(no subject)

I wish paleaswater would blog more- even as much as she used to do on pitas. Have just been reading through past entries to find her perfectly worded summation of what I don't like about Barry Hughes.

It is amusing in its own way, but it's so... chinoiserie. There's no denying that this author did tons and tons of research. Left no popular tale unturned in fact -- I can identify a lot of his references, from the blood-thirsty duchess to the proper method of cooking porcupine. But taken altogether the effect is rather grotesque -- reminds of me of these chinoiserie rooms in European palaces where the owner never saw a piece of porcelain or jade that couldn't be improved by a gold chased cover. And it wouldn't be so objectionable if the author wasn't thinking that he was doing such a clever job. Erghhh...

Add that to her remarks about Snake Agent and I think we're left with the dispiriting conclusion that round-eyes shouldn't try to write Chinese stuff unless they've lived there. Or are actually referencing the western tradition of getting it wrong, Fu Manchu and Terry and the Pirates のよう.
( Thoughts on cultural appropriation )