Customer Reviews

Capturing Chinese Short Stories from Lu Xun's Nahan: A guide to help students of Chinese read Chinese literature, learn Chinese history, and study Chinese characters

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This book is very valuable for students (at intermediate/advanced level) learning the Chinese language. The book contains short stories from Lu Xun, one of the most influential writer in modern China, and considered by many as the father of modern Chinese literature. Lu Xun's stories are fascinating and poignant, many times reminiscent of Kafka. In this book, each story is printed in the original Chinese along with Mandarin pinyin (pronunciations) in separate paragraphs. The more difficult vocabulary is explained in footnotes. However, the footnotes provide more than just the meaning of the words - in many instances detailed and interesting historical and cultural explanations are given. Additionally, before each story, there is an enlightening introduction about the story, with discussions of the events of the time, which really put the stories in context. The illustrations throughout the book are really well-done - I think they very much capture the spirits of the stories.

I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn the Chinese language/culture, to learn to speak Mandarin, or even for someone who already knows Chinese and is looking to read or to revisit the fascinating stories by a great modern Chinese master.

Capturing Chinese is a book that has finally filled a void that has existed for so long. As a native English speaker who has studied Chinese for a few years, both in china and the states, I have always found Chinese textbooks to be boring and monotonous. However, since I am not quite at the advanced level to read Chinese literature, I have been unable to read interesting text without constantly flipping through a Chinese-English dictionary. Capturing Chinese does the work for you! The footnotes save you time while adding to your Chinese vocabulary. The reader is able to study Chinese while reading fantastic literature.

Instead of reading literature in translation, it is better to read it in its original language. "Capturing Chinese" is one of the best book for such for Chinese literature. The explanation of the vocab are very useful in helping me understand the story; while at the same time, reinforce my Chinese learning. I would recommend to anyone who is an immediate level Chinese learner and wants to have a deeper understanding of Chinese literature.

At the advanced level I'm skeptical of holding on to pinyin as a crutch. And if the pinyin had to be included, why couldn't it have been on opposing pages rather than underneath the Chinese text paragraph by paragraph? (Where it is more distracting than helpful). I think this is a serious editing mistake and hopefully will be corrected if any future editions like this are to be published. That said, I am happy for the glossary because Lu Xun tends to use an abundance of colloquialisms, and he is too important a writer not to be able to pick up on his subleties. A nice advanced level text.

(Oh, and a side note to Amazon: In your description of books using Chinese text, please include in your description whether the text is traditional or simplified. I was going to buy another book by Lu Xun, but when I went to Powell's (fortunately I live in Portland) to check it out, I discovered that the characters were in traditional script and so, for me, essentially useless. If you don't know what this means, it's easy enough to find someone who does. And for any reader of Chinese, this information is essential.)

Yes, the text in this book is simplified.

Nothing compares to reading a text in its original language. This book makes Lu Xun's Nahan truly accessible to students of the Chinese language.