Books
Monday, 28 September 2009 05:09
Written by Roxanne Mei
Renowned Hong Kong food critic, columnist and TV host Chau Lam’s recent book title may raise a few eyebrows. Entitled Beauty or Bitch, the book takes Chau’s taste and insights from the food realm and applies them to the fairer sex. No woman escapes his judgement; from upper-class ladies to barmaids to nuns, Chau offers his analysis of all of them. In his (obvious) opinion, beauty is more than skin deep – and while bitches may be exceedingly glamorous, they remain shallow and susceptible to trends. Nevertheless, the title has attracted accusations of male chauvinism (most notably, though not maliciously, from Chau’s friend Ni Kuang, a writer for the sci-fi series Wisley and Dr. Yuen). Chau’s answer: only ‘chauvinists’ truly care about women, and he simply wants to understand women better.
Hung Huang, editor of ilook magazine – and also known as ‘China’s Anna Wintour’ – has been garnering plenty of attention for her third book Dimestore Philosophy, thanks to her life in the limelight (she’s the daughter of late writer Zhang Hanzhi, the ex-wife of director Kaige Chen and of course, a Chinese media mogul in her own right). The book is a collection of her recent blogs, touching on everything from fashion trends to lessons she’s learned in life – basically, whatever she felt like talking about – all in her spicy, punchy and straight-forward style.
Emperor Qianlong (1735-1796) is regarded as one of the most sophisticated rulers in Chinese history, occupying multiple roles throughout his life. Apart from his political background, he was also a poet, writer, calligrapher, traveler and even hunter. Historical writer Zhang Hongjie paints a vivid picture of this multi-dimensional Qianlong in his latest book Ten Faces of Emperor Qianlong, through intriguing yet simple anecdotes, rather than relying on over-used historical descriptions. Zhang explains in detail how the long-reigning emperor brought the nation to its peak of prosperity, yet ended up with a poor administration and extortion issues, which led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
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