Recommend Books for a Chinese International Student

[R.F. Schiller]

Hi guys,

I'm new to the forum here (although I've been lurking for some while) and I have a favour to ask you bibliophiles. My 18-year Chinese cousin is coming to Canada to study at the University of Toronto. Her English is "OK" (she studies it as a second language at school and has taken private tutoring as well) in terms of reading, but she hasn't really been exposed to a lot of Western literature. She wants me to recommend books to her, not only to improve her English, but also to better acquaint her with Western culture, thought and ideology. I originally gave her a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone two years ago just for basics, and I've recently got her Animal Farm due to its simplicity. She has also requested a copy of Gone With the Wind. Do you guys have any ideas? What books would be appropriate in this context? Keep in mind that the books have to keep her interest too (and not be too difficult - no Ulysses :)), not just instruct her, otherwise she'll stop reading. She's a typical teenage girl who likes romantic storylines.

I was thinking of:

The Woman Warrior - Maxine Hong Kingston - The memoir of a Chinese-American growing up in the West; should be somewhat relatable.
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Any other suggestions?

[Lykren]

Would Romeo and Juliet be too difficult for her?

[Iain Sparrow]

Please stay clear of the old classics as that will do her few favors if she wishes to acclimate to modern Western Culture.


Let your cousin try Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow?

[Calidore]

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan comes to mind immediately. The novel and movie are both very good.

[R.F. Schiller]

Would Romeo and Juliet be too difficult for her?

Yes, definitely. There's no way she could get through that, particularly with all of the old English.


Please stay clear of the old classics as that will do her few favors if she wishes to acclimate to modern Western Culture.


Let your cousin try Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow?

Yeah, I think Shakespeare and "older" writers wouldn't be a good choice. Never heard of Ragtime, but will give it a look.


The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan comes to mind immediately. The novel and movie are both very good.

Yes! I can't believe this one slipped my mind. I actually read the book & watched the movie pretty recently, I can't believe I forgot about it. It is very similar to Kingston's work in its themes.

[Lykren]

Yes, definitely. There's no way she could get through that, particularly with all of the old English.

Minor nitpick; Shakespeare's language is classified as Early Modern English, not Old English.

Anyways, Pride and Prejudice is not an easy text, either, but you suggested it. Its language is a little simpler, of course, but it's also several times as long, so I would think that it evens out. You also wanted to acquaint her with Western culture, so I assumed a little Shakespeare wouldn't be out of place.

But it's up to you. I'll second the Jane Austen and suggest The Great Gatsby.

[qimissung]

If you're going for classics maybe Of Mice and Men or To Kill a Mockingbird (though I know that's not one of your favorites, lol). Dracula by Bram Stoker might be a good one. It's a fun read. A current book that is really very good is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. The Outsiders, The Hunger Games, Eleanor and Park, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Here's a more comprehensive list from NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2012/08/07/157795366/your-favorites-100-best-ever-teen-novels

One I read and enjoyed when I was in school was Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong. She was raised in Chinatown in San Francisco by very strict, traditional Chinese parents. She was actually became a noted artist when she grew up.

Also, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith is really good. And the Match series. I've read the first two; they're pretty good. I'm a high school English teacher, so I'm, uh-hum, required to stay abreast of all this young adult literature.

[wordeater]

I learned reading English with the short stories of Roald Dahl and Edgar Allen Poe.

[mal4mac]

Please stay clear of the old classics as that will do her few favors if she wishes to acclimate to modern Western Culture.

Shakespeare is central to Western Culture, old or modern. Romeo and Juliet is a great suggestion, and it's shouldn't be too hard for her. It just needs to be read slowly in an edition with decent notes (e.g. RSC, or "Oxford Schools" Shakespeare.)

The Austen and Bronte suggestions are spot on. "Gone with the Wind" doesn't have a great reputation. But I guess "bad books" are part of Western Culture, so she might as well read one or two. Alternatively, why not redirect her to "To Kill a Mockingbird" - that deals with similar issues (racial prejudice, Southern USA...) and is a very easy read ... maybe good to read as light relief while tackling Shakespeare.

[JBI]

First ask her if she actually cares. Chances are, unless she is extremely gifted, she does not care about any of this stuff.

Better to just give her books related to her perspective major.

[R.F. Schiller]

First ask her if she actually cares. Chances are, unless she is extremely gifted, she does not care about any of this stuff.

Better to just give her books related to her perspective major.

She does care. She is the one who actually told me to find her worthy books to read that are representative of Western culture.


Shakespeare is central to Western Culture, old or modern. Romeo and Juliet is a great suggestion, and it's shouldn't be too hard for her. It just needs to be read slowly in an edition with decent notes (e.g. RSC, or "Oxford Schools" Shakespeare.)

The Austen and Bronte suggestions are spot on. "Gone with the Wind" doesn't have a great reputation. But I guess "bad books" are part of Western Culture, so she might as well read one or two. Alternatively, why not redirect her to "To Kill a Mockingbird" - that deals with similar issues (racial prejudice, Southern USA...) and is a very easy read ... maybe good to read as light relief while tackling Shakespeare.

I suppose I can try Shakespeare, but I doubt she'll enjoy or "get" it. When I read Shakespeare for the first time in high school, I was completely befuddled.

[Iain Sparrow]

She does care. She is the one who actually told me to find her worthy books to read that are representative of Western culture.



I suppose I can try Shakespeare, but I doubt she'll enjoy or "get" it. When I read Shakespeare for the first time in high school, I was completely befuddled.


