of course, before he became a professor of chinese history at yale, J.D. Spence was a travel writer. this was in the days before Lonely Planet became popular, particularly among penny-pinching, and he was pretty much the big boy on the block, writing and publishing a wildly popular Modern Searches series.
unfortunately, they were all pocket guides and the world maps were really small. it really gave a new spin on The Modern Search for China (1975) which was, of course, a very difficult book on account of its small map, even with the built-in magnifying glass. it was a bit like Where's Wally? (even then i must admit that for the analogy to be more valid, wally would have to be a huge elephant-sized object in a seething mass of human figures. nevertheless, it was still very difficult to find china in a spence book.) needless to say, Spence never got down to writing The Modern Search for Singapore or The Modern Search for Vatican City.
unlike susannah clarke, author of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, he knew it wouldn't sell. he was, of course, not having the sado-masochistic niche market in mind in the way that clarke was.
****
so, naturally, the following year, he had acquired a professorship and settled down to be a historian.
it doesn't take much to be one.
****
but then again, they earn oodles of money. the same, however, cannot be said of professors in england.
in a class today, we were discussing how the state stipend in qing dynasty times to people who had passed the state examinations was terribly insufficient and tended to lead to disappointed expectations and frustrations.
"people sacrifice a lot, think they have it made, and then find out that this was entirely not the case...
like oxford dons, really."
i could use this as a springboard to open a discussion on the shambolic nature of british higher education and research as compared to america's, or i could just keep quiet.
****
instead of a) compiling the posts into book form or b) doing a podcast, i have a better idea. i think we should collect kai's assorted 101's (there have been 3 so far) into one combined self-help and general knowledge book. we could call it KaiSiang for Dummies.
i think it will sell very well, given the popularity of simple explanatory books around.
unfortunately, they were all pocket guides and the world maps were really small. it really gave a new spin on The Modern Search for China (1975) which was, of course, a very difficult book on account of its small map, even with the built-in magnifying glass. it was a bit like Where's Wally? (even then i must admit that for the analogy to be more valid, wally would have to be a huge elephant-sized object in a seething mass of human figures. nevertheless, it was still very difficult to find china in a spence book.) needless to say, Spence never got down to writing The Modern Search for Singapore or The Modern Search for Vatican City.
unlike susannah clarke, author of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, he knew it wouldn't sell. he was, of course, not having the sado-masochistic niche market in mind in the way that clarke was.
****
so, naturally, the following year, he had acquired a professorship and settled down to be a historian.
it doesn't take much to be one.
****
but then again, they earn oodles of money. the same, however, cannot be said of professors in england.
in a class today, we were discussing how the state stipend in qing dynasty times to people who had passed the state examinations was terribly insufficient and tended to lead to disappointed expectations and frustrations.
"people sacrifice a lot, think they have it made, and then find out that this was entirely not the case...
like oxford dons, really."
i could use this as a springboard to open a discussion on the shambolic nature of british higher education and research as compared to america's, or i could just keep quiet.
****
instead of a) compiling the posts into book form or b) doing a podcast, i have a better idea. i think we should collect kai's assorted 101's (there have been 3 so far) into one combined self-help and general knowledge book. we could call it KaiSiang for Dummies.
i think it will sell very well, given the popularity of simple explanatory books around.
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