Asian-themed memoirs that you have not already read is rather a tall order, I’m afraid, since you obviously have a voracious appetite for books. Kathie and Craig and others have provided a great list for Burma -- I have been taking notes.

As to China fare, I think that you have rounded up and read all the usual native-born and ex-pat suspects such as Jung Chang (especially WILD SWANS), Nien Cheng (LIFE AND DEATH IN SHANGHAI), Peter Hessler, et al.

You probably know Ha Jin's work.

All true so far?

Since you enjoy memoirs, let me relentlessly plug two of my favorite recent reads about China even though we discussed them awhile back because you may have missed them: John Pomfret's CHINESE LESSONS and Michael Meyer's LAST DAYS IN OLD BEIJING.

Lisa See's books are extremely light fare but shed light on interesting aspects of Chinese culture such as "secret women's writing" and opera. SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN, ON GOLD MOUNTAIN (Chinese-American setting in California), and PEONY IN LOVE appealed to me more than SHANGHAI GIRLS. See’s books are ultra-light vacation reads.

There are better reccos than I can provide on SEA, Japan etc., elsewhere on this board, so moving farther afield...

AFTER YOU, MARCO POLO by Jean Bowie Schor is very dated (mid twentieth century) but highly enjoyable. Like Rory Stewart (THE PLACES IN BETWEEN) and Helen Thayer (WALKING THE GOBI), she was an intrepid spirit whose adventures (in remote places like Afghanistan) might charm you.

I tend to like books whose narrative traces an up- or down-river journey. Edward Gargan's THE RIVER'S TALE: A YEAR ON THE MEKONG and Simon Winchester's THE RIVER AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD come happily to mind, as well as something by a fellow named Dogster. Perhaps you can write your own after your Pandaw experience!

A few years ago, I delighted in reading Jill Kerr Conway's three-volumes -- THE ROAD FROM COORAIN, TRUE NORTH & A WOMAN'S EDUCATION -- so if you are in the mood for the memoirs of a strong Australian woman educator who relocated to the USA where she led a respected women's college (Smith), you might enjoy her work. I suspect that you have read her already though.

You are interested in Africa so I'll ask if you know Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's work. Her HALF OF A YELLOW SUN is a novel that brings to life the Biafran independence movement of the late 1960s and teaches something about Nigerian life and politics. Other African titles that would appeal to a memoir lover include KAFFIR BOY by Mark Mathabane and DON'T LET'S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT: AN AFRICAN CHILDHOOD, by Alexandra Fuller. Oh, and did you ever read Bryce Courtenay's THE POWER OF ONE (set in South Africa in the early to mid twentieth century)?

Moving to northern Africa, have you ever dipped into Naguib Mahfouz's CAIRO TRILOGY (PALACE WALK, PALACE OF DESIRE & SUGAR STREET)? It requires a big investment of time but is very worthwhile.

OK, I have gotten so far afield of Asian memoirs, that I am going to take complete license here.

A deceptively simple yet powerful story arising out of America’s tortured heartland can be found in Kent Haruf's PLAINSONG. It is a bittersweet story about people who have been terribly bruised by family and an insensitive culture but who struggle to build community one relationship at a time. Very moving. I heard about it years after its publication simply because it was reported to be on Obama’s 2009 summer reading list.

You may want some perspective on wild, untamed America while you sit gazing out upon Burmese riverbanks. Some wonderful recent books about “home” available in paperback include Al Gore’s splendid THE ASSAULT ON REASON, Paul Krugman’s THE CONSCIENCE OF A LIBERAL, and Gillian Tett’s FOOL’S GOLD: HOW THE BOLD DREAM OF A SMALL TRIBE AT J P MORGAN WAS CORRUPTED BY WALL STREET GREED AND UNLEASHED A CATASTROPHE. All are very accessible to the lay audience, includimg an audience member on holiday.

