October booklist

It’s already November, cold and dry. What happened last month? A long holiday at home. Shitty weather in Beijing. And… did some reading.


Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick

A few decades ago China was as closed as its neighbor North Korea. It’s interesting that China today has become one of the destinations to which North Koreans are trying to escape. People may have doubts, complaints or grudges. After reading the book, I feel thankful for my circumstances. If breathing foul air is the price for connections to the outside world, I would like to pay.

Waiting by Ha Jin

Though the story was set in rural China in the 60s, the language is kind of westernized. Some sentences didn’t sound like what a Chinese farmer would say. It’s a little weird, like watching an English dubbed Chinese movie.

Zen Baggage: a pilgrimage to china by Bill Porter

There is so much baggage we burden ourselves with over the years that keeps us from seeing things the way they are. Some baggage we carry with us for a single thought, some for years, and some for lifetimes. But there isn't one piece that isn't our own creation.