Book Review – Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers

2009 09 – Beijing

I enjoyed A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, for its engaging exploration of differences of culture, philosophy and thought through Z, a young Chinese girl, come to England for an education, and her romantic entanglement with an older English man. The book is written as Z speaks, beginning with the basic and broken language of a beginner, evolving as she adjusts to her new life and eventually becoming almost as fluent as a native speaker. Throughout there are interesting and amusing situations arising from the difficulties of translation, not only because meanings don't easily align, but also because the ways of thinking underpinning the languages have some important differences.

Book Review – The Wisdom of Crowds

2009 09 – Beijing

About this time I finished reading The Wisdom of Crowds... a provocative title for anyone who has ridden a crowded rush-hour metro line.

Surowiecki delivers an accessible and thought provoking exploration of the idea that the collective knowledge of a crowd surpasses that of the best individual member of the crowd. He accepts that not all crowds (groups) are wise, but argues that there are some key criteria that facilitate a crowds wisdom:
Diversity of Opinion;
Independence;
Decentralisation; and
Aggregation.
There are some great case studies of evidence of wise and irrational crowds and the elements of their success or failure.  As you might expect from such a title, the book delivers some support for democracy and free market operations, so long as they are implemented in such a way that supports the key criteria, thereby enabling the collective wisdom of the participants to be harnessed.
I'd recommend this book to anyone.

Book Review – China Road

2009 07 25

While in Moscow I finished my first book of the trip: China Road
(the image is the edition I had, but it seems like it has been relaunched recovered)

A highly readable and informative perspective on China as a British radio journalist concludes 20 years of living and working in China with a road trip along China's equivalent of Route 66 – road 312 - which runs from Shanghai in the South East to the Kazakhstan border in the North West. Along the way, Rob Gifford engages with the people whose lives are bound up with the road, be they truckers, commuters, street vendors, or just people who live near by, and discusses some of the recent and ancient history that brought their world to this point.
I found this book to be an excellent general introduction to the China of today. Gifford presents opinions on why it is the way it is, referencing and illuminating some of the significant moments and aspects of Chinas recent and ancient history.
I will read this book again after my travels I'm sure.