Chinese New Year holidays is a time where I re-read my favourite books. In school days from Form 1 to 4, I would borrow from…
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Tag: Literary Criticism & Theory
The Poetry of Du Fu and Li Bai
Tu Fu / Du Fu and Li Bai/ Li Po/ Li Bo are two famous late Tang poets. Li Po (701-762 AD) is what he…
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Kang-shi Emperor’s Southern Tours: A Historical Perspective
The Kang-shi Emperor made six famous Southern Tours from 1684 to 1707. The days spent on each of the 6 tours were 60, 70, 102,…
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A Glimpse into Luxury: Tsao Chan’s Recollection
When Tsao Chan left Nanking and moved to Peking after his adopted father Tsao Fu was removed as the Textile Commissioner for Nanking by the…
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By Bernard Lewis
Bernard Lewis is the doyen of western historians of the Middle East. This is his memoir. Written in an engaging language in 2012 at the…
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The Dream of the Red Chamber (Part 3)
A title (out of five) that Cao Xueqin considered using for his magnum opus is The Twelve Beauties of Jinling. The 5-volume set by Penguin…
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The Dream of the Red Chamber (Part 1)
It is now more or less settled that the author of chapters 1 to 80 of the Dream of the Red Chamber is Cao Xueqin,…
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By Kazuo Ishiguro
Kazuo Ishiguro is a Japanese born writer resident in UK. His book The Remains of the Day made his reputation. From that moment, he could…
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V.S. Naipaul – The Writer
The late Sir VS Naipaul is one of my favourite writers. I do not read his fiction as the settings, in colonial Caribbean, is not…
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The Story of the Stone
This is the complete 5 volume of the Dream of the Red Chamber also known as The Story of the Stone. It has 120 chapters.…
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