Book excerpt: This is a monograph on Western classical music written by a Chinese American. It contains the results of the author's years of work, i.e., more than two hundred thousand words of Beethoven-themed essays in the form of poems, essays, prose, and reviews. The book covers all aspects of the great composer Beethoven's life and career from his birth experience to his emotional life, from the background of the times to his ideology, from the review of his works to the analysis of music appreciation. The book is rich in historical information, rigorous in argumentation, incisive in commentary, and fluent in sentiment and reason. As a nonacademic scholar of Beethoven, this book is characterized by a distinctive personality, free from the constraints of traditional rules and regulations. Based on a comprehensive and profound understanding of the historical figure and his works, the author presents his original arguments and opinions on some important professional topics and fields.