Rooted in Taiwan, Connected with the World

I haven't posted anything on my blog for the past three weeks because I was traveling abroad with my wife. Our destination was Italy — the center of the Greco-Roman world and the birthplace of the Renaissance. Having been inspired by the great works of Italian literature — the Aeneid, the Metamorphoses, and the Divine Comedy — I took this long-awaited trip, imagining I was undertaking a Grand Tour like the upper-class young people did in the 19th century as part of their coming-of-age ritual. Unlike the months- or even years-long Grand Tours of the old days, however, our trip lasted only two weeks, so it was a mini Grand Tour — and also a short annual leave from blogging. This was my first trip to Italy, and it turned out to be easier than I expected, thanks to modern technology and the abundance of online information that allowed me to plan the trip well in advance and fine-tune our daily itineraries at the last minute. After arriving in Rome on October 17, we took trains, subways...

I just finished reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , an 1884 sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, the world-renowned American writer, humorist, and essayist. I was thrilled to have read both masterpieces of Twain, having read  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer last month. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is also one of the first major works of American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by regionalism. The book is also known for its vivid description of people and places along the Mississippi River.  Interestingly, while it is clear that Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was controversial from the outset, its original illustrations by E. W. Kemble were praised. At the time a young artist working for Life magazine, Kemble was hand-picked by Twain, who admired his work. The copy I read does not include these illustrations, but they can easily be found online. Set in a Southern an...

I just finished studying my sixteenth Shakespeare play, Henry V , a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599. It is the last part of the Henriad tetralogy, preceded by Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1, and Henry IV, Part 2. This was a coveted milestone that I could barely dream of when begining my self-study journey of Shakespeare’s plays 17 months ago.  I look forward to exploring another Shakespearean tetralogy—the First Tetralogy—comprising Henry VI, Parts 1–3, and Richard III. In this play, Prince Hal has been crowned King Henry V, having matured after his father’s death. In order to demonstrate his military might and unite his country, recently recovering from civil war, Henry V plans to reclaim lands in France that once belonged to England. He leads his troops across the English Channel, and aims to woo Katherine, daughter of King Charles VI of France. The play ends with a marriage between Henry V and Katherine, following the English army's deci...