Gore, I think, reads better than he comes across on television and his argument is key to understanding so much of what is wrong in our culture. To me, this is a brilliant book. One knows how well Krugman – another hero -- writes for non-economists (i.e., most of us) from his (and here’s my bias) magnificent “New York Times” columns. You probably know Tett as the global financial markets writer for the London “Financial Times” -- the British version of her book curiously has a different subtitle that doesn’t invoke JPM. If you are already understand the financial derivatives market and are easily conversant with terminology like ‘collateralized debt obligation’ and ‘super-senior risk,’ then you don’t need Tett, but I certainly did.

The above is all so grim that I am going to close by heading straight to Paris and the French countryside because that is what so many Americans with stress and heartbreak do, no? (Plus, you recently posted on Paris.) First of all, make certain that you haven’t missed SUITE FRANCAISE by the tragically killed Irene Nemirovsky. (I am betting a great deal on your having read it though.) If you didn’t catch THE PIANO SHOP ON THE LEFT BANK: DISCOVERING A FORGOTTEN PASSION IN A PARIS ATELIER when it came out in 2001, you may like to look it up. It is a delight for anyone who loves Paris and classical music. I suspect that its quiet charms would appeal to you. If you are at all curious about why Muriel Barbery’s THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG was such a ‘succes fou’ in Paris, have a look. It is not great literature, but it provides some very stimulating insight into both archetypally Parisian philosophic habits of mind and the cultural turmoil roiling just barely beneath the surface of that glorious city.

"First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

This book will probably make you cry, but it was really good.

Thursday: I have not read ULTIMATE JOURNEY and will check it out today.

I have a copy of BURMESE DAYS by Orwell to take along. Supposedly, many Burmese believe that his trilogy--BURMESE DAYS, ANIMAL FARM, 1984--tells the story of modern Burma.

Marya: Yes. Like HA Jin very much. I bought WILD SWANS before going to China and could not really get into it, but I do have it here and if you recommend, will look at it again. Have read CHINESE LESSONS on your recomMendation, I think, but have noT read LIFE AND DEATH IN OLD SHANGHAI OR LAST DAYS IN OLD BEIJING.

I LOVE books that follow rivers. Speaking of Africa, there are two about foreigners traveling up the river from Kinshasa. I loved EAST ALONG THE EQUATOR by Helen Winternitz and there is another one I have to look up for you. Rory Nugent also wrote one about Zaire..

Love those Alexandra Fuller books. Do you know she now lives in Wyoming?

I have to eat now and will come back to reread and absorb all the great info here..many thanks to all who responded!

Another river book: "River Town - Two Years on the Yangtze" by Peter Hessler.

I agree that Jung Chang's writing style in WILD SWANS can be off-putting. The book is sometimes overwritten, sometimes repetitious. I am a huge fan of the device of using three generations of women in one family in China as a way of telling the story of tumultuous cultural change though. The grandmother was a warlord's concubine with bound feet, the mother was a relatively privileged Maoist, and the daughter/author was the first person from the PRC to go to the UK (1978) and earn a doctorate (in the very early 1980s). Pretty dramatically effective scaffolding on which to hang a big story. You might want to give it another try.

Nien Chang's book is a wonderful choice for a memoir lover. She was a British-educated (LSE) privileged citizen of Shanghai and widow of a Shell Oil executive who was serving as an advisor to Shell when the Communists consolidated power. You can imagine how someone with her class background might have been treated by the Red Guard... This is a book about which you can use the terms "riveting" and "harrowing" with great confidence. Her story is a very painful one but gives you tremendous insight into the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution and tremendous respect for her. She finished out her life in Washington, D.C., and just died a year or so ago. Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Death-Shanghai-Nien-Cheng/dp/014010870X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264773656&sr=1-1

Thursdaysd's suggestion of Peter Hessler's RIVER TOWN is a superb one. His account of teaching English for a couple of years in the mid-to-late 90's in Fuling will get you way off the conventional tourist track. You probably know Hessler as a gifted "New Yorker" writer. His wife, Leslie Chang, wrote FACTORY GIRLS about the migration from villages to city in contemporary China, otherwise known as the "greatest migration in human history."

Meyer's LAST DAYS IN OLD BEIJING is another good choice for a lover of memoir. It also catches China at a time of transition. You really feel that you are living in the hutong along with fellow westerner,Meyer, so if you are at all intrigued by what is left of those old communities in ever-modernizing Beijing, have a look.

