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A review by greatlibraryofalexandra
Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution by Helen Zia
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Enthralling and emotional account of this 'controversial' history of Shanghai's history. Reading this as a white foreigner currently living in the former French Concession that features so heavily in many parts of this book was surreal and humbling.
Zia's writing is clear and concise but gripping, and the stories she chose to highlight and follow were all so unique and expressive. This book was able to distill so much expansive history into a handful of deeply personal stories, while also whetting the appetite for learning more, and never forgetting that the story of refugees fleeing in conflict is universal, communal, and ever relevant. The narratives brought me to tears several times, particularly as I began to unravel and understand Zia's particular personal connection to the book.
What I also found spectacular here was the way so much complex Chinese political history was made accessible by presenting it through the eyes of the people it affected. It was certainly not academically dense, but it did give a layperson a foundation of the intense complexity that was at play, and a lot of that had to do with the diversity of experience/backgrounds each character brought to the table. The only reason I am giving it 4 stars is because there were a few chapters where it relied heavily on letters from the past, and I found it a jarring break from Zia's voice in a way that hampered the rhythm of the story and let me dip into boredom - but other than that, just a phenomenal tale that never loses sight of both the micro and macro experiences of the reverberating effects of mass displacement.
Zia's writing is clear and concise but gripping, and the stories she chose to highlight and follow were all so unique and expressive. This book was able to distill so much expansive history into a handful of deeply personal stories, while also whetting the appetite for learning more, and never forgetting that the story of refugees fleeing in conflict is universal, communal, and ever relevant. The narratives brought me to tears several times, particularly as I began to unravel and understand Zia's particular personal connection to the book.
What I also found spectacular here was the way so much complex Chinese political history was made accessible by presenting it through the eyes of the people it affected. It was certainly not academically dense, but it did give a layperson a foundation of the intense complexity that was at play, and a lot of that had to do with the diversity of experience/backgrounds each character brought to the table. The only reason I am giving it 4 stars is because there were a few chapters where it relied heavily on letters from the past, and I found it a jarring break from Zia's voice in a way that hampered the rhythm of the story and let me dip into boredom - but other than that, just a phenomenal tale that never loses sight of both the micro and macro experiences of the reverberating effects of mass displacement.