I make no apologies for appreciating the intellectual. I travel because I grew up reading histories, from Herodotus on down. When I am driving through Tunisia and see a road sign for Jugurtha's Table, my heart skips a beat.
In my weekly Chai Digest column I highlight articles that I find particularly useful or thought-provoking. To my regret, I find the more I do online, the less I read books, and I am determined to change that. I am creating Chai Book Club to share books of interest to the informed traveler and citizen. Each week I will highlight a book or topic, and give away a book to a reader. I welcome suggestions that will help me and readers expand our horizons on the subject of the week.
Ground rules for each entry are to comment on the post within the appointed time, preferably with something that will be of interest to other readers. Winners will be selected at random. Available only to US addresses.
I am in China this week but my mind has wandered over to Korea. I am reading The Koreans by British journalist Michael Breen. His perspective is nuanced and refreshingly direct, American readers conditioned in political correctness will be shocked. I came across this on the superlative China Law Blog.
I am pairing it with Wayfarer: New Fiction by Korean Women, edited and translated by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton. I read this in college and still remember Pak Wan-so's "Identical Apartments," with the drunk husband who stumbles back to the wrong home unaware. This is out of print but used copies are readily available.
Please leave a comment by Monday, May 6 at 11:59 EDT. I will select a winner who will have a choice of either title.
Via: Bellinzona (Switzerland): the Italian city of the three castles
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