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apatrick's review
4.0
I knew very little about the Chinese writing system before reading this, and though I still have a lot to learn, this was pretty informative. If you have ever wondered how China (and other countries that use Chinese characters) adapted to modern printing, then computer-based communication, this is a great source. It's pretty accessible, and I learned a lot about Chinese history over the past several hundred years, with a special focus on political history of the 20th century.
There's such a huge gap between alphabetical and ideographical writing systems that this is probably going to be a tough read if you have zero background on the subject, but I'm not subtracting a star for that, because I think this is still aimed at a popular audience; at least, it's not so technical or academic that it's tough to understand.
There's such a huge gap between alphabetical and ideographical writing systems that this is probably going to be a tough read if you have zero background on the subject, but I'm not subtracting a star for that, because I think this is still aimed at a popular audience; at least, it's not so technical or academic that it's tough to understand.
machen27's review
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
For a book which is about the history of the Chinese language and its incorporation into digital communication, the text is surprisingly light and easy to read. I certainly found it informative, but felt that it failed to engage with the historical context. The significant instabilities of 20th century China and growing pains of the computer revolution are basically a backdrop for the mostly disconnected story about individuals trying to preserve a piece of their culture. This last idea is the core of this books' thesis: only by the labor of passionate defenders of the Chinese language has it survived to today as it is. I think the examples drawn from history are sufficient to defend this thesis, but without a deeper understanding of the shifting cultural and global context I think it fails to really say muchIelse. I recommend it as a light, fluffy read as a starting point for learning more about the history of the Chinese language, but encourage readers to supplement.
brynpemery's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
5.0
As a librarian who speaks Chinese, this was pretty much perfect for my interests and I loved it. I do think a basic knowledge of 20th century Chinese history is helpful and if you listen to the audiobook, don’t miss the pdf for helpful visuals of characters and strokes.
niakantorka's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
This book bestowed on its readers a wealth of knowledge, sadly the execution left room for improvement. I loved the little anecdotes and when humour shone through or odd fortuitous were mentioned. But most of the time it was just info dumping of so-and-so trying to accomplish this-and-that. In small doses this also was interesting, but most of the time I was just waiting for the invention to be finished. Imo a missed opportunity as I highly enjoyed the part about the Unicode conference where the reader saw how dedicated and passionate everyone worked and the added sense of humour served as the icing on the cake.
It took me months to finish this book because I had to take breaks after each except the last two and a halves chapters. I do love me a good non-fiction book but it has to be compelling in its style. This only had few of those parts.
It took me months to finish this book because I had to take breaks after each except the last two and a halves chapters. I do love me a good non-fiction book but it has to be compelling in its style. This only had few of those parts.