Balckwell’s Books returns with this, the second episode. This month I discuss Tribulations of a Chinese Man in China by Jules Verne, a strange and exciting novel about China by a 19th-century Frenchman who had never been anywhere near. In the episode, I try to grapple with this bizarre book, and discover what it is that Jules Verne was trying to do with his work.
Next month’s book will be the first volume of A Dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin. While I was working on this month’s episode, I happened across a wonderful-looking edition at the library and had to pick it up, and ended up getting absorbed in this amazing book all over again. Didn’t mean to keep the China theme going but that’s how it worked out. I’ve gotta do what my heart tells me! I’ve got no choice!
