The conventional wisdom is to read “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” if you want to understand Japanese culture. My (Chinese) wife says the best book to read to understand Chinese people is “The True Story of Ah Q”.
What other books offer useful and insightful perspectives on various peoples and cultures? What should a Martian read to understand Americans or the French?
by jobrody
2 Comments
100 Years of Solitude for hispanoamerican culture
Americans? Deliverance, The Vanishing Half and Catcher in the Rye.
(Deliverance is about Hemingway-esque narrative drive, American obsessions with self-reliance and Testing Oneself in the Wilderness, toxic masculinity, homophobia and homoeroticism. The Vanishing Half is about race, gender, family, sexuality, generational trauma, and how we can come to terms or realize we can never come to terms with history. Catcher is privilege, how we commodify everything and use consumerism to fill the empty spaces inside us, and the way we medicalize those who recognize the hollowness we have created.)