Over the past few weeks, the world has had to adapt to a new normal, including spending more time in solitude. But physical distancing doesn’t have to mean that we are disconnected or glued to our phones—this can also be a time for deep contemplation.
KQED Arts & Culture and the Truth Be Told podcast team asked our readers and listeners, What books have shaped your life? We wanted to know why these books had an impact and why they are still markers of a change—in heart, mind or understanding.
Here's what we gathered from our staff and you.
M. Butterfly and Chinglish by David Henry Hwang
I stumbled upon David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly as a theater arts minor at UC Santa Cruz. At the time, he was the only Asian American playwright I was aware of. I was intrigued by the particular scene of Rene Gallimard staying behind after Song Liling’s performance of Madame Butterfly. Song Liling tears into Gallimard’s praise of “How it was a beautiful tragedy that a young Oriental girl sacrificed herself for a white man.” If it was the other way around, would it still be so beautiful?