For the most part, the Changchun Friends website is not very active and has been superseded by the Tencent "Wechat" app by the local expat community. This website is maintained sporadically, people may still join and membership is still open, but if you are a spammer, stay away. The archived information here is still useful, but some may be out of date. There are plans to make it more useful for static information in the future. If anyone needs information about Changchun or China, you may post a message and it probably will get a response but not immediately.

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Arts and Letters

We are a group that meet to discuss books, arts, philosophy and everything in between!

Location: Changgchun
Members: 21
Latest Activity: Mar 8, 2014

Autumn/Winter Season

Our next book is Stanislaw Lem's Solaris. Please check out the discussion forum.

Discussion Forum

Shakespeare and his use of language

Started by Richard Roman Mar 8, 2014. 0 Replies

I just want to point out the huge number of words that Shakepeare introduced to the English language. Today, I will just start off with words beginning with Aabstemious (The Tempest -- a Latin word that meant "to abstain from alcoholic drink" was…Continue

Ernest Sabato

Started by Richard Roman Apr 25, 2013. 0 Replies

The book we will discuss in May is The TunnellAny views on the author, his background, stories, books etc. please post hereContinue

Famous detectives in literature

Started by Richard Roman. Last reply by Anabel García Ugrotte Mar 8, 2013. 1 Reply

Going to start off with GK Chesterton's Father BrownBut before that here is one quote which I love:“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”Now, about Father Brown:Father Brown was the perfect vehicle for conveying Chesterton's…Continue

Stanislaw Lem

Started by Richard Roman. Last reply by Richard Roman Dec 12, 2012. 2 Replies

Solaris (1961), by Stanisław Lem (1921–2006), is a Polish science fiction novel about the ultimate inadequacy of communication between human and non-human species.In probing and examining the oceanic surface of the world named Solaris from a…Continue

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Comment by Richard ridealgh on April 25, 2013 at 22:09
Is there a link to this book. Please.
Comment by Richard Roman on April 25, 2013 at 17:32
The next book we will look at is Ernest Sabato's "The Tunnell" on May 28th

Please check the events page for more details


http://richardroman.ning.com/events/book-club-meeting-ernesto-sabat...
Comment by Richard Roman on March 8, 2013 at 18:11
The next Book Club meeting will be on Detectives. Check out the event board for details. I am also setting up a discussion page

Our next book club meeting will look at the whole genre of detective fiction - from Edgar Alan Poe to the present

The idea is that we choose various writers and look at their approach.

Just short stories so we can easily read them

Details of the writers will appear later but at the moment we have. :

Edagar Alan Poe - the Purloined Letter
http://poestories.com/read/purloined

Conan- Doyle - The Musgrave ritual
http://wonderfulstoriesonline.blogspot.com/2007/10/musgrave-ritual....

G.k.Chesterton - the Blue Cross
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/chesterton/gk/c52fb/chapter1.html#c...

Raymond Chandler - I'll be waiting
http://storyoftheweek.loa.org/2010/12/i-be-waiting.html

Damon Runyon - breach of Promise
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks11/1100651h.html
And more!

George Simenon - The House of Anxiety
http://www.trussel.com/maig/maison.htm

We will be posting links to the stories soon and keep you updated on the event
Comment by CCF Beijing on December 13, 2012 at 12:21

I think the world wants to know more about China's new international literary star Mo Yan especially after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.

 

Just looking at the titles of his books make me intrigued:

 

  • The Garlic Ballads
  • Big Breasts and Wide Hips
  • Life and Death are Wearing Me Out
  • Shifu You'll Do Anything for a Laugh

 

to name a few....

 

Unfortunately at the bookstores I have only seen his book in Chinese.

 

However...I was able to download a portion of "Sandalwood Death" in English.  It truly fits the description of the Nobel Prize committee's description of Mo Yan's work:

 

  • "Hallucinatory Realism"

 

 

Comment by Richard Roman on December 12, 2012 at 12:14
Also - forgot this one :
Stanislaw Lem - Solaris

Juan has found free downloads in English and Spanish, Italian and Hungarian

I like the idea of this!
Comment by Richard Roman on December 12, 2012 at 12:11
Here are some suggestions we had for the Book Club meeting next January (apologies for mis- spells but I wrote this quickly as the ideas were coming in


Hesse- steepen wolf or Sidharta
Nabokov - Lolita
Llosa - city and the Dogs
Comparison of detective
Modern writer
Thomas Mann- death in Venice
Steinbeck - Travels of Charlie
Chuck Aplaniuck - Survivor
Scarlet something - Bright young things
Hemingway- old man and the sea
Comment by Richard Roman on July 14, 2012 at 18:15

We are changing!

Here are the books for the autumn/winter season

September - The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

October - Death in Venice - Thomas Mann

November - Bridge over the san Louis Ray - Thornton Wilder

December - Brave New World = Aldous Huxlie

January - Siddharta - Herman Hesse

February - holiday!

March - The Great Gatsby - Scott Fitzgerald

I will try to find links for downloading and also give dates later!

If anyone can help then PLEASE post!

Many thanks to Juan for coming up with the ideas

Comment by Downtown David - 白大伟 on July 6, 2012 at 2:38

Richard

I found the "The Bridge of San Luis Rey"  you can download it here

 

The Bridge of San Luis Rey.pdf  (Ning)

 

or http://www.en8848.com.cn/d/file/soft/Fiction/Classic/201006/df626b8...

(right click as choose "Save Link as"

Comment by Richard Roman on July 6, 2012 at 0:20

Sorry - cannot find the Bridge over the San Luis Rey - all books move up a month

Comment by Richard Roman on July 6, 2012 at 0:17

So, to start off the autumn season, we have Metamorphosis by Kapra

Check out the details here:

http://richardroman.ning.com/events/arts-letters-metapmorphsis-by-f...

 
 
 

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