Scan barcode
maryrobinson's review
3.0
Fascinating account of a young woman escaping a hellish life in China to come to America. Can’t believe the hard work and determination that went into her attempt to learn English, get a degree and make it in our country. She writes with such honesty about her weaknesses and mistakes, which are often just heartbreaking. It took years and years for her to make any headway, with so much labor and so many frustrations along the way, but her spirit and strength of character kept her pushing ahead. Min also offers great insight into the differences in the Chinese and American cultures.
booknerd67's review
4.0
Ok, if you think you are having a hard day read this book and read everything Anchee Min had to endure. It's amazing how hard she worked to make it in America. I can't remember is I read Red Azalea but I will have to revisit it. She was fleeing such awful conditions in China so I guess even the hardship here was a lot better.
dnousek's review
4.0
Honest and at times brutal storytelling. Enjoyable in a way, insofar as reading someone's hardships baldly described can be enjoyable. Time to shift to something more lighthearted, though.
pamelas's review
4.0
Once upon a time, I had a vague idea that I grew up poor in a trailer park in South Carolina. Then I read Angela's Ashes and never again thought I was poor.
Once upon a time, I had a vague idea I had worked hard from time to time. Then I read The Cooked Seed and again, my view of myself was redefined completely.
Anchee Min came to the US on the wings of a lie and stayed here by clawing her way to a green card through amazing determination and hard work. Really hard work. And here is her story, told in brutally honest detail. I do not feel she tried to paint herself in a better light, as one would be sorely tempted to do in a memoir. There are times her flaws are glimpsed, and other times when they shine through. But this makes this autobiography that much more interesting to me. She is a person who has done the best she can with what she has--indeed, I think she does better than most of us would. She has survived many traumas and hardships, and yet she still loves China and the US, neither of which were particularly nice to her. She is the opposite of our current culture of blaming someone else. She does not waste time blaming, but moves on. Sometimes, she might have been better served if she had pressed charges, made accusations, etc. But this is not who she is, or how she things, for better or for worse.
An excellent memoir!
Once upon a time, I had a vague idea I had worked hard from time to time. Then I read The Cooked Seed and again, my view of myself was redefined completely.
Anchee Min came to the US on the wings of a lie and stayed here by clawing her way to a green card through amazing determination and hard work. Really hard work. And here is her story, told in brutally honest detail. I do not feel she tried to paint herself in a better light, as one would be sorely tempted to do in a memoir. There are times her flaws are glimpsed, and other times when they shine through. But this makes this autobiography that much more interesting to me. She is a person who has done the best she can with what she has--indeed, I think she does better than most of us would. She has survived many traumas and hardships, and yet she still loves China and the US, neither of which were particularly nice to her. She is the opposite of our current culture of blaming someone else. She does not waste time blaming, but moves on. Sometimes, she might have been better served if she had pressed charges, made accusations, etc. But this is not who she is, or how she things, for better or for worse.
An excellent memoir!
jwd715's review
4.0
I won this book through First Reads. I thought this was an incredible and honest memoir, which I enjoyed reading.
rlbasley's review
5.0
And Anchee Min's memoir comes full circle. I am truly inspired by her grit and never say never attitude and her later dedication to her daughter. Her bravery in presenting herself as a flawed vessel is refreshing and the stories about her second husband are downright funny as I tend to ramble like that my own self. Hats off to Lauryann for "making" her mom write this and I hope at some point to see her memoir as well.
aksimmo's review
4.0
A memoir? It felt more like an adventure novel to me! Anchee Min, the author, comes to America on a student visa with $500 borrowed from an aunt and no English speaking skills whatsoever. Memorizing a "speech", she convinces the Chinese government to give her a student visa to go to art school in the US. She is so terrified that they will interrupt her and ask her a question in English that she hurries through her prepared recitation and miraculously gets her visa. That's when the adventure begins.
Ms. Min is 27 years old, in a foreign country and watching Sesame Street to learn English. Without a command of the English language she finds it hard to get a job, make friends, and keep up in her classes. She carries a dictionary with her wherever she goes and tries to look up every word the teacher writes on the blackboard.
She works very hard to make a life for herself in America with the ultimate goal of earning a green card. She pushes herself and lives on very little, even living in a storage closet to save money!
I was in awe of Ms. Min's determination. As she becomes Americanized she still finds it hard to let go of the Chinese culture that is so deeply a part of who she is. At times I wanted to shake her and say "loosen up a little and enjoy life instead of working from sun up until sun down!" But all the hard work has payed off for Ms. Min as she is now the author of several best selling books. I really enjoyed this memoir that didn't always read like a memoir.
Ms. Min is 27 years old, in a foreign country and watching Sesame Street to learn English. Without a command of the English language she finds it hard to get a job, make friends, and keep up in her classes. She carries a dictionary with her wherever she goes and tries to look up every word the teacher writes on the blackboard.
She works very hard to make a life for herself in America with the ultimate goal of earning a green card. She pushes herself and lives on very little, even living in a storage closet to save money!
I was in awe of Ms. Min's determination. As she becomes Americanized she still finds it hard to let go of the Chinese culture that is so deeply a part of who she is. At times I wanted to shake her and say "loosen up a little and enjoy life instead of working from sun up until sun down!" But all the hard work has payed off for Ms. Min as she is now the author of several best selling books. I really enjoyed this memoir that didn't always read like a memoir.