bookish, a weblog by George Girton

Peace . . . . . oct 10 2004 — bookish113.dat

"If a woman is going to write a Book of Peace, it is given to her to know devastation." So begins The Fifth Book of Peace by Maxine Hong Kingston, a book I got on a lark, along with her first novel, Tripmaster Monkey. Maxine Hong Kingston is giving a free public lecture on October 18, 2004, at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and I thought it would be fun to take a look at a couple of her books. So I got a couple of them, used, for a pittance plus a shippance, on amazin' amazon. What happened next is a perfect example of why it is so important to read outside your field. The fifth book? When I started reading the first chapter, "Fire," I couldn't put it down. Which is not to say I could read it quickly. It wasn't written quickly, was it?

Evidently she meant to call the book "The Fourth Book of Peace," but since it was destroyed in the Oakland Fire of 1990 along with her home and all her belongings, it became, when resurrected, a very different book. More later on, but just for the moment your marching orders are here, and they're clear: The Fifth Book of Peace [buy at amazon] . by Maxine Hong Kingston. Buy it. Read it. Share it. Remember it.