Bridge of birds barry hughart book

Bridge of birds is the first story in the chronicles of master li and number ten ox by barry hughart. Their versimilitude demonstrates the care with which hughart studied actual chinese folklore and history before he began to write this novel. Having lived in china for four years, i can attest to the veracity of the spirit and wisdom of the land placed on the page. A questionmark thumbnail indicates i do not have an image of the book. Born march 1934 age 82 peoria illinois occupation barry hugharts writing career started with his novel bridge of birds bridge of birds. It won the world fantasy award in 1985, and hughart produced two sequels. Barry hugharts writing career started with his novel bridge of birds, published in 1984, which won the 1985 world fantasy award for best novel and also won the mythopoeic fantasy award in 1986, followed by the story of the stone in 1988 and eight skilled gentlemen in 1990. Bridge of birds by barry hughart and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. I recommend it unconditionally and i predict barry hughart has quite a. The narrator, number ten ox, lives a quiet life in a rural village until the day a mysterious plague strikes the children of his village.

Bridge of birds, by barry hughart by felix the fox assaph mehr on june 20, 2018 october 1, 2018 whenever someone asks me about my alltime favourite books, i invariable whinge about not being able to choose just one. All present the adventures of master kao li, a scholar with a slight flaw in his character, and lu yu, usually called number ten ox, his sidekick. I recommend it unconditionally and i predict barry hughart has quite a future as a fantasy. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. I reprint it at i first wrote it, so ill explain the reference to alexandria digital literature briefly. Bridge of birds is a fantasy novel by barry hughart, first published in 1984.

This pattern has parallels in the structure of fairytales, and i found bridge of birds remeniscent of dhruns journey in lyonesse by jack vance. The first time i read barry hugharts bridge of birds, i cried. Feb 19, 2015 ive been seeing some awesome read aloud videos on youtube so i decided to make my own. Recently i read a post here in which someone recommended bridge of birds by barry hughart. He attended columbia university where he obtained a bachelors degree in 1956. Possibly the shortest bibliography on the web, as he has written only three books, and no short stories. This book caught my attention somehow, and i thought it looked fascinating, but i never quite got around to ordering it. The other novels in the chronicles of master li and number ten ox include the story of the stone and eight skilled gentlemen. Bridge of birds by barry hughart this is, as the subtitle rightly states, a novel of an ancient china that never was. Upon his graduation from columbia, hughart joined the united states air force and served from 1956 to 1960 where he was involved in laying mines in the korean demilitarized zone. Download bridge of birds by barry hughart link epub. A novel of an ancient china that never was the chronicles of master li and number ten ox barry hughart. Bridge of birds makes a nice change from the standard western fantasy. My history with bridge of birds goes back a long, long way.

Hughart has a true gift for storytelling, and it is a shame that only three master li mysteries have been published. I reprint it at i first wrote it, so ill explain the. Aug 05, 2019 this is truly a book about a china that never was, and probably should have been. With comicbook characters, echoes of lewis carroll, and sinological trappings galore. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Hughart has written a sequel to bridge of birds, called the story of the stone 1988 and eight skilled gentlemen 1990. See more ideas about leonardo da vinci biography, da vinci inventions and da vinci drawings. Jun 21, 2017 but readers are in for a treat, because bridge of birds has a frame made of pearls and precious jade.

Barry hughart bridge of birds pdf li kao may have a slight flaw in his character but the book has none. I feel a little bit hesitant to say too much about this one for two reasons. But that is not what makes barry hugharts 1984 novel bridge of birds so remarkable. Narrated by yu lu, also known as number ten ox the tenth of his fathers sons and as strong as an ox, it begins with a promising silk season coming to an abrupt end. Bridge of birds chronicles of master li and number ten ox. Hughart, and thank you for a truly wonderful creation.

Set in an ancient china that never was, it stands with the princess bride and the last unicorn as a fairy tale for all. Part of the truth revealed the eye seemed to be saying. Set in an ancient china that never was, it stands with the princess bride and the last unicorn as a fairy tale for all ages, by turns incredibly funny and deeply touching. Li kao may have a slight flaw in his character but the book has none. The love of these two constellations is thwarted by the river that separates them the milky way. Nov 14, 2016 a tribute to my favorite book, bridge of birds by barry hughart. Something like ten years, really, to when i was first playing around on this really cool bookstore site called amazon. Bridge of birds opens on a pastoral setting, a remote unicornshaped village in the peaceful valley of cho in ancient china. It is a beast of a book at 652 pages long and is not for the faint of literary heart, but once you finish the book, you realize how much you really loved it and wanted more. Li kao and his clientassistant number ten ox embark on a quest of several stages, each time coming closer to their goal but finding that another unforeseen obstacle lies in their path. Barry hughart is a rare fantasy author in that he successfully brings indepth knowledge of a foreign culture and the right touch of humour.

But readers are in for a treat, because bridge of birds has a frame made of pearls and precious jade. Bridge of birds project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Barry hughart books list of books by author barry hughart. Mar 19, 2020 barry hughart bridge of birds pdf li kao may have a slight flaw in his character but the book has none. Barry hughart is a widely acclaimed writer whose first novel, bridge of birds, won the world fantasy award for best novel. Journey hugharr the westby wu chengena quest story like bridge of birdstells a tale of a long pilgrimage from china to india in search of enlightenment. When he visits kufu, he quickly diagnoses the problem. The story of the stone, and eight skilled gentlemen.

