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rbruehlman's review
3.0
I WANTED to like this book. I’d had my eye on it since last spring. I love linguistics and etymology, and I love learning about other cultures. Chinese characters in particular are a topic I don’t know much about, but what I do know has me fascinated.
But I just could not get into this book. It’s not badly written. I just couldn’t get into it. I can’t put my finger on why. I guess maybe it was because it was primarily a history book, rather than a book about language? It’s a very exhaustive book that explores each dead end, regardless of whether a given dead end inspired whatever did take off. I got bored, I guess.
I wish the book had included more illustrations, diagrams, and visual examples. It was really hard for me to picture some of the things the book discussed, especially since I don’t know Chinese. The mechanical stuff like typewriters, I honestly just really struggled to visualize.
I think the biggest problem, ultimately, was that I don’t know a lot about Chinese history. While the book mentions important events and movements, it doesn’t go into detail. So I didn’t really have anything to put these literary ideas, beliefs, and people into context. History without context is just facts. I don’t think it’s the book’s responsibility to educate me about Chinese history more generally, but I do think I would have enjoyed it more if I knew more.
Not a bad book, feel bad giving it 3 stars, but I was anxiously awaiting its end.
But I just could not get into this book. It’s not badly written. I just couldn’t get into it. I can’t put my finger on why. I guess maybe it was because it was primarily a history book, rather than a book about language? It’s a very exhaustive book that explores each dead end, regardless of whether a given dead end inspired whatever did take off. I got bored, I guess.
I wish the book had included more illustrations, diagrams, and visual examples. It was really hard for me to picture some of the things the book discussed, especially since I don’t know Chinese. The mechanical stuff like typewriters, I honestly just really struggled to visualize.
I think the biggest problem, ultimately, was that I don’t know a lot about Chinese history. While the book mentions important events and movements, it doesn’t go into detail. So I didn’t really have anything to put these literary ideas, beliefs, and people into context. History without context is just facts. I don’t think it’s the book’s responsibility to educate me about Chinese history more generally, but I do think I would have enjoyed it more if I knew more.
Not a bad book, feel bad giving it 3 stars, but I was anxiously awaiting its end.
linguaphile11's review
3.0
The timeline of the Chinese script evolution makes for a fascinating read if you are interested in China, Chinese, or language in general. The author builds a strong narrative that although it wasn’t easy, the language revolutions that occurred have been necessary for the Chinese language. As someone who is actively learning Mandarin Chinese, this book was very enjoyable.
Critical point against the book is although I enjoyed the content and storytelling at points, this book felt a bit wordy in certain spots. It’s a minor gripe against a book I did enjoy, but I’m mentioning it for objectivity’s sake.
Critical point against the book is although I enjoyed the content and storytelling at points, this book felt a bit wordy in certain spots. It’s a minor gripe against a book I did enjoy, but I’m mentioning it for objectivity’s sake.
conquixote's review
3.0
3.5. I found this incredibly interesting, especially the start, and it really made me want to learn some Mandarin. I did think it could have been more succinct, though
georgiarose888's review against another edition
3.0
The history of the Chinese language is endlessly fascinating, yet I found myself editing this book in my head. The timeline meandered around, making for a confusing read, and the author would often repeat herself - making the same statements about a person multiple times (think: Wang Zhao was a person with a lot of Western sympathies…….(2 paragraphs later) Wang Zhao was part of a group that had a lot of Western sympathies)
Also, was desperately in need of more pictures/illustrations. There are long technical descriptions of very complicated machines that just didn’t lend well to picturing them in the imagination. I had to Google pictures of a lot of the things she was talking about just to get a vague reference. Similar thing with the language, there are illustrations of Chinese characters, but I would have liked more (and a demonstration of what Pinyin looks like! There is a whole chapter on it and not once does she include any actual pinyin!).
The story of the language saves it, but it was a bit needlessly arduous
3.5
Also, was desperately in need of more pictures/illustrations. There are long technical descriptions of very complicated machines that just didn’t lend well to picturing them in the imagination. I had to Google pictures of a lot of the things she was talking about just to get a vague reference. Similar thing with the language, there are illustrations of Chinese characters, but I would have liked more (and a demonstration of what Pinyin looks like! There is a whole chapter on it and not once does she include any actual pinyin!).
The story of the language saves it, but it was a bit needlessly arduous
3.5
hank's review
4.0
This was almost 5 star amazing with a bit of a qualification. As a former Mandarin speaker, this was way more fascinating for me than for most, however it is an easy to read story about the writen chinese language sprinkled with a bit of tech, a bunch of politics and lots of discussion about how not having an alphabet makes many, many "things" harder.
Jing Tsu did a remarkable job of making a potentially, highly dry subject into an interesting story of China and it's growth into the modern world.
If you are deathly allergic to history, china or language this might not be for you, it was a bit dry in parts but overall a good read.
Jing Tsu did a remarkable job of making a potentially, highly dry subject into an interesting story of China and it's growth into the modern world.
If you are deathly allergic to history, china or language this might not be for you, it was a bit dry in parts but overall a good read.
sheenasingh's review
informative
fast-paced
3.75
Well written story about the development and modernization of the Chinese script across centuries, technologies and political regimes. Loved the mixture of history, politics, design, technology and language. Jumping between timelines and the gap between 1980s and present day was a bit confusing at times.
eawtcu2015's review
3.0
Fascinating history of the Chinese script and it’s evolution in the 20th century. The author really shines when she combines the history and development of the modern Chinese state and language and how those two paths weaved together. Unfortunately, things struggle when describing the finer details and intricacies of the language and developments. This could just be a reflection of my reading abilities but quickly got lost in the specifics the author covered and felt a little more detail provided throughout instead of at the beginning on what makes the Chinese language so unique would have helped with the book.