Everyone has different ways of learning languages. One of my favorite ways to learn Chinese is to read books. Several years ago, someone gave me a Chinese book, and I started reading it, but I had a hard time getting into it and every time I picked it up, it had been so long that I forgot what the book was about. So that’s when I decided to just read one page every day while I ate breakfast. I’ve continued that habit for several years off and on and through several different books. My favorite Chinese book so far, and the best one for foreigners to read in my opinion, is called 或(huò)者(zhě), by 余(yú)华(huá).
I like this book first because it’s a story. Some of the books that I’ve read are more diaries or reflections, and those are a bit harder for me to follow, but I like this one because it’s a story with a clear plot. I enjoy getting into stories, and I really got into this one.
I also enjoy this book because it’s about a specific time in Chinese history, a time when the people in the Chinese countryside were struggling to eat and struggling to survive. The book is not a happy book, but the content is touching.
In the beginning, the main character, a man with a wife and two small children, makes some extremely bad choices. In fact, I kind of hated him, and I wasn’t sure how I would be able to read a whole book when I disliked the main character so much. However, my friends encouraged me to keep reading. His deplorable character in the beginning helped to set the stage for the rest of the book. I didn’t think it would be possible for him to change or for me to change my view of him, but by the end of the book, I liked this man and even felt sorry for him.
I think the hardest thing about reading this book was realizing that the horrible things that people had to live through really did happen to many people. My heart hurt for the pain that so many people during that time period had to deal with. I enjoy reading books that help me to see life from a different perspective, and this book definitely did that for me.
The book wasn’t too difficult to read. I still had to check quite a few words in the dictionary, but there were also times when I could follow the story pretty well without checking many words. Being interested in the story and invested in what was happening also went a long way in helping me to have the motivation to keep reading and figuring out what was happening.
If you’re a foreigner or expat looking for a good Chinese book to read, I definitely recommend this one. I’m around HSK level 5, probably, and I really enjoyed reading this book! I’ve heard there’s also a movie that’s quite good, but I haven’t seen it yet. I don’t like watching the movie before I read the book because I’m afraid I will be less motivated to finish the book. But it would probably help the plot to make more sense, so you might not need to check the dictionary as often as I did if you see the movie first!