Patriot Number One: American Dreams in Chinatown / The End of Blogging for Books

It is an end of a era for book bloggers such as myself.

     Though I am merely a hobbyist, a chance to receive a book for review is a great luxury that I will never forget. The website Blogging for Books shut down its doors today, April 16, 2018.

Goodbye, old friend!

      Though I prolonged the last review for a while more than necessary, on a more consistent time I reviewed a variety of books from fiction to art books from this website. With regards, I would like to thank Blogging for Books for their years of service and letting book bloggers--big and small--to review their books.

Now on with the review!

     Today's review is a different selection from my usual Young Adult/Middle Grade choices. I will be tackling the nonfiction novel Patriot Number One: American Dreams in Chinatown by Lauren Hilgers.

An intriguing read for today.

     The novel itself plays out like a well-written fictional story despite being a true story. Starting out with the novel, we encounter our subject Zhuang Liehong and the story of his journey from a young activist in China to the United States as an immigrant with hopes and dreams. Though her writing, Hilger gives history lessons from immigrants past of the early days of Chinese immigration. The relations of the struggles of the Chinese of yesteryear and the citizens of Zhuang's home village of Wukan both deal with oppressing governments and mistreatment of citizens albeit in different circumstances.

     Described in the story as Patriot Number One, Zhuang never stopped his fight for Wukan once hitting American soil. The novel's depiction of a working class couple finding their version of the American dream was enjoyable and thrilling to journey. The sacrifices that they made along with their hard work, makes for an inspiring tale for one to read.

I hope you enjoyed this review.

Thanks,

Dee

Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity

Today's post has been two years in the making from the time I received it in 2015.  

In today's post, I will share my thoughts and processes on Edward Slingerland's novel, 

Trying to Not Try: Ancient China, Modern Science, and the Power of Spontaneity. 

In the summer of 2015, I ordered this book from Blogging for Books assuming its presence was a self-help book/advice book using ancient Chinese wisdom as a backing. After many attempts of glancing and skimming through the book, I was completely wrong. In Trying to Not Try, Slingerland explains that the concept of spontaneity is based on the concept of wu-wei . Wu Wei is defined as "non-doing". A main concept of Taoism, the notion of acting upon wu-wei is somewhat close to the phrase, "go with the flow".

My relationship with reading this novel was far from perfect. Though Slingerland uses many tales and Ancient Chinese texts to relate to how one can connect with wu-wei, I felt lost and confused reading this book. I would have personally wanted to see more on how to grasp wu-wei into daily use instead of how the Ancient Chinese obtained it. (No offense to the Ancient Chinese). Slingerland also had a heavy focus more on Confucius' teachings and concepts rather than Taoist philosophies. Prose wise, Slingerland's writing focused more on the academic explanations of wu-wei as a paradox instead of a method likewise.

While the concepts of learning Ancient Chinese philosophy can be intriguing for history buffs, the idea of reading it for the uncanny reader can be daunting. For myself, I felt very overwhelmed in retaining Slingerland's concepts of the book that during this read, I had to take notes in order to grasp his concepts. In coherence while doing some research about wu-wei, I found a link to a website that explains simply wu-wei and concepts of how to encounter or gain it in life.
http://www.myrkothum.com/wu-wei/

In turn, I end this review short and simple. Do I recommend this? Yes and no.

Yes, is best for readers who do not mind taking a contextual approach to the journey for the relationship and complexities of wu-wei.

No, for those who want  to achieve and incorporate the process of wu-wei in daily life since this is not a self-help book.

I hope you understand my opinions of this review.

Thanks,
Neko