Tuesday, April 11, 2006

River Town

I've been reading Father Brown for ages – that's what I get for starting the complete works, I guess. I haven't made much headway with Answering God, although I like it. But it needs to be read at a table with a Bible and journal and pen at hand, and I've been trying to read it in bed. I've picked up River Town again, a favorite of mine that I'd lent out and just got back. If you're looking for a peek into life in China, which bears some resemblance to life in Taiwan, I recommend it. Of course the political situation is not the same, but many of the other social traits are intact in the Chinese population here. It's a very funny book, covering two years in the life of a Peace Corps volunteer in an isolated Sichuan town – his reaction to the people, their reaction to him, his struggles with the language and culture. It's excellent; I'd love to see a sequel. The author, Peter Hessler, had an article in a recent New Yorker about life in Beijing, so I'm hoping another book is in the works. I'll have to look for it this summer.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

this was a great book! did you recommend it to me? i'm having visions at your everett apartment of talking about it.
i checked out your cooking website and wanted to comment, but unlike this blog, it didn't get me the option to choose a non-blogger identity. i would have to sign up. may do that in the future though, because chris likes your blog better than ours!
this was the comment to be on the food site under the savory french toast:
Mmm... this sounds great! Can I still cook it if I don't live in Taiwan? though i wish i could run up to your apartment and see how you make it...
keep the posts coming!
love ya!

Kat said...

Thanks, Christine -- I changed the setting so anyone can leave comments (but word verification is still required). I've been happy with blogger.com overall. The site is easy to use, but sometimes you can't get through while they're doing upgrades and other techy stuff. Only rarely, though.

Wish you could run upstairs and see us, too. : )

Anonymous said...

Hello ! my name is Lucie, I'm French and I am going to study at the NSYSU in Kaohsiung next year. I saw the photos you made, they are all great !
Would you be okay with telling me about life over there ? I can leave you my mail adress : luciebs@free.fr
thank you if you have time for writing to me,
if not, good luck for everything !

Lucie