Open a book this minute and start reading. Don’t move until you’ve reached page fifty. Until you’ve buried your thoughts in print. Cover yourself with words. Wash yourself away. Dissolve. Carol Shields Republic of Love

Ai Mi’s Under the Hawthorn Tree (2012)

What makes for a love letter during the Cultural Revolution in China would have Heathcliff and Catherine shaking their heads.

Maybe two or three pages of discussing China’s excellent international and domestic circumstances, then the fortunate conditions of provincial and city life, and those of friends and class-mates.

These formalities cannot be overlooked, and, indeed, [...]