Marya: Many, many thanks! I will put both the Meyer and the Nien Chang book on my list.
I have read Peter Hessler's China books and liked them immensely. And FACTORY GIRLS was quite good, too.

Please continue to post your ideas...I am now off to Amazon!

Oh--forgot about CHINA ROAD--very, very good. Maybe I've already mentioned this one....


http://www.amazon.com/China-Road-Journey-Future-Rising/dp/0812975243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264802087&sr=1-1

BREAKING NEWS:

New Peter Hessler China book to be published next month!

http://www.amazon.com/Country-Driving-Journey-Through-Factory/dp/0061804096/ref=pd_sim_b_10

Great news! I'll definitely be watching for it.

Yes, I did read, and enjoyed, Gifford's CHINA ROAD, most likely at your suggestion. I think that others here -- Gpanda? -- did as well. In like vein, I wonder if you managed to get ahold of James Fallows' book, POSTCARDS FROM TOMORROW SQUARE, as well and whether you liked it.

If you ever come across any more food memoirs worth recommending such as the ones we talked about last year (e.g., by Jen Liu and Fuschia Dunlop), please share them since I would love to get back to some of that.

This evening's dishy treat is going to be Janice Y. K. Lee's THE PIANO TEACHER, set in Kong Kong just before and after WW2.

Marya: This is a great resource for sharing book tips. We seem to have very similar tastes in reading. I did read the Fallows' book, and also THE PIANO TEACHER. Both excellent! I am really excited about the new Hessler--it would have made terrific trip reading but it is coming out just after I leave. I thought the New Yorker article (s?) about driving in China were great!

You have provided so many good reads here and I can't thank you, and everyone else who contributed ideas, enough--let's keep this going. And I will be sure to post more food-related books when I find them. I have the "new" R.W.Apple book of his collected writings on reserve at the library.


http://www.amazon.com/Far-Flung-Well-Fed-Writing/dp/0312325770/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264852582&sr=1-1


And, although I did not have such high hopes for the book because the reviews talked about the emphasis on his eating "disorder" I loved Frank Bruni's food memoir, BORN ROUND. Charming.

http://www.amazon.com/Born-Round-Secret-History-Full-time/dp/1594202311/ref=pd_sim_b_10


Also, I read this a long time ago so do not remember much except that I liked it very much:

MY YEAR OF MEATS by Ruth Ozeki


http://www.amazon.com/My-Year-Meats-Ruth-Ozeki/dp/0140280464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264852772&sr=1-1

...also, I probably mentioned this before, but here is a book about a South African journey that I highly recommend:


http://www.amazon.com/Are-We-There-Yet-Childhood/dp/0702233846/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264853000&sr=1-1


This one is nearly not so well written but the journey he took, around the perimeter of Africa on a bike, makes it worth the read:



http://www.amazon.com/Around-Africa-Bicycle-Riaan-Manser/dp/1868423514/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264853063&sr=1-2-spell

How much Amazon stock must the OP own?

I love this thread!

Thank you so much. I got a lot of good reading tips for my upcoming trip to china.
sorry i can't contribute much yet!

dina

I signed in to ask/search for good book recommendations about China before we travel there in September. Thanks for this treasure trove. I love memoirs, so it looks like this list will keep me occupied. If there are any especially good traditional "travel" books, I'd also like to know about them. I'm SURE Fodor's is the best, but any other recommendations? Since we'll be on a tour (Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Yangtze Riv) we don't need to do research on hotels or even many restaurants. The background info will be most valuable but I like maps and contemporary info too. Thanks!!!

This might not be the right thread to bring this up but with ekscrunchy talking about taking 10 books on a trip -- have any of you considered the kindle? I also like to take a lot of books along when I travel & with restrictions on luggage weight getting stricter every day I'm starting to think about getting one.

I haven't started researching yet - not sure for example if the type of books mentioned about (great suggestions by the way) would be available in that format or if it's more geared to current bestsellers. Or if battery life would be a factor especially on a long flight. Would stink to run out - you'd have to have at least one 'real' book as backup.

