Cramming on China

I have been trying to read up on China, for obvious reasons. Life is too frazzled with the packing to do this in any kind of systematic way, so I have been cruising Barnes & Noble and grabbing what interests me. I just finished a wonderful book called American Shaolin, by Matthew Polly. The book recounts Polly’s sometimes harrowing adventures as he studied Kung Fu for a year with the famous Shaolin Monks. This is vicarious travel at its best, with many “better him than me” moments. His account of a horrific visit to a rural hospital was particularly memorable. It was truly awful experience, but Polly still makes you laugh, somewhat guilty, when he tells the story. Polly clearly had a great deal of affection and respect for his coaches and fellow students. This goodwill comes through in his writing, but the book is still gritty and unsentimental. I recommend it.

In a very different vein, Martha and I have been listening to Simon Winchester read his book, The Man Who Loved China, about pioneering China scholar Joseph Needham. We listened to a good chunk of the book on our recent trip to Tulsa. We liked it so much that we just bought a copy for our library. More on this later.

All Blessings