Reviews
Kingdom of Characters: A Tale of Language, Obsession, and Genius in Modern China by Jing Tsu
dcfelk's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
Somehow simultaneously deeply unsatisfying and deeply interesting. Timelines and figures are confusing, and the narrative lacks criticality.
naico's review
informative
slow-paced
3.0
I think that especially in the final chapter about encodings this book fails to explain the solutions properly. Maybe because of that the fight between the two participants of the IRC meeting feels confusing: it's 2018 and they're fighting about a concept of variants that existed since the 1970s.
The chapter about typewriters could benefit from more illustrations to highlight the differences between the machines.
The passage about 'critical thinking' in the introduction feels off. It reads as if the author is mocking the concept, and yet she doesn't expand upon the alternatives, thus leaving one wondering "what's so wrong for you in the way I think?"
Overall, an educational read
The chapter about typewriters could benefit from more illustrations to highlight the differences between the machines.
The passage about 'critical thinking' in the introduction feels off. It reads as if the author is mocking the concept, and yet she doesn't expand upon the alternatives, thus leaving one wondering "what's so wrong for you in the way I think?"
Overall, an educational read
whitesaucehotsauce's review against another edition
2.5
Great subject matter, but it’s held back by some of the usual pop nonfiction trappings - each chapter being an independent essay, forced narrative bits etc. There is still a lot of good stuff here and ultimately I’d recommend giving this book a chance if you’re interested in the subject matter since you’ll probably never have another chance to learn about e.g. the challenges of Chinese telegraphy in such detail.
jeb1945's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Though this book is accessible to a general reader it is not a compelling read. The names, places, events of Chinese language politics and scholarship are very difficult to follow. The general thread showing the difficulty of modernizing Chinese character script, the struggle to bring Chinese language into the modern means of communications (from telegraph, typewriting, printing, and digital) and the preeminence of Chinese in the world today. The story is fascinating but it was difficult for a non-Chinese to keep track of dozens of names of key innovators over a 120 years development of Chinese language characters and technology. China aims at no less a goal than making Chinese the dominant language of the future world.
apatrick's review against another edition
4.0
I knew very little about the Chinese writing system before reading this, and though I still have a lot to learn, this was pretty informative. If you have ever wondered how China (and other countries that use Chinese characters) adapted to modern printing, then computer-based communication, this is a great source. It's pretty accessible, and I learned a lot about Chinese history over the past several hundred years, with a special focus on political history of the 20th century.
There's such a huge gap between alphabetical and ideographical writing systems that this is probably going to be a tough read if you have zero background on the subject, but I'm not subtracting a star for that, because I think this is still aimed at a popular audience; at least, it's not so technical or academic that it's tough to understand.
There's such a huge gap between alphabetical and ideographical writing systems that this is probably going to be a tough read if you have zero background on the subject, but I'm not subtracting a star for that, because I think this is still aimed at a popular audience; at least, it's not so technical or academic that it's tough to understand.
machen27's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
For a book which is about the history of the Chinese language and its incorporation into digital communication, the text is surprisingly light and easy to read. I certainly found it informative, but felt that it failed to engage with the historical context. The significant instabilities of 20th century China and growing pains of the computer revolution are basically a backdrop for the mostly disconnected story about individuals trying to preserve a piece of their culture. This last idea is the core of this books' thesis: only by the labor of passionate defenders of the Chinese language has it survived to today as it is. I think the examples drawn from history are sufficient to defend this thesis, but without a deeper understanding of the shifting cultural and global context I think it fails to really say muchIelse. I recommend it as a light, fluffy read as a starting point for learning more about the history of the Chinese language, but encourage readers to supplement.
brynpemery's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
5.0
As a librarian who speaks Chinese, this was pretty much perfect for my interests and I loved it. I do think a basic knowledge of 20th century Chinese history is helpful and if you listen to the audiobook, don’t miss the pdf for helpful visuals of characters and strokes.