Unit 10  American literature

a: edgar snow was an american journalist reporting on china, and was famous for his book red star over china. i’ve read it. it’s very authentic and moving.
b: what is the book about? i heard about it but haven’t read it. is it popular in china?
c: yes it’s very popular. in 1936, he started his travel from beijing and at last he got to the red areas of china. there he interviewed mao zedong and recorded factually everyday life of the revolutionists of china.
d: in november of 1936, he went back to beijing and wrote down what he saw and heard. at last, he collected all his reports in the book red star over china.
a: there is another reason why it is popular in china. it is the first book written by a westerner, in which the red areas and the people there are reported factually.
c: edgar snow was an honest person. he always sought true facts in both his books and life. and he is a good friend of chinese people.
b: i see! the popularity of his book is based on his noble character. i must read his book carefully.
t: very good! it seems that most of you have read the book. it’s really popular in our country.
ss:(the second group) we’ll talk about israel epstein.
a: i’m reading the book woman in world history: life and times of soong ching ling written by israel epstein.
b: oh, i have heard of him. he was born in poland and became a chinese citizen in 1957.
c: but i heard he died 4 days ago!
d: yes. he had been living and working in china for more than 70 years. he wrote books about chinese history, china’s revolution and construction. 
c: i heard that he was a personal friend of soong ching ling and the book you are reading is a biography he wrote for her.
d: he loved china and chinese people very much, so the books he wrote are very popular in china
t: wonderful job! do you have any different ideas?
ss: (the third group) we have some views about pearl s buck.
a: the good earth is about chinese peasants’ life in the 1930s written by pearl s buck, who gained nobel prize of literature for this book.
b: i have read this book, it describes chinese peasants’ life factually and deeply. when it was published in 1931, it soon became best seller in america and was translated into many languages.
c: she’s a western woman writer with disputation. in china, someone likes her work while someone not because the description about chinese peasants’ life is the thought to have suspicion of smear.
d: yes. in 1935, when the book was published, it caused a great uproar in the world. whether or not, it has been translated into many languages and is widespread in western countries. it contributed a lot to the positive image that westerners have about chinese people.