Category: Reviews

The Duality Code: Book Review

By
W. K. Choy

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This image was captured from Google Translate.  The concept is represented in traditional Chinese characters.

 

The title of this book, The Duality Code, will lead some readers to expect a spy mystery. In a way, that expectation is correct. There is a mystery, one that involves an obscure code. And there is intrigue, even murder. The startling aspect of the murders is that these are occasioned by disagreements over language.

W. K. Choy guides us through the sometimes gruesome history of China’s language wars. As he does so, he deciphers the mystery of China’s ancient language. Choy provides detailed analyses of relationships between Chinese written characters and he explains the difference between traditional and simplified Chinese characters.

According to Choy, the Duality Code has its roots in pre-modern China, in a warrior class called the shi. The “code” is secret in the sense that mastery of it, even today, is reserved for the highly educated. It is partly because Chinese characters were historically complex, according to Choy, that the literacy rate in China remained low, until recent times. Attempts toward simplification in the twentieth century included the suggestion that Chinese characters be eliminated altogether in favor of an alphabet-based system. Such a reform, it was believed, would make the language more accessible to ordinary people. However, the reform was never instituted.

Choy writes about how language has been a cultural football in China, and how the rules of this game have been brutal at times. For example, the Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered (in 212 BCE) that four hundred and sixty Confucian scholars be buried alive. He wanted to control scholarship and the use of language in his empire. Mao Tse-tung, centuries later, also wanted to control scholarship and the use of language. In furtherance of that end, Mao boasted, “We are a hundred times worse (than Qin Shihuang)…We have buried forty-six thousand Confucian scholars”.

I learned a great deal about the Chinese language from reading The Duality Code. I know now, for example, that Chinese characters are logographic. Each character represents a concept. This is distinct from alphabet-based languages, in which letters are combined to represent speech sounds. Sounds, in Chinese, are not associated with the characters. Therefore, Chinese characters may also be used by people who speak other languages.

Chinese characters can be combined (described and diagrammed in detail by Choy). Some characters are pictographic–their shape approximately resembles the idea they are intended to convey.

This book has much to offer besides an analysis of Chinese language. There’s history, political theory and philosophy. There’s commentary on the role of language in culture. W. K. Choy has a broad command of a variety of subjects. Readers of this book may not understand everything that is offered, because there is so much here. Choy’s analysis of language morphology is very clear and logical. For those with the ambition and time, it can serve as a veritable course on the Chinese language.

I found a wealth of information in The Duality Code, and not all of it specific to China. The book is unlike any I’ve read. It is challenging and entertaining. It is a cultural history and technical analysis. For Western readers, this will likely be an eye-opener. It was for me.

I highly recommend W. K. Choy’s Duality Code.

A. G. Moore  2/3/2017

by Categories: A. G. Moore, Book Review, Chinese History, Chinese Language, History, Philosophy, ReviewsTags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Star Strangled Banner: Book Review

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County Waterford Countryside Near Dungarvan, Ireland: Photo by Jorge 1767

By  Dan O’Donnell

When I respond well to a poet’s work I try to understand why. In Dan O’Donnell’s “Star Strangled Banner”, I don’t have to search long for a reason. His poetry resonates with a yearning that echoes in every heart that ever left home. His yearning is not merely for a home but for a past. And in this, his work is universal.

The Irish flavor of Mr. O’Donnell’s work is inescapable. He is “Paddy”, “born from the sod”, working the sod and, finally, dying and being buried “under the sod”. Mr. O’Donnell’s poetry extends to subjects besides his Irish roots. There’s age, and love, hard labor and the burden of corpulence. But it is his Irish-themed poetry that affects me most. Perhaps that’s because my mother-in-law was from Roscommon and spoke often of the hard early years when she would cut peat to burn in the fire. The grand houses she passed on the way to school were remote from the reality of her life.

Mr. O’Donnell’s last poem, “Ireland”, is my favorite and it is a perfect ending piece. “Although I have nearly always been in exile…my mind is free to send me back,” he begins.” He writes, “Every day is long with the stranger.”  However, he continues, clear memory “of a far-off past eases my yearning and helps me to send in the day.”

Though pleasing and well-crafted, his poetry falls short for me in only one respect. He strains at times to find a rhyme. The rhyme is not essential and gives an occasional poem a forced quality. However, this minor point does not detract from the overall quality of his work.

Take the time to read Dan O’Donnell’s “A Star Strangled Banner”.  It would be a hard heart indeed that could not take pleasure in this poetry.

A. G. Moore  1/8/2017

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Navigating Indieworld: A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing Your Paperback (Book Review)

By Carole P. Roman and Julie A. Gerber

 

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Most people who write don’t enjoy the business aspect of their work. I know that’s true for me. Unfortunately, once a book is done, it’s simply a journal until it finds an audience. Carole P. Roman’s “Navigating Indieworld: A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing Your Paperback” is designed to help writers find that audience.

This book is not a quick read, and if you do read it quickly you’re cheating yourself. I began one afternoon and eagerly went through the pages until I had to stop from sheer exhaustion. There is so much to absorb.

Ms. Roman addresses her book to two kinds of authors: those who are willing to invest money upfront and those who are operating on a shoe-string budget. It seems that the greater reward comes with greater investment, but of course there is also the risk of investing and getting little in return. That’s a calculus each author has to make.

There is an operating principle in Ms. Roman’s recommendations and she readily applies it to herself: “What can I say? I have no shame,” she declares. If you are a newbie author, and self-published, your book is not likely to find its way into readers’ hands unless you’re willing to shamelessly and relentlessly present it to them. Ms. Roman tells us how to do that. She cites names and resources, but the bottom line is, the author has to be willing to do the work.

I fully believe that if writers follow the recommendations put forth in “Navigating Indieworld”, their books will sell. Of course, it all starts with the book, and that is where Ms. Roman begins her recommendations. Before promoting a book, make sure it’s worthwhile. Only trust friends and family to critique your work if they are both savvy and willing to be brutal. And be prepared to take a machete to your art, if necessary, to bring it up to snuff.

Once you’ve got a product worthy of promotion, then go through Ms. Roman’s suggestions. Look up her books on Amazon, if you doubt the reliability of her system. She has managed to publish a successful series of entertaining and educational books. More than this review, use that record as proof that she has mastered both the craft of book writing, and skill of book promotion.

A. G. Moore 11/2016
by Categories: A. G. Moore, Indie Authors, Promoting, Publishing, Reviews, Writing, Writing TipsTags: , , , Leave a comment