Don't feel bad on that account... I left high school hating Shakespeare for the same reason, the sheer beauty of his writing was lost on me. However, years after high school I attended a summer class covering four plays by Shakespeare in Cambridge England; then it all came to life for me!

If she's interested in books that represent modern Western Culture, and btw are also exciting to read... look into As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. Both reads are quirky, but very charming.

[Aylinn]

If she wants to get acquainted with Western ideologies, then maybe she will be interested in Sophie's World. It is simple, so there shouldn't be any problem with understanding.

[Calidore]

Minor nitpick; Shakespeare's language is classified as Early Modern English, not Old English.


Minor nitpick of the minor nitpick: He said lower-case old, as in relative to now, not proper-noun Old.

R.F.: Since Shakespeare wrote plays to be watched rather than literature to be read, maybe you could show her a performance of Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream, or one of his other accessible works. Then if she wants to try reading them, she at least has some context.

Something else she might enjoy is Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (One for the Money is the first). I thought Evanovich started phoning them in pretty quickly, but the first couple of books are entertaining and hilarious, and the English is at the pop-fiction bestseller level.

[JBI]

Minor nitpick of the minor nitpick: He said lower-case old, as in relative to now, not proper-noun Old.

R.F.: Since Shakespeare wrote plays to be watched rather than literature to be read, maybe you could show her a performance of Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream, or one of his other accessible works. Then if she wants to try reading them, she at least has some context.

Something else she might enjoy is Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (One for the Money is the first). I thought Evanovich started phoning them in pretty quickly, but the first couple of books are entertaining and hilarious, and the English is at the pop-fiction bestseller level.

They usually play Shakespeare in the park in the summer in Toronto for free if you cannot be bothered to drive and pay for the Stratford fair. They usually preform a Greek drama or two as well.

Still though, just look to get your cousin on the track with standard high school reading - To Kill a Mockingbird, The Chrysalids, Cat's Cradle, Death of a Salesman, The Glass Menagerie, etc. That will at least put your cousin on equal footing with the rest of her classmates. Though I suspect she will find herself significantly more isolated than she first believes, being a graduate of the University of Toronto myself.

I hate to make prophesies, but unless she is really Unchinese (which I somehow doubt), my estimate is the grip of the Chinese community in the university, and it's sort of self-ghettoisation will sooner or later marginalize your cousin from a wider range of experiences. That generally is the pattern, as terrible as it sounds.If you want my recommendation, which you probably do not, I would say try to encourage a greater exposure to alternative forms of culture - otherwise after 4 years your cousin undoubtedly will feel more regret than success. The University of Toronto community is very difficult to belong to, and generally Chinese persons consider it to be a "white" university when it is far more a multi-ethnic university (as is the city). This is assuming she is going down town, otherwise it's more or less a different game.

[R.F. Schiller]

They usually play Shakespeare in the park in the summer in Toronto for free if you cannot be bothered to drive and pay for the Stratford fair. They usually preform a Greek drama or two as well.

Still though, just look to get your cousin on the track with standard high school reading - To Kill a Mockingbird, The Chrysalids, Cat's Cradle, Death of a Salesman, The Glass Menagerie, etc. That will at least put your cousin on equal footing with the rest of her classmates. Though I suspect she will find herself significantly more isolated than she first believes, being a graduate of the University of Toronto myself.

I hate to make prophesies, but unless she is really Unchinese (which I somehow doubt), my estimate is the grip of the Chinese community in the university, and it's sort of self-ghettoisation will sooner or later marginalize your cousin from a wider range of experiences. That generally is the pattern, as terrible as it sounds.If you want my recommendation, which you probably do not, I would say try to encourage a greater exposure to alternative forms of culture - otherwise after 4 years your cousin undoubtedly will feel more regret than success. The University of Toronto community is very difficult to belong to, and generally Chinese persons consider it to be a "white" university when it is far more a multi-ethnic university (as is the city). This is assuming she is going down town, otherwise it's more or less a different game.

Thanks for your input. I attend the University of Toronto currently myself (St. George) and yes, the Chinese international students seem to always cluster together into their own little bubbles at my school. However, she has the advantage of having me, a Canadian resident for 17 out of my 21 years, to help her introduce her to different types of communities and she is naturally a little more open-minded than some of her other peers. She is going to the Scarborough Campus (the new program Green Path), so it will be a little different as the East Asian population in that campus is much higher.

[mal4mac]

An easy way into Romeo and Juliet might be Baz Luhrman's film:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_%2B_Juliet

Polanski's Macbeth really turned me on to the play, and Shakespeare in general, when I was 14. So maybe try that play and that film, but it might be more for boys (although Lady Macbeth & the witches are strong characters!) Another route in might be Kurasawa's Ran, an eastern approach to King Lear.

[Jackson Richardson]

If I were her, I'd want books to be short. That rules out Gone with the Wind. How about some poems? Then it's only a matter of a page to come to terms with. Tennyson The Lady of Shallott or Wordsworth's Daffodils or Keats To Autumn or any other warhorse.

All I know about Canada is Robertson Davies and Margaret Atwood, so I don't suppose that's a good idea. (Although The Handmaid's Tale is probably quite easy linguistically.)

[Whosis]

I don't think anyone has mentioned The Great Gatsby, which is a fairly recent book that's readable. It's a bit of a romance too. Mark Twain's books have been the heart of American literature, but I would tend to recommend The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (sort of a romance) over The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck would really acquaint her with what America geographically is like, and it's not too heavy.