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Yutang Lin

My Country and My People Hardcover – November 4, 2008

by Yutang Lin (Author)

80 ratings

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In this classic book Yutang Ling does a fantastic job of describing Chinese people, customs and culture in an understandable way for the Western reader. this book was the first of it's kind, Ling being a rarity as he was fluent in both English and Chinese, having been born in China but growing up in America. This extremely popular book will prove to be a fascinating read, and is highly recommended on the bookshelf of anyone with an interest in different cultures and societies.

Print length

363 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Read Books
Publication date

November 4, 2008
Dimensions

5.5 x 1 x 8.75 inches
ISBN-10

1443723770
ISBN-13

978-1443723770
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Read Books (November 4, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 363 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1443723770
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1443723770
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.44 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,332,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,131 in General China Travel Guides
- #8,445 in Chinese History (Books)
- #117,883 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
80 ratings

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Customer reviews

5 star		56%
4 star		15%
3 star		10%
2 star		2%
1 star		16%

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Top reviews from the United States

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yye0728

Just don't ever buy it

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 8, 2022

Verified Purchase

The reprint didn't follow original pagination. The entire book, from its crowded pages to sloppy printing, looks like a cheap pirated edition. It also discarded all original publication information, making it totally useless for reference. Who got such a crazy idea of reprinting classics like that? It simply had no respect whatsoever for the authors and their works by doing such a cheap, shoddy job.

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Bucky K

A bootleg paperback edition that is badly scanned - the content isn't that interesting either

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

I paid full retail price for this on Amazon (about $11-12) and received a bootleg copy. Notice how the book cover is slightly off-center as pictured here. What I got was a cheap and nasty fake paperback edition of a legitimate old book. Somebody (not Amazon) is selling a print-on-demand copy of this 1930s book that they have scanned themselves. Some of the pages repeat, and the font sizes go up and down, which make for difficult reading. As for the substance of this book, it's mildly interesting for historians interested in 1930s commentary about China at the time, but it's not good for the lay reader as it gets rather boring. There is a lively introduction praising the book by Pearl S. Buck, and Lin Yutang has some brilliant passages that are often quoted (which drew me to read the book in its entirety), but if you are hoping that the entire book is entertaining, you would be disappointed. The prose is very dated and long-winded. You are better off checking this out from the library and skimming it. Don't waste your money buying a copy like I did.

2 people found this helpful

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andrewB

an excellent used copy

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 4, 2022

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I read this while in high school in 1964. I found this used copy in excellent condition. I am very pleased to have it.

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Y. zheng

a book that can live 100 years

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 13, 2012

Verified Purchase

This is a book that I have ever read through single word by single word. The author has deep understanding of Chinese culture and its people. No wonder it kept being reprinted again and again even now we are entering more modern stage of China. This book can live 100 years as it dug the root cause of the China society we see today. It is the best book in the market to help you acurately understanding Chinese people.

Lin has beautiful language to a question that may puzzel modern Chinese on where we Chinese come from. I truely enjoyed the reflection period while reading it. It apparently helped me to find "a hidden village with shaded willow and bright flowers in the deep mountain at the end of a creek trail".

7 people found this helpful

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Nora M Qudus

Good piece of history

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 6, 2013

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This is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the history and people of China up to the era of Mao. Many times we forget how long China has been....it is contemporary to ancient Egypt, Greece, and was old when there was Rome. This country, its people and customs are unique when compared to other cultures. If you can get the book it is a must read for any history buff or researcher.

6 people found this helpful

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Judith Clancy

An Intellectual giant

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 12, 2014

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I was not familiar with Lin Yu Tang until I read another book that referred to him.
China is a terrifically complex country with an astounding history, but Lin was able to define, explain, and shape this
country's past in an entirely robust and comprehensible manner. His understanding of European culture, religions and literature
was most impressive. He changed my view of China and its people

11 people found this helpful

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Suzanne L.

A hardback I wanted to keep and re-read.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

I had read a review of this writer, and wanted to explore his ideas on how to deal with life.

2 people found this helpful

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Jennifer Ng

Good condition

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 3, 2013

Verified Purchase

Very opinionated...without much actual history. Good for a opinion from the time but hard to tell what's real history and what's just the author's view of things.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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PTeh

A treasure

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

Lin wrote so eloquently, for an overseas Chinese this book is a treasure!

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

good

Zack

disappointing book quality

Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on June 18, 2020

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the print was blurry and a lot of the pages were cut off from the text, overall quality of the print wasn't as i expected, to be honest i had to. return this and order else where,
i wouldnt recommend this edition as its missing core parts of the story and is blurry.

Carl Abensperg-Traun

China erwacht!

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on August 27, 2019

Verified Purchase

Wenn China erwacht wird die Welt erzittern.(Napoleon) Nun, China ist erwacht und wir fragen uns wer sind denn diese Leute... Eine beeindruckende Reise durch alles was man über dieses Grosse Reich und seine Menschen wissen sollte.

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Alberta Beijing

Must read for Chinese studies

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 20, 2016

Verified Purchase

Although this written over 70 years ago it is still a relevant piece to understanding the Chinese psyche.

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