I really love books - the physical, tactile experience is part of the joy of reading them and am turned off by reading them electronically but for practical purposes like travel maybe it's something to look into.

I've started loading audio books on my iPod, along with travel podcasts, and taking that. Not my favorite format, but light - and free since I borrow the audio books from the library.

Any suggestion about book only for China Travel Guide , thank you.

Still awaiting a publishing date for CHOLON NEAR FORGOTTEN

www.vincentlam.ca/cholon-near-forgotten.php

There's an interesting chapter on Chinese drivers in Ted Conover's "The Routes of Man" - along with other good chapters on Peru, Ladakh, Kenya, Israel/Palestine and Nigeria.

Ok--I have one more to add to this list:


This is a novel. Many of you have read this already, I am certain, but I read it on the ship in Burma and thought it was excellent so will mention; set in Burma and India, this book tells the story about Burma's last king and his descendants.

http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Palace-Novel-Amitav-Ghosh/dp/0375758771/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271590125&sr=1-1



More on North Korea in film--three new films on the subject:



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/movies/28chapel.html



Thursday, I put the Ted Conover book on my library list. I read his book about Sing Sing prison and thought it was excellent.

Peter Hessler has another article in this week's New Yorker, about his move from China back to the US. Much more interesting than I have made it sound here!

Ah yes, that boat in Burma... I know Gpanda is a little preoccupied right now, but don't you think he has the clock ticking on that?

Tick, tick, tick...

Ha Ha. My clock is broken! Not kidding--I just turned on the computer to look for a clock repair place in NYC! Ok, ok...I will get around to this pretty soon.....let me get my internal clock fixed first!

Eks, I'm glad you enjoyed the Glass Palace. A great read for your cruise. I found so many fabulous books on Burma.

By the way, I am awaiting your trip report. I'd say with bated breath, but I'd expire long before the report appears.

Begging for additional time is unbecoming. I note that your computer probably has a clock in the lower right portion. Read. read. read. doesn't anybody write anymore?

Very funny, both of you! I have no shame so I am begging! I will try to get started soon...

And Mr. Smartie Pants, the computer clock is on the UPPER right!

"the computer clock is on the UPPER right!" - do you have a Mac? All my PCs have had it at the bottom right.

Dying to hear how the boat trip went, and whether you got the flight to China, so while not turning blue am considering ordering a coffin.

I think eks is referring to a windup clock she has placed on the upper right hand side of the computer monitor

Lol, Hanuman! That must be the one that's broken - that's why she didn't hear it ticking.

I remind everyone thatr the OP's spatial orientation may not be entirely accurate. Her report of a clock in the upper right (ignoring the smarty pants comment except to note that I would rather have smart pants than stupid pants) has about a 25% chance of being correct.

If one has schrunched up one's face, there is a good chamnce that the lines of vision have been effected.

Very funny! I am not very tech savvy. But I do know that there is a clock on the upper right.

Ho Ho Ho...turning blue. Ordering coffins. Windup clocks.

Well, the joke is on all of you! I started my report!

eks, I'm also a Mac person, and of course, the clock is on the upper right.

I just read Nothing to Envy as well - a book(f) of mindblowing oral histories, an absolute must read for anyone interested in the "other" Asia.

Link to a review of "Burmese Lessons" - http://tinyurl.com/287y5sh

Marya: I finally got around to the Nien Chang book and I want to recommend this fascinating and frightening memoir to anyone with an interest in China or recent Chinese history; I cannot put it down:

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Death-Shanghai-Nien-Cheng/dp/014010870X



http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2009/11/nien-cheng/29708/

Sorry, the author is Nien ChEng. I know that Marya linked the book up above but it is so good I think it is worth another mention:


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/books/07cheng.html

Oh -- I am so glad that you picked it up. Wasn't she extraordinary?

I am still carrying around the copy of "Nothing to Envy" that I bought when you recommended it way back when. I hope to finally read it on this trip (I am back in Beijing after spending 19 hours just getting from Boston to Newark the other day.) I also have Hannah Pakula's "The Last Empress," a book about Mme Chiang Kai-Shek.

