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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
I don't usually read autobiographies (or enjoy them necessarily)
but this book was amazing!
So well thought out and a pleasant read
...
I satrted in the morning and finished it just after lunch.
but this book was amazing!
So well thought out and a pleasant read
...
I satrted in the morning and finished it just after lunch.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Fantastic read and story, you can’t make this stuff up. Incredible to see the growth.
This biography of Li Cunxin's remarkable life in communist China is definitely worth reading. Growing up in a very poor family and then miraculously being chosen to be a dance student in Madam Mao's dance school in Bejing takes this young boy from destitute poverty to a whole new world of opportunities, opportunities that require physical as well emotional pain from a very little boy. He is pushed up against the almost terrifying ironies of China's new form of government and sees the fallible men and women behind the wizard's curtain of communism but also finds some heroes among his teachers who serve as instrumental mentors in his life.
The story is interesting, but the writing is definitely choppy and has all the tell tale signs of an amateur and ESL writer. He often repeats himself, especially when he describes his mother and father's sacrifices for their family. This might be a common element in the Chinese language, but in English it is wordy and a little annoying.
I wouldn't say this is a page turner, but this book has hopeful messages that transcend the sometimes awkward writing. After reading the book I pulled up some YouTube videos of Li Cunxin's dancing and that was impressive to watch.
The story is interesting, but the writing is definitely choppy and has all the tell tale signs of an amateur and ESL writer. He often repeats himself, especially when he describes his mother and father's sacrifices for their family. This might be a common element in the Chinese language, but in English it is wordy and a little annoying.
I wouldn't say this is a page turner, but this book has hopeful messages that transcend the sometimes awkward writing. After reading the book I pulled up some YouTube videos of Li Cunxin's dancing and that was impressive to watch.
Really interesting and engaging...good for anyone who likes historical novels and biographies.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Slow start but couldn’t put it down at the end. Stayed up all night finishing it. The simplicity of the writing, the memories of his family and later his life in the dance academy, the childhood stories he included and his defection made this journey so worthwhile. Still not found one memoir of the time of Mao that support this, somehow still, glorified admiration of him by older chinese generations. I don’t think I will ever be able to watch those Chinese athletes, dancers or gymnasts with the same mind anymore. Knowing the kind of pressure and training they were forced to do.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced