The Big Red book of Modern Chinese Literature: Writings from the Mainland by Yunte Huang

This is a massive, and important book that helps you explore some of the most important Chinese literature from 1912. I have savored this book over about 1 year and just recently finished it. This book is dense. It is no sit-on-the-subway-and-read-it-casually-book. This is a serious scholarly work.

Each writer that is featured has a bio page that tells you why the author was considered important enough to put int he book, and tells you about their notable works. Reading this book will expose you to the big names in Chinese literature.

I have nothing negative to say about the book except that I wish the poetry was bilingual. I’m not sure how much that would benefit many people but as someone living in Taiwan, and has a small knoweldge of Chinese, I’d like to see how the original poetry flows.

NOTE: I remember I bought this a the Big Bad Wolf sale in Taiwan years ago. This is the type of massive history book that I usually read on my ereader but it was only $99 NTD which is a steal for a 600+ page hardcover book. I wonder when will Big Bad Wolf ever come back to Taiwan? I hope soon!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #4 in my 2023 Reading Challenge