Christopher > Recent Status Updates

So much Tibetan in a typical paragraph that it often feels pointless to read without having a background in that language.

It started out relatively strong, but weaknesses are creeping in. I'm greatly put off by his tendency to describe extreme individual cases as if they were the rule without attempting to provide any background cultural logic to explain how they came to be seen as proper.

Surprisingly not too inscrutable for a first time reader on Laos. Doubtless I would be totally lost if not for the dozens of books I've read on Buddhism and folk religion, though.

How is this book not hugely popular? It is a masterpiece of children's literature, though it feels more like a piece of literature about children instead. Such careful observation on childish behaviors and thoughts, set against the harsh background of life. I love this story.

This begins around 1600 while Mote ends at 1800. Hopefully it'll be a good continuation now that I'm near the end of Imperial China: 900-1800.

Terrific.

The translation feels a little bland

I am greatly enjoying the descriptions of old Japanese novels from 200 years ago. I've found it incredibly difficult to learn of such books in English given the Western obsession with denying agency to other peoples and thus only treating that which is influenced by Western models as respectable. However, it does seem quite confused at times.

This might be up there with Nishan Saman as one of the greatest folk epics I've ever read.

As was the case with The Brigands' Song, most of these 658 pages are of almost no interest to somebody who isn't a specialist. However, the introduction is quite fascinating and it's giving me high hopes for the translation of the actual text.