The Laughing Sutra: A NovelIron & Silk, Mark Salzman's bestselling account of his adventures as an English teacher and martial arts student in China, introduced a writer of enormous charm and keen insight into the cultural chasm between East and West. Now Salzman returns to China in his first novel, which follows the adventures of Hsun-ching, a naive but courageous orphan, and the formidable and mysterious Colonel Sun, who together travel from mainland China to San Francisco, risking everything to track down an elusive Buddhist scripture called The Laughing Sutra. Part Tom Sawyer, part Tom Jones, The Laughing Sutra draws us into an irresistible narrative of danger and comedy that speaks volumes about the nature of freedom and the meaning of loyalty. "From the Trade Paperback edition. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - kcoleman428 - LibraryThingI really enjoyed this book. It helped me to realize all over again to the differences between cultures! This book was part farie tale and part object lesson. Very good read! Read full review
THE LAUGHING SUTRA
User Review - Jane Doe - KirkusYoung China hand Salzman made a big splash (at age 22) with his account of teaching in China, Iron and Silk (1986); now comes his first novel, a picaresque set in China, Hong Kong, and San Francisco ... Read full review
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Common terms and phrases
Alison America armor arms back to China began boat Buddha Buddhist Captain Wong cave chest China Chinese Chinese boxing ching clothes colonel and Hsun-ching colonel asked Colonel Sun Corman door dwarf dynasty emperor eyes face feel feet foreigners gold Hamma hand heard Hong Kong Hsiian-tsang Hsun Hsun-ching asked Hsun-ching felt Hsun-ching looked Hsun-ching nodded Hsun-ching thought Hsun-ching's Hunan Jeremy Thorp killed knew Kuan Kun-ming Laughing Sutra Liu Pei live Mahavishnu Manny monk mouth museum never night opened paintings pointed police pulled Red Guards scroll seemed Sheng-hui shook his head shouted sitting slowly smiled someone sound stared stood stopped sure T'ang Takla Makan tell temple thing Tibetan took train True Soldiers trying Ts'ao turned Vajrapani wait walked watched waterfall Wei-ching Wei-ching's woman yelled Yunnan
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Laughing Sutra: A Novel |
| Author | Mark Salzman |
| Publisher | Random House, 1991 |
| Original from | the University of California |
| Digitized | Jun 12, 2008 |
| Length | 263 pages |
| Subjects | › Fiction / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |