Widen your horizons

Last year, I decided that I wanted to try my best to learn about different countries and cultures. I became especially interested in China and their Cultural Revolution. (You may recall Do Not Say We Have Nothing.) To that end, I picked up The People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim which is a work of non-fiction that culls firsthand accounts from those who lived through that time and documents how their lives were subsequently changed. The biggest takeaway I had from this book was that I know next to nothing about the history of China...and most of its people can say the same. There has been so much collusion and cover-ups that most people are unaware of the true nature of historical events that occurred in their country. And those that would tell the truth are hushed up one way or another. The government's control works under the guise of "stability of the nation" which keeps the populace blind and even afraid of digging deeper. There is also a fear of the West because of massive political and cultural indoctrination that has occurred over several years. The seasons of political and cultural change can easily be marked by the different people in power. The party 'line' made it imperative that change be accepted by each and every citizen. Firsthand accounts from those who participated in (or lived through) the Cultural Revolution (more info on that here) illustrates the power wielded by those in power. All of these people are still being monitored and silenced. They can never advance in their careers which in a money obsessed country like China spells a certain shunned existence. It was a powerful, eye-opening experience reading this book. It has only increased my interest in learning about new places and people. If you're not a huge fan of nonfiction because you find it too dry then this would be an excellent one to give a shot as it reads more like a work of literature. 10/10 for the obviously thorough research and excellent writing.

Source: Oxford University Press

What's Up Next: The Little Virtues by Natalia Ginzburg

What I'm Currently Reading: I've Got This Round: More Tales of Debauchery by Mamrie Hart

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Nothing to fear but fear itself? Not for the people in these books.

I'm going to cover two books in this post. They're the first two books of a series and I read them a few weeks apart at the end of last year. (Yes, I'm still working on reviews from last year. Yes, I am annoyed with myself.)

The first book is Fran Krause's Deep Dark Fears which is an adult graphic novel. The majority of the content is gleaned from submissions received by the author on his website although a few are from his wife and himself. As the title suggests, this is a collection of fears harbored by people and then put into a comic format. (The illustrations are really great by the way.) And while these are legitimate fears that people have they're not all totally scary. Some of them are so out there that they're humorous...although to the person who submitted it I guess it's not funny at all. From the content, it seems that the majority of people developed these fears/phobias when they were still children from adult family members who told them horrifying things. Note to adults: Please think about what you're telling your kids because you never know what they'll hold onto and how they'll twist it in their minds.

Source: Amazon

An example of the 'fears' illustrated inside. [Source: Bored Panda]

The second in the series is called The Creeps and it continues the thread of bringing to life some of the most bizarre fears you can (or maybe can't) imagine. I have to say that one of them freaked me out so much that I had to put the book down for a while. (It was about AI.) I also learned that something I had thought was universally known is not in fact known to many people outside of the Southern United States. When you or someone you know has a sudden shiver have you ever explained it by saying, "Someone just walked over my grave."? Now imagine if you had never heard that and then someone said it to you in an offhand manner. Would that totally freak you out? A lot of the things that people are scared of seemed quite niche and silly while others were super dark and gory. It's a really great mixture.

Source: Penguin Random House

See how creepy this is to the unfamiliar? [Source: Bookspoils]

Both books are really quick reads that can be devoured in a single afternoon (or train ride). I especially liked that they were presented in the form of a graphic novel instead of in short story format. Both books combined were a 10/10 if you're into creepy dark humor.

What's Up Next: Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods: 20 Chilling Tales from the Wilderness by Hal Johnson

What I'm Currently (Re)Reading: The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

The last story strengthened my resolve to never go on a cruise

Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories was a must-have for me for 2 reasons: 1. Roald Dahl is one of my favorite authors and I want to read everything he's ever written and 2. I love ghost stories. I have to admit that going into this one I was very much under the impression that this was going to be a book filled with stories written by Dahl himself. I clearly hadn't read the synopsis or book jacket because that is not what this book is about. This is a collection of some of Dahl's favorite ghost stories written by other people. He compiled this list when he was working on a project for American television and his preparation was extensive. He read 749 tales of the supernatural by different authors and from that large number he whittled it down to 14 of his favorites that he felt were not only excellent examples of writing in this genre but that would make for good television. (He also discovered that women are experts in this field and until the 11th hour he thought they would beat out the men with a hard majority.) Since there are 14 different stories in this collection, I will only talk about 2 that I found particularly chilling (and yes they are written by women).

The first is called 'Harry' and was written by Rosemary Timperley. It bore a striking resemblance to The Imaginary in that its primary focus was on a little girl who had a strong friendship with an imaginary boy. The biggest difference here is that the mom tried very hard to squash this relationship because she had a deep and abiding fear...of the name Harry. Yes, I too found this odd. Nevertheless, while it may seem irrational this fear was quite powerful and instead of ignoring the interactions of her child and her invisible playmate she let it consume her until...well you'll have to read the story. 😀 Suffice to say, the ending was quite the surprise.

The other story I'd like to mention came immediately after 'Harry' and was written by Cynthia Asquith. 'The Corner Shop' follows a man who stumbles into an old rundown shop full of what appears to be dusty junk. Persuaded by the decrepit shop owner, he buys something that turns out to be of immense value. Bothered by his conscience, he feels that it is his duty to give some of this money back to the proprietor as he feels the sale was too much to his benefit. When he returns to the shop, he is shocked to discover...gosh you'll just have to check it out yourself. 😀 It's a creepy tale with a whiff of Stephen King about it that is sure to get the hairs on your neck to stand up.

I have to admit that I had to go back and look at the chapter listing to remember the stories written in this collection and only a few of them came back to me clearly. That seems to be the way with most collections that I read (except for Stories of Your Life and Others) so that shouldn't discourage you from giving it a shot. There are some real gems in there as well as some illuminating thoughts from Dahl himself in the introduction. 7/10 overall.

Such a beautiful cover. [Source: Amazon UK]

What's Up Next: Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult by Bruce Handy

What I'm Currently Reading: The Portable Nineteenth-Century African American Women Writers by Hollis Robbins and edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Fear of death

You may have noticed (or maybe it didn't even register) that I didn't make my regular Tuesday posting. I traveled for Thanksgiving and honestly I'm surprised I got last Friday's post and today's post up (even if it is super late). It's been a busy week! However, on the flight I was able to read a graphic novel that I've had on my radar for quite some time. Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa is a tension-filled story of just how far a father will go to keep his son safe. The story begins with a depiction of a nearly idyllic family complete with mother, father, and son who are living off the land in perfect bliss until...the three shadows appear. It is a story of fear, determination, and the lengths a father will go to when he feels his son is threatened. It's also about grief and the inevitability of death. I think this is an important book for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if there is someone in your life who is currently struggling with a loss it could provide a measure of comfort that they are not alone. Secondly, if a parent is trying to explain life and death to their child then this might be the way to go. I know there are other children's picture books that touch on this topic but this definitely discusses not only the sadness but the fear of death which I think adults relate to even more so than children. Thirdly, the artwork really complements the story. It's without color, straightforward, and charming. I'm giving this one a 7/10.

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **