Perhaps catching the scent of bookworm on my breath, a couple of classmates have asked me for Chinese reading recommendations. Now for starters, ICLP already offers a great sampling of well-known Chinese-language authors in its upper-level text books, but sometimes it’s nice to mix things up a bit. You may have noticed a rack of brightly colored, pocket-sized novels in the convenience store. They are immediately recognizable by corny titles that could be rendered in English as The Wicked Bachelor, The Haunted Restroom, or No Forgiveness for Cheaters. It’s probably the kind of high-fructose lit you wouldn’t be caught dead reading in your native language. But your heart is set on learning Chinese; so what if your dignity is the price?
These little novels’ formulaic plots and cookie-cutter characters disqualify them any literary prizes, but in fact this lack of sophistication is a boon for the upper-intermediate student of Chinese as a foreign language. You needn’t worry that your limited language ability is keeping you from enjoying the deep inner meaning of the work. There isn’t any. Rather, you can focus on reinforcing old, and learning new grammar and vocabulary. At around 200 mini-pages, the sense of accomplishment of making it to the last pages is within reach.

While 7-11 fiction may be scare on plot, the writing itself can be quite rich. Word is that the authors, who write under pennames, are often professional writers moonlighting. At the very least, you’ll find plenty of chengyu, old and new. The dialogue is often quite colorful, albeit it cliché and melodramatic. For those who hope to improve their spoken Chinese by reading novels, it’s up to your discretion to decide what is too over the top to find its way into normal conversation. Take for instance: 「誰不知道你是隻『超級虎頭蜂』, 見了女人跟見了蜜似地, 死也要沾一口！」* These pocket-sized books are perfect for the commute to school, or for slipping into a carryon. Their portability makes them ideal for review as well. I often use two different colors of pen to make notes. I use red to underline completely unfamiliar words that I will need to look up later. Blue marks words, phrases or entire sentences that while comprehensible, are not (but should be) part of my personal lexicon. If you see me waiting at a cross walk pawing through Stay Away, Naughty CEO, rest assured it’s for a lightening review session. In just a few weeks the fall quarter will be over winter break will begin. Many students must be looking forward to a quick trip home. A few will be heading back to their home countries for the long term to find work or continue their educations. Either way, it will mean a reprieve from compulsory Chinese reading at ICLP. For those not scrambling to catch up on the world of letters in their own language, it might just be time to go pulp. *16頁，《惡質未婚夫》袁茵