pickA well researched book on the opium plant and its impact on all aspects of society during the eighteen and nineteenth century. It was this plant that provided a lion share of the capital needed for European colonization. A lot of the wealthiest Americans made their fortune from this trade before they diversified into other ventures.
“Apparently some quirk of human nature allows even the most unspeakable acts of evil to become banal within minutes, provided only that they occur far enough away to pose no personal threat.“
It was true in the Japanese massacre of Nanking, it was true in the Jewish Holocaust, in the genocides in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda, in #Palestine, and so many others unnamed. Why are we like this?
pickTo honor my #Chinese roots during this years' #SpringFestival, I read this very important and very sobering, devastating book. Although extremely well-written, it is a horrifyingly captivating and very challenging read to get through because of the atrocities that the Japanese performed against the Chinese in the 1930s and #WWIi and the subsequent coverups by the Japanese government through the present day. (Continued in comments) ⬇️
On #Holocaust Remembrance Day as well as the week that Lunar New Year begins, I am starting this very important book by Iris Chang which details the massacre of Nanking by Japanese forces during #WWII. Much less well-known than the genocide in Europe, but no less horrifying.
pick*Not the tagged book* Audible produces a Words + Music series, which allows listeners to consume a brief overview of various music artists. I enjoyed learning about legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma in this Audible Original, Beginner‘s Mind. Yo-Yo Ma immediately had my attention when the audiobook opened with him describing a remote home he and his wife enjoy that is immersed in nature.
Full review at abookandadog.com/blog/beginners-mind-yo-yo-ma
pickI‘m on a roll with the tough memoirs of horrible lived experiences. This is a topic I had little to no knowledge of prior to reading this book: the oppression of the Uyghur people in China. Izgil, an intellectual, recalls his life under strict rule with lyrical writing, a sharp contrast to what he calls and his family endured. Constantly scared of reprimand, never knowing who may sell them out for owning the wrong book. Unbelievable but real.
pickIt‘s baffling what people do to inflict pain on other people. I don‘t understand it, yet I know how capable I am of doing it. Even in small ways like how I might talk to someone who upsets me.
Of course, the Rape of Nanking was a massacre not a mild social interaction. Iris Chang describes a lot of atrocities. At first they turned my stomach (literally) but she never stops describing them. Is it intentional?
I‘m still left with WHY.
pickNot all about the Forbidden City but a nice little book.
Mine is from 1972.
Goes well with my medal from the Conqueror Challenge
pickFollowing 4 young people and their families, this book looks at life in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation in WWII then on to the communist takeover of China and thereafter. It‘s a terrific, personalized way to explore history and excellent narrative nonfiction. I can‘t recommend it enough.
