Dan Wang

“And I think that by far, by far, James C. Scott's very best work is The Art of Not Being Governed, in which he did extensive fieldwork in Yunnan, as well as the broader zone of southwest China and southeast Asia, which is heavily mountainous, an area that is larger than Western Europe.”

Why: It helps appreciate living as an outsider and being skeptical of state power.

The Art of Not Being Governed by James C. Scott
Guest on Conversations with TylerDan Wang on What China and America Can Learn from Each Other

“I much prefer Anna Karenina to War and Peace. I prefer Buddenbrooks to Magic Mountain. And here again, you oppose me. What's the deal?”

Why: It is described as a remarkably Confucian novel focused on family virtues.

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
Guest on Conversations with TylerDan Wang on What China and America Can Learn from Each Other

“So I think that James C. Scott's most popular work, Seeing Like a State, is also unfortunately his, I would say, weakest work. It takes—…”

Why: The speaker contrasts it with his better work on stateless regions.

Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
Guest on Conversations with TylerDan Wang on What China and America Can Learn from Each Other

“This was one of my mother's favorite novels as well, and she gave it to me to read. And I think that The Red and the Black still holds up very well.”

Why: It features voluptuous descriptions of love and is very funny to boot.

Red and the Black by Horace Barnet Samuel
Guest on Conversations with TylerDan Wang on What China and America Can Learn from Each Other

“I much prefer Anna Karenina to War and Peace. I prefer Buddenbrooks to Magic Mountain. And here again, you oppose me. What's the deal?”

Why: It is noted as a much stronger love story.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Guest on Conversations with TylerDan Wang on What China and America Can Learn from Each Other

“Who's the greatest living Chinese novelist? Liu Cixing, author of The Three-Body Problem. If I try to read Mo Yan and I'm bored, he's the Nobel laureate, what am I missing?”

Why: It is praised as a rollicking good police drama with themes of strategic deception and effective integration of the cultural revolution.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Guest on Conversations with TylerDan Wang on What China and America Can Learn from Each Other