From A Cottager's Sketchbook, Vol.2

Book excerpt: A Cottager's Sketchbook is a collection of informal essays written by Liang Shih-chiu over a span of more than four decades. The earliest pieces originally appeared in a weekly in the wartime capital of Chongqing and, in the subsequent articles, the author continues to ridicule human foibles and social follies. His elegant and graceful prose, enriched by his liberal use of classical quotations and literally allusions, is sprinkled with lampoons of contemporary life and culture. Volume II of this collection features pieces from the seventies and eighties. Liang's distinct style continues to shine, but these late essays reveal a mellowness that comes with age. While the poignant sarcasm subtly and slowly shifts to a benign humor, the nostalgia for his hometown becomes more and more palpable during his exile in Taiwan.