Forgotten classics has been granted permission by author barry hughart to read bridge of birds. The book is written in the style of a chinese folk tale or fairy tale, more like lud in the mist than lord of the rings. Buy bridge of birds chronicles of master li and number ten ox by hughart, barry isbn. Bridge of birds with its chinese setting was cited again and again, and within two chapters i was thanking everyone who recommended it. Though all of his books are marvelous, the bridge of birds is hugharts masterpiece.

Born march 1934 age 82 peoria illinois occupation barry hugharts writing career started with his novel bridge of birds bridge of birds is a fantasy fiction that is told in the style of a chinese fable. Theoretically, the book is a retelling of the chinese myth of the weaver girl and the cowherd. See all books authored by barry hughart, including bridge of birds, and the story of the stone, and more on. Bridge of birds doesnt have quite the density of fauxchinese aphorisms as kai lung, but hughart occasionally inserts an excellent one. The chronicles of master li and number ten ox kindle edition by hughart, barry. I cant find the thread and dont remember who recommended it, but i want to thank you. A novel of an ancient china that never was by barry hughart is a book that is hard to describe.

It is part of a short series of books relating the adventures of master li and number ten ox and are collected in a single volume on the kindle store. A novel of an ancient china that never was the chronicles of master li and number ten ox by hughart, barry and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The remainder of the novel proceeds in a very episodic nature as number ten ox and li kao track down. Bridge of birds by barry hughart mobileread forums. Bridge of birds is the first in a series of stories chronicling the adventures of master li, an ancient but irreverent chinese sage, and number ten ox, his goodnatured sidekick. Never overt, hughart assimilates street corner myths, novels from the chinese canon, chinese culture, as well as bits of daoist, confucian, and buddhist philosophy into his first novel, bridge of birds. No spoilers just finished bridge of birds by barry hughart. This was such a beautiful book, one of my new favorites.

Hugharts prose can be breathtakingly lovely, and it brings to life a landscape full of vibrant green ricefields, windswept mountains and tantalizing marketplaces. This was the book that patrick rothfuss raved about on his blog when he promoted the humble bundle sale i spoke of in a previous blog post. He intended to write seven novels about the adventures of li kao and number ten ox, but his writing career was cut short due to issues with his publishers. Includes thumbnails of scanned images, and points for identifying the various editions. The story takes place in tang dynasty china, where the children of a village get suddenly ill, and ox is sent out to find help in the big city. The original draft of bridge of birds is included in a special slipcased version of the omnibus collection, the chronicles of master li and number ten ox, released by subterranean press in 2008. Fill it with equal measures of fact, fantasy, history, mythology, science, superstition, logic, and lunacy. A novel of an ancient china that never was by barry hughart is a. Bridge of birds, by barry hughart strange at ecbatan. Barry hughart, quote from bridge of birds nothing on the face of this earth and i do mean nothing is half so dangerous as a childrens story that happens to be real, and you and i are wandering blindfolded through a myth devised by a maniac. This is truly a book about a china that never was, and probably should have been. Still, i am attempting to compile a list of all editions of his books, including uncorrected proofs.

I first about barry hugharts bridge of birds some years ago, probably mentioned in passing on or somesuch. Fully integrating chinese legend into reality, the subtitle. Bridge of birds, a novel of an ancient china that never was, is an utterly delightful and charming comic fantasy. The bridge of birds master li, book 1 by barry hughart book cover, description, publication history. Bridge of birds fantasy by the author barry hughart and 20. By some miracle, once a year, all the birds in the world gather together to make a bridge on which the weaver girl can cross over to her beloved. With the authors tendency to grossly underplay certain story elements, it is simultaneously simplistic and confounding. He intended to write seven novels about the adventures of li kao and. It is the first of three novels in the chronicles of master li and number ten ox series. Review of bridge of birds by barry hughart speculiction. Since that time, he seems to have fallen silent and rumor says he has stopped writing. The bridge of birds master li, book 1 by barry hughart. Feb 17, jenny reading envy rated it really liked it shelves. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most.

Bridge of birds by barry hughart goodreads share book. The original draft of bridge of birds is included in a special slipcased version of the omnibus collection, the chronicles of master li and number ten ox. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the chronicles of master li and number ten ox. The chronicles of master li and number ten ox by barry hughart is a work of sheer outlandish fiction.

I suppose an optimist could look at these traits and say to himself, this is a book that works on manylevels. Mar 20, 2015 bridge of birds is the first story in the chronicles of master li and number ten ox by barry hughart. When the children of his village were struck with a mysterious i. Ive been seeing some awesome read aloud videos on youtube so i decided to make my own. Barry hughart s writing career started with his novel bridge of birds, published in 1984, which won the 1985 world fantasy award for best novel and also won the mythopoeic fantasy award in 1986, followed by the story of the stone in 1988 and eight skilled gentlemen in 1990. No spoilers just finished bridge of birds by barry hughart and i stopped by to say what a terrific novel it was. Barry hughart is a western writer, of course, but hes drawing on nontypical settings and sources although, of course, a lot of the stories and lore in this book is made up for the purposes of the story, there are also things i recognise from the little ive read of monkey journey to the west. This is a work of art and one of my favorite three books of all time. Bridge of birds by barry hughart is a modestly entertaining novel, by turns amusing and dull as a textbook. Buy a cheap copy of bridge of birds book by barry hughart.