Robert Hsu
But is there a Soul Behind the Fig-Leaf?
Soul? What Soul? An alluring book title, I’m sure. What about a book called ‘The Soul of England?’ The Chinese soul, ancient or modern, like other souls, longs for freedom and wealth, material and artistic, I suppose.
Clichés like ‘quaint traditions’, ‘colourful oddities’ and the inescapable ‘enigma’ again show up in Amaury de Riencourt’s Soul of China. It irks me: the very same expressions can be used for any culture or civilisation by authors who do not try hard enough. The book, however, appears to be an honest effort to inspire an understanding of China. Reading it, I, a Chinese who have spent half of my adult years on non-Chinese soil, ended up understanding more of the author.
Unlike some sinologists who will surely go down in history in shame, Riencourt did not pretend to be a ‘China expert’, or more abominably, choose to believe what he wanted to believe, in the manner of John Fairbank and his disciples, who decided that the Communist Revolution was the best
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'McCarthy’s portrayal of a cosmos fashioned by God for killing and exploitation, in which angels, perhaps, are predators and paedophiles, is one that continues to haunt me.'
@holland_tom on reading Blood Meridian in the American west (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/devils-own-country
'Perhaps, rather than having diagnosed a real societal malaise, she has merely projected onto an entire generation a neurosis that actually affects only a small number of people.'
@HoumanBarekat on Patricia Lockwood's 'No One is Talking About This'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/culturecrisis
*Offer ends in TWO days*
Take advantage of our February offer: a six-month subscription for only £19.99.
https://www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/literary-review/promo/literaryfebruary/