Those who've enjoyed "Underworld" admit the best part's its start. Same with its predecessor "Mao II." The open...

Amazon jumbles many "classic" texts and editions, but if this is the "A Dream of Red Mansion: Complete + Unexpurgated,...

I saw this film version when it was released in 1994. I remember many urban scenes with a family dealing with (understatement) the Cultural...

I like academic satire, and as I was curious recently about Chinese novels in translation worth a go, I found this. Originally published in...

  How much poison are you willing to eat for the success of the free market and global trade? Please name your preferred poisons. Fo...

Julia Lovell translates Han Shaogong's 1998 novel, which explores the remote village to which he (or a version of such) was sent as on...

Daoism, unlike Hindu and Buddhist faith systems, has not yet been studied seriously by many in the West. Until the dawn of the last centur...

I've been told my blog's too eggheaded. Too hard to read, similar to the Emperor telling Mozart his music had too many notes? Well, ...

  Lots of trouble sleeping since the temporary suspension of my before-dawn commute through hellish traffic forty miles to Irvine, down the...

  Last post began with a promised juxtaposition that stayed delayed. Too much grading intervened, too many importuning appeals. Here'...

Finding in juxtaposition very divergent commentary can reveal surprising connections. These serendipitous discoveries, one of my M.A. prof...

I've been off the blog for a while. As I mentioned to a few faithful friends, I've kept a lower profile. My employment is not guar...

  “The Intelligent Catholic’s Guide to John Waters.” OnePeterFive 5/7/20 When a maverick journalist opposes popula r opinion, at le...