When a Kindle Won’t Do: The Folio Society’s New Asia Volumes
It’s always been a pleasure to handle a Folio Society book, and having three of them at one time, all on Asian themes, was even better.
“The Good Son” by Jeong You-jeong
Yu-jin wakes up after a late night out smelling blood. It turns out he’s caked in it and there are bloody footprints all over the floor. He staggers downstairs and finds a body. His mother’s body.
“Number One Chinese Restaurant” by Lillian Li
There’s a moment, late in Lillian Li’s debut novel, where one of the main characters shouts in frustration at her current situation and, in particular, at the owner-manager of the restaurant where she works:
“Patriot Number One: American Dreams in Chinatown” by Lauren Hilgers
Immigration reform’s prominence in global news doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. It’s an especially heated topic in the United States when immigrants aren’t filling such sought-after professions as nuclear engineers and information technology experts. Regardless of one’s position on immigration, however, it’s surely in everyone’s best interest for all immigrants to succeed…
“The Specter of Global China: Politics, Labor, and Foreign Investment in Africa” by Ching Kwan Lee
The predominant narrative on Sino-African relations is relatively simple. After more than three decades of sustained economic expansion, China is an economic juggernaut, with trade and investment overflowing its borders and into the global market. One the one hand, China, with its overcapacity, seeks new markets and new places from which to secure natural resources…
“Vietnamese Memories: Leaving Saigon” by Clément Baloup
Bandes dessinées are a francophone tradition; to call them “comic books” is do to them a disservice. The English term “graphic novel” isn’t quite right either, since a bande dessinée might, as is this one, be non-fiction; and while the artwork in contemporary English-language comics is not as dire as it once was, the emphasis…
“The Next Factory of the World: How Chinese Investment is Reshaping Africa” by Irene Yuan Sun
Africa is, as far as development is concerned, the next frontier. China is leading the charge in setting up factories and businesses across the continent. McKinsey’s Irene Yuan Sun writes in The Next Factory of the World that this will help Africa become a “global manufacturing powerhouse” as it follows China’s path to industrialization. However…
“The China Mission: George Marshall’s Unfinished War, 1945-1947” by Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
The title of Daniel Kurtz-Phelan’s new book about US General George Marshall’s efforts to bring about peace between the Nationalists and Communists in China after the end of the Second World War should be “The Impossible China Mission”. Marshall’s ill-fated mission was the product of wishful thinking and hubris on the part of policymakers in…
“The Stolen Bicycle” by Wu Ming-Yi
Approximately 180km east of the Middle Kingdom sits an island state commonly referred to as “The Bicycle Kingdom”. If you live in Japan, Europe, or North America and own a bicycle, there is a good chance that a number of its parts were manufactured in Taiwan. From ultra-light carbon fibre frames and the latest electric,…
“Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia” by Clive Hamilton
In January 2018, Australian Senator Sam Dastyari of the Labor Party resigned. It was the culmination of a year-long scandal involving foreign donations and influence peddling. In his support for China’s claims in the South China Sea, Dastyari disagreed with the China policy of both the government and the Australian Labor Party. It was revealed…
“Terrestrial Lessons: The Conquest of the World as Globe” by Sumathi Ramaswamy
According to the ancient Indian Hindu scriptures called the Puranas, the Earth is shaped like a disc and it rests upon different animals in different versions—the cobra, the elephant or the turtle. In her new book Terrestrial Lessons, historian Sumathi Ramaswamy says that in the process of signing treaties and carrying out diplomatic negotiations with…
“Building Sustainability in East Asia: Policy, Design and People” by Vincent S Cheng and Jimmy C Tong
Green buildings aren’t just the energy equivalent of a free lunch—they’re like a meal that users get paid for eating, to paraphrase energy guru Amory Lovins. They are so much cheaper to operate that they pay for themselves, and then some. They also are healthier and more pleasant places to live, work, and play.
Behind the Great Firewall: two new books
The internet was supposed to have delivered China into freedom by now. But that optimistic consensus has been proven wrong so far. In their books, academics Rongbin Han and Margaret Roberts, attempt to explain why.
“The Emissary” by Yoko Tawada
In one nightmarish vignette from his 1990 film Dreams the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa imagines how life might look and feel following a nuclear meltdown in Japan. With the breach of six nuclear reactors, Japan’s residents flee to the sea, where most of them eventually drown, leaving a handful of humans amidst a radioactive…
“GO” by Kazuki Kaneshiro
That there are over 800,000 ethnic Koreans living permanently in Japan, including fourth and fifth generation Korean-Japanese, is not well known outside of Asia. The historical details of how the Koreans came to live in Japan is both fascinating and tragic, mainly because of the conscript labor forced on Koreans during Japanese occupation of the…
