Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Anchee Min has yet to let me down! I love her writing style. I just wish more libraries in this area carried more of her books! Come to Connecticut Ms. Min and bring your books with you lol
This book was interesting and provided a window into Mao's China, but the writing style and grammar choices made it unbelievably hard to read at times.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Reviewed 8/16/2005
This book takes place during the Cultural Revolution. Anchee Min is one of the Red Guard youth - Mao came into power when she was tiny, so she grew up knowing nothing other than the Chairman. She grew up in this strictly regimented world, she is the representative from her family to go and work as a peasant on one of the giant farms.
This is an autobiographical work, which of course means that there's no real beginning, end, or happy little story arc with all the loose ends neatly tied up. I wish that I had known a bit more about China during the Great Leap Forward before reading this book - I do think that this would be an invaluable supplement to anyone studying - or just interested in - the Chinese Cultural Revolution. I would suggest that a prospective reader have some knowledge of Mao, Communism, and the Great Leap Forward; otherwise this story won't be as effective and won't be much more than a semi-interesting tale.
This book takes place during the Cultural Revolution. Anchee Min is one of the Red Guard youth - Mao came into power when she was tiny, so she grew up knowing nothing other than the Chairman. She grew up in this strictly regimented world, she is the representative from her family to go and work as a peasant on one of the giant farms.
This is an autobiographical work, which of course means that there's no real beginning, end, or happy little story arc with all the loose ends neatly tied up. I wish that I had known a bit more about China during the Great Leap Forward before reading this book - I do think that this would be an invaluable supplement to anyone studying - or just interested in - the Chinese Cultural Revolution. I would suggest that a prospective reader have some knowledge of Mao, Communism, and the Great Leap Forward; otherwise this story won't be as effective and won't be much more than a semi-interesting tale.
The one thing that always moves me when reading book by Chinese authors is the language. I think that, to many people, it can be very annoying and dissolute. But to me it is beautiful - it is poetry in prose. Were 'Western' litterature can be very factual and perhaps a bit static at times as well, the Chinese version is poetic, flowy and intensely impassioned and yet also distanced.
I was instantly caught up in the plot of this book as I (embarrassing as it is to say) didn’t know much about the Cultural Revolution in China. It was a heartbreaking account, for more reasons than one. I was swept up in Min’s love affair with her commander and it reminded me so much of my passionate relationship with my “best friend” (soon to be wife) when we were in high school. It’s a devastating reminder that our love is still forbidden in so many cultures, ideologies and religions.
This was one of the assigned summer reading books that I did not look forward to. It was translated into English from Chinese and I didn't know a lot about China at the time. To me, Asia was a place where a lot of my friends were so it couldn't have been all that great. In addition to that, it was the place where my dad always left to go work. Therefore, mixed feelings were mixed feelings until I started to read.
Anchee Min's narrative had an eerie feel to it as she started to develop her story. She brought us into a whole new world, but one that was real. Different from ours yet at a time that wasn't too long ago. It seemed almost surreal all the events that she would describe along with the relationships she started to build. Almost shocking in a sense that this was her life.
It felt so isolated.
I read the book a few years ago and cannot remember all the scenes. Yet the ones that I remember continue to "haunt" me in such a good way. The images they left behind in my mind are perfect and enlightening on the ways that I approach my own life, which may be so separate from her experience. But I feel like no matter what, we all have similar universal problems, which is the great part of a memoir. We're able to see a whole new world and something misunderstood yet it all almost feels the same.
If that makes sense.
This. Is. A. Book. I would want more people to read and I would love to see it created in a film only for marketing reasons. Today, a lot of books are read due to the films that are created. It'd be wonderful to see Anchee Min's story on the big screen only for more people to have an understanding and interest in her beautiful work.
Anchee Min's narrative had an eerie feel to it as she started to develop her story. She brought us into a whole new world, but one that was real. Different from ours yet at a time that wasn't too long ago. It seemed almost surreal all the events that she would describe along with the relationships she started to build. Almost shocking in a sense that this was her life.
It felt so isolated.
I read the book a few years ago and cannot remember all the scenes. Yet the ones that I remember continue to "haunt" me in such a good way. The images they left behind in my mind are perfect and enlightening on the ways that I approach my own life, which may be so separate from her experience. But I feel like no matter what, we all have similar universal problems, which is the great part of a memoir. We're able to see a whole new world and something misunderstood yet it all almost feels the same.
If that makes sense.
This. Is. A. Book. I would want more people to read and I would love to see it created in a film only for marketing reasons. Today, a lot of books are read due to the films that are created. It'd be wonderful to see Anchee Min's story on the big screen only for more people to have an understanding and interest in her beautiful work.
I thought Min's use of language was really original. In terms of plot, I liked the first half of the book, where she is working on a collective farm, better than the second half, where she is involved in making a propaganda film. I would have given the first half 4 stars.
Min provides a detailed and insightful picture of Soviet China. What I appreciated most was the intersection of her personal experience with the cultural movements of the time. I was moved by the way that Min described the profound relationships she shared with her first love, as well as the Supervisor in Shanghai; they are deeply complex, passionate, and sad relationships.
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
A classic sapphic novel, poetic and enrapturing. You won’t believe the life of Anchee Min until you’ve read it.