Extraordinary! You know, I had bought it before I went to Burma with Pandaw. I bought so many books that I cut a few at the last minute (this was a mistake, since I was then forced to pillage the library on the ship which, thankfully, had some good stuff but not enough). What an incredible woman to have withstood all that for so many years. I am not at the part when she has just been released....

I find myself waking up at night and turning on the light to read another chapter. I had no idea of the terrors of this period in China. It all seems surreal, that mindless following of what now seem ridiculous precepts..

Do read "Nothing to Envy" and let me know what you think--that one is also gripping and has more than a few parallels with the Cheng book.

And most of all, have fun in China (I am most curious to know if the Nien Cheng book is on sale in China today)and have a happy and healthy New Year!

Happy 2011! You just read Nien Cheng's book? Our families were good friends and I went to the same school as Meiping (not the same class). Email me if you'd like to know more about Auntie Cheng.

S. Not only did I read the book but I was absolutely swept away by it. The fact that your family knew her is just incredible. I finished it about a week ago and cannot get the story out of my head...she was such a courageous and brilliant woman and one who did not let bitterness wreck the many years that remained after her liberation. It would seem that she did resurrect her life after emigrating to the US and that she had many friends here, but it did strike me as sad that she had very little relationship with her siblings...

I wondered if the book was available in China (??) and what the official take on the period is now...



Do you have any plans to come east anytime soon??

Eks,

They did not have Nien Cheng's book at the 'Foreign Languages Bookstore' on Wangfujing when I was there yesterday. I hope to get over to the Bookworm (Beijing branch) later this week and will check to see if they have it in stock there.

While you grapple with Nien Cheng's remarkable story, I am trying to recover my balance after charging through NOTHING TO ENVY. Now I see why you gave it your "highest recommendation." I am overwhelmed and need to settle down before I can say anything even half-way useful about this riveting book.

Any of you Fodorites looking for an exceptionally stimulating read to start 2011 would do well to pick up the title with which eks launched this thread -- NOTHING TO ENVY: ORDINARY LIVES IN NORTH KOREA by journalist Barbara Demick. Wow.

The only glimpse that I have ever gotten into North Korea before this was offered by the wonderful documentary, A STATE OF MIND, that follows two teen-aged gymnasts as they prepare for competition and the privilege of performing before Kim Jong-il. Also highly recommended.

Anything else to recommend?

EK: Nien Cheng wrote her book in english (I have an autographed copy), it was translated into dozens of languages but I haven't seen one in chinese. Officially, the Cultural Revolution is seldom mentioned, it's called the period of unrest, older people speak in hushed tones of their terrifying experiences.

DD is now working in LA so I don't have plans to come east soon. When are you visiting California? We had a lovely evening with wiselindag and her DH last year at a shanghai restaurant in SF chinatown.

Nien CHeng's book has haunted since I read it years ago. I'm returning to Shanghai this year and because of this thread think I'll re-read it and add "Nothing to Envy" to my iPad reader..Thanks for the recommendation Eks.

Happy: So glad you are set to return to Shanghai! Where else do you plan to visit on that trip?


This will surely not be on the level of the Nien Cheng or the Demick book, but I will take it on the plane with me to Spain. I really need to get an iPad!


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Found-Russia-Encounters-Heartland/dp/1848850239





I read another one about Russia (Siberia) last month and will recommend:


http://www.amazon.com/Travels-Siberia-Ian-Frazier/dp/0374278725

Any suggestions relevant to South Korea? Looking for things to put on my Kindle. (I'll be getting "Nothing to Envy," I'm sure.)

Still Life with Rice by Helie Lee

The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim

Both are excellent!

Thank you for the quick and helpful response, Gailmo! I've just downloaded The Calligrapher's Daughter.

Just to add to this handy threaad: a book I enjoyed before going to Japan a few years ago was Learning To Bow, by Bruce Feiler (memoir of an ESL teacher in a Japanese town).

topping this thread of boofs in memory of the Panda...I will add recommendations as soon as I can remember what I read recently!