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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
reflective
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
I had been looking for personal accounts of the cultural revolution, and this fit the bill. Her writing is sparse, which occasionally struck me as strange, but it certainly does not get in the way of the surreal events through which she lived. It was not just the big picture she conveyed, but the thousand strange things that happend - like only one film showing for 10 years, or the many different ways Mao's writings and teachings would be used. How china has avoided an armed revolution, I will never know.
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Anchee Min's writing style is both beautiful and exhausting. She uses vivid metaphors that are often quite poetic, while at the same time is terrible at writing dialogue. It's all bunched into long paragraphs, which can make it difficult to parse who is speaking at any given moment. (Also her gullibility is occasionally irritating, as when she trusts her competition is telling the truth about a stupid decision. First lesson of communist China: trust no one.)
I found myself thoroughly confused at the end of the book. Felt like the point of the last third of it was missing. I think Min's editor could have done a better job paring it down.
My "didn't like it" rating of this book had little to do with the writing (aside from the lack of thorough editing) and far more to do with my sense of disappointment in the author's choice of partners. Which is hardly fair of me but there you go.
I found myself thoroughly confused at the end of the book. Felt like the point of the last third of it was missing. I think Min's editor could have done a better job paring it down.
My "didn't like it" rating of this book had little to do with the writing (aside from the lack of thorough editing) and far more to do with my sense of disappointment in the author's choice of partners. Which is hardly fair of me but there you go.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Struggled to rate this book, could be a 3.5 or a 4 star read for me and I can't quite decide...
My favourite part of this book was the portrayal of the relationship between Anchee and Yan, and also the introduction of the Supervisor. I loved how Min slowly builds up the observations and emotions felt towards Yan, and thereby allows the reader to realise the romantic love she holds for Yan alongside her own realisation.
The descriptions of Maoist China are also extremely interesting, and confirm what I had already seen when reading Wild Swans. I think if this is your first book reading about Maoist China, then it could become very highly rated because the revelations are shocking. As I personally had already read another 3-generational memoir of living in Maoist China, I knew much of the information already, and so it was not as shocking as the first time. Nonetheless, still fascinating. But perhaps does explain why I engaged most with the lesbian romance at the centre of this memoir.
The writing style is simple and very matter-of-fact - I think for me sometimes too matter-of-fact. I think I personally would have enjoyed more inner exploration of mental states and how she slowly became disillusioned with communism. It is all implied, but most of the writing deals with externals rather than internals, and I think I am a big fan of discovering the psychology of characters. I imagine it might have been hard/painful to remember all of these emotions and thoughts, and it would take a lot of work to try and understand.
My favourite part of this book was the portrayal of the relationship between Anchee and Yan, and also the introduction of the Supervisor. I loved how Min slowly builds up the observations and emotions felt towards Yan, and thereby allows the reader to realise the romantic love she holds for Yan alongside her own realisation.
The descriptions of Maoist China are also extremely interesting, and confirm what I had already seen when reading Wild Swans. I think if this is your first book reading about Maoist China, then it could become very highly rated because the revelations are shocking. As I personally had already read another 3-generational memoir of living in Maoist China, I knew much of the information already, and so it was not as shocking as the first time. Nonetheless, still fascinating. But perhaps does explain why I engaged most with the lesbian romance at the centre of this memoir.
The writing style is simple and very matter-of-fact - I think for me sometimes too matter-of-fact. I think I personally would have enjoyed more inner exploration of mental states and how she slowly became disillusioned with communism. It is all implied, but most of the writing deals with externals rather than internals, and I think I am a big fan of discovering the psychology of characters. I imagine it might have been hard/painful to remember all of these emotions and thoughts, and it would take a lot of work to try and understand.
An incredible memoir detailing the author's personal experience of the Chinese cultural Revolution. The story is incredible in the literal sense - it strains belief. I found I kept lapsing into the sense that I was reading a novel rather than something autobiographical. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, as well as surprisingly erotic in parts. Her relationship with Yan may just have become my favourite literary love story. The whole book is shot through with loneliness, passion and resolve. I feel it will stay with me for a long time.
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Gorgeously written, and gave me some more cultural context for understanding Maoist China. Min explores and balances contradicting forces between social circumstances and individual agency. This doesn't feel like simple Western/anti-China propaganda, although it is about Min's suffering under the Cultural Revolution. Min didn't really get the chance to be a child, and as an adult she was uniquely positioned as simultaneously useful and problematic because of her strong will, her looks, and her facility with language. She was unable to play the political games required to thrive where she was, but was able to figure out how to go somewhere else. I didn't realize the extent of the general sexual repression in China at the time, nor was I aware of the misogynist backlash after Mao's death, which seemed to roll back much of the progress made with regards to social gender equality. It's a very honest and human memoir, and the love story is particularly poignant.
Someone once mentioned to me that this was a wonderful nonfiction book. I was a bit surprised to find it in the fiction section. Regardless, it's brave and beautiful book about a taboo topic in China.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced