Have I told you I am heading for China in mid-July? True. And to prepare I am doing a lot of reading, not all non-fiction.
I have just devoured one and a half Chinese detective stories and learned a heck of a lot about modern China in the process.
The crime fiction is by Qiu Xiaolong, who was born in Shanghai and now teaches Chinese literature at Washington University in St. Louis. (A clerk at Bound to be Read told me about him.)
His most recent - A Loyal Character Dancer - was on the shelves of the Main Branch of the Public Library, so I read it first. The plot, while intricate, is not the point. The author uses it as a clothesline, hanging everything on it that he knows about modern Chinese political history - including pre-Mao, Maoist and post-Mao times. And he knows a lot. He also manages to introduce us to ancient Chinese cultur and contemporary fads and...boy, this book is jam-packed with information. It slows the narrative, of course, but it sure diluted my ignorance, too.
The library quickly found Qiu's first book, Death of a Red Heroine, and I am reading it now, with similar satisfaction.
This reminds me of the joy of reading Red Sky at Morning, Milagro Beanfield War and Bless Me, Ultima, on arriving in New Mexico. OK, I did have recourse to Mark Simmons' histories, too. but is is lovely to learn from a novel.
I recommend both books.