Solomon’s Comments (group member since Jul 02, 2020)

Solomon’s comments from the #ClassicsCommunity 2021 Reading Challenge group.

Would anyone like to buddy read 1984?

I would recommend we open a discord server. Its easier to organize activities there and I’ve seen many successful discord book servers that are still operational today.

To start with, there are many writers from the Kuomintang era and the early communist era, such as Xiao Hong, Eileen Chang, Mao Dun, Lao She and more. Chinese literature in those time periods are pretty straight-forward (differs from writer to writer), many incorporate regional dialects (such as the Northeastern and Beijing dialects) in their writing. Many writers describe corruption, poverty, sexism, the Japanese Occupation, and how the Chinese people were conformists. I personally would recommend Xiao Hong, because I love her raw writing style. She writes a lot of her books in a child's perspective, and I think it is a smart decision because it captures the lives of people in a very relatable manner. One of her books is Tales of Hulan River; it tells us how people lived in her (Xiao Hong's) hometown. Unfortunately she died in Hong Kong when she is around 30 :(

I would definitely recommend Chinese literature, if you’re looking for works by non-white people. I am Chinese and I would definitely recommend the works by the authors during and after the language reforms, for example Lu Xun (not saying that more classical and dated Chinese works are bad, but “baihuawen” literature is an easier start). His Call to Arms is a collection of prose that I love because it provides a lot of insight towards the nature of Chinese people and the nature of humans in general.

I just got into American classics and Of Mice and Men is definitely my favorite American classic (currently). The language is so simple to the point that it is so raw, impactful and straight to the point.