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Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

"Red Star": How did the world know Mao Zedong? 》

Sun: Written by Yukihiro Ishikawa

Translated by Yuan Guangquan

Peking University Publishing Company

The first half of the book begins with a false photograph of "Mao Zedong" published in the 1937 Japanese Government Gazette, and traces the historical process of the gradual understanding of the Chinese revolutionary leaders, as well as the misunderstandings, coincidences, and deliberate concealments that occurred during this period. The second half is devoted to restoring the birth process and version flow of "Red Star Shines on China", combing its historical fate in China, the Soviet Union, Japan and other places in detail, and clarifying many misunderstandings and false accusations about this famous work in later generations.

Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

Song Chao: The Great Song Civilization in Change

Wu Hook

Published by Guangxi Normal University Press

When did China's modernization begin? There are two mainstream theories in China, the late Qing Dynasty and the late Ming Dynasty, while overseas there is a "Song Dynasty Modern Theory", which believes that as early as the Song Dynasty, China had already stirred up the tide of modernization. Since the Song Dynasty has begun to modernize and transform, why wait for nearly a thousand years, until the late Qing Dynasty, China really stepped into the threshold of modern times? The author synthesizes the various theories and constructs a unique interpretive framework that attempts to provide a rational explanation for the beginning of China's modernization.

Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

Clara and the Sun

[English] by Kazuo Ishiguro

Translated by Song You

Published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House

Clara is a solar-powered artificial intelligence robot (AF) designed to accompany children, with extremely high observation, reasoning and empathy. She sat in the shop display window, watching the every move of passers-by on the street and the children who came to browse the window. She always expected that someone would pick her up soon, but when the possibility of a permanent change of circumstances emerged, Clara was warned not to trust human promises too much. Kazuo Ishiguro explores a fundamental question through the perspective of an unforgettable narrator who observes the ever-changing modern society: What exactly is love?

Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

The World of Books on the Eve of the French Revolution

By Robert Darnton

Translated by Gao Yi and Gao Yu

Century Wenjing | Published by Shanghai People's Publishing House

The story revolves around a book sales representative from Switzerland. One day in the summer of 1778, the 29-year-old Jean-François Favarger embarked on an official trip around most of France. He was employed by the Neuchâtel publishing house, where he was tasked with visiting bookstores along the way, selling books, checking accounts, arranging shipments, and surveying markets. During his journey of more than five months, he crossed the Jura Mountains, along the Rhône River to the Mediterranean Sea, across the central region of France, and through important towns such as Lyon, Marseille, and Toulouse. Favarger documented the experiences in detail along the way. This precious travel diary is nothing less than a guided tour of the publishing market and book trade in the French provinces in the 18th century.

Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

Interview with Raymond Carver

Marshall Bruce Gentry

[United States] William L. Starr, eds

Primary 2 Translation

Published by Nanjing University Press

This book is the first collection of Carver interviews translated into Chinese, selecting 23 important interviews he received in the more than ten years before his death, clearly and completely portraying the writer's creative philosophy and creative development, truly recording his "two lives", and providing valuable first-hand information for in-depth understanding and study of Carver's people and his affairs.

In these interviews, the legendary Carver shakes off a label (especially "minimalism") and turns back into a soft-spoken, hunky man who sincerely tells grounded stories: fishing and hunting, early marriage and early childbearing, working to earn money, drinking and abstinence, writing and teaching, submitting and rejecting articles... He praised Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Hemingway, Flaubert and others he loved, and showed no mercy to some postmodernists and deconstructivists. Carver's frank, unpretentious style relaxes strangers and turns formal interviews into cordial exchanges. A short but full life shone in His Word.

Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

"Ten Years of Liangzhuang"

Liang Hong

Published by Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore

The small village of Liangzhuang has become a famous local cultural symbol in contemporary China. Following "China in Liangzhuang" and "Out of Liangzhuang", the "Liangzhuang Series" ushered in the new work "Liangzhuang Ten Years", which provides another excellent example of textual practice for contemporary non-fiction writing. Still focusing on the fate and ups and downs of individual life stories and small characters, the author records the changes of Liang Zhuang in the past ten years driven by the waves of the times with a pen full of emotions, and also conveys her new thinking on literature and life.

Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

Chinese Architecture

Ernst Burschmann

Translated by Ye Ming Du Weihua

Published by China Pictorial Publishing House

The German Berchmann traveled through 14 provinces and regions of China in 1906-1909 to conduct a comprehensive survey of the architecture of the time and took a large number of photographs. He also received the title of "Originator of Chinese Architectural Photography". This book is one of the results of his investigation of Chinese architecture, including more than 700 photos, starting from the city wall, gate, hall, roof decoration and other architectural structures themselves, and discussing the essential characteristics of Chinese architectural art with pictures and texts.

Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

The Arrogance of the Elite

By Michael Sandor

Translated by Zeng Jimao

Published by CITIC Press

Harvard Philosophy Professor Michael Sandel, best known for his book Justice, has written a new book, still on social equity, subtitled: "How should a good society define success?" The author inspires the reader to ponder a series of questions: Is a college degree a stepping stone to success? Does the more money the job contributes to society? Is it fair for a society that can succeed with hard work? How can we create a society that is less resentful and more inclusive? Sandel gave his observation and contemplation answers. The author believes that the "American Dream" is the source of the current division of American society, the arrogance of the elite and the resentment of the people at the bottom.

Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

The Academic Life of Qian Zhongshu

Aqua regia shines

Published by Zhonghua Bookstore

On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Qian Zhongshu's birth, Mr. Wang Shuizhao, an 87-year-old senior professor at Fudan University, published this book about his teacher. Mr. Wang has been working with Mr. Qian since the 1960s and has a deep understanding of Mr. Qian's academic research work and life. The book reveals valuable information and clarifies some of the relevant controversies.

Reading | Wenhui Reading Editorial Department recommended books at the end of the year

"Seven Dates with Shosoin"

The water of Yang

Published by Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing House

Shosoin Temple, Japan, is the most famous institution for collecting Tang Dynasty cultural relics outside of China, and its collections are all heirloom treasures that have been carefully preserved throughout the ages. Since 2012, the famous objectologist Yang Zhishui has rushed to Zhengcangyuan every autumn to see the Tang Dynasty cultural relics and treasures that are only exhibited once a year, and the author regards this seven consecutive years of visiting and inspection as a "date", and records the harvest of the inspection in detail and rigorously examines it. The length of the book is not thick, but the graphics are exquisite and unique.

Edit: Jin Jiuchao

Editor-in-Charge: Zhu Zifen

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