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reads_eats_explores 's review for:
Tiananmen Square
by Lai Wen
2024 marked the 35th anniversary of the June Fourth Incident, known outside China as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Tiananmen Square by Lai Wen, the pseudonym of a Beijing-born immigrant living in Britain, wraps an emotionally charged, Ferante-esque, coming-of-age tale around a gripping account of the student protests and the horrific, fateful night paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and his government decided to clear the square with murderous force and Chinese troops cracked down with bullets and tanks.
Even now, the Chinese government attempts to erase and suppress mentions of June Fourth on social media and across the internet, including the most iconic image of “Tank Man,” the single protester blocking the progression of a column of tanks.
But, back to this fabulous book, which begins long before the protests. We start with Lai as a child in the late 1970s. Ominous manifestations of death and danger shade her childhood, and as she grows, we are taken along on her journey.
The one relatively minor issue I have is Wen’s use of Westernised prose - I can’t imagine our Chinese teens saying they really ‘dig’ something or that it’s ‘pretty rad’, but maybe I’m wrong. This language style also lends a rather YA feel to the book, but again, perhaps that is deliberate given the age of our protagonist.
While lengthy, the novel, at almost 500 pages, is worthwhile, not just because it marks the anniversary of one of the most infamous protest crackdowns in modern history but also because it is a captivating read with an autobiographical basis—it is faction, aka embellished fiction.
While reading, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the Israel-Palestine protests, particularly on campuses around the globe. Though the actions of student protesters may be imperfect, their shared anguish and longing to be heard are truly profound. 4⭐️
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley; as always, this is an honest review.
Tiananmen Square by Lai Wen, the pseudonym of a Beijing-born immigrant living in Britain, wraps an emotionally charged, Ferante-esque, coming-of-age tale around a gripping account of the student protests and the horrific, fateful night paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and his government decided to clear the square with murderous force and Chinese troops cracked down with bullets and tanks.
Even now, the Chinese government attempts to erase and suppress mentions of June Fourth on social media and across the internet, including the most iconic image of “Tank Man,” the single protester blocking the progression of a column of tanks.
But, back to this fabulous book, which begins long before the protests. We start with Lai as a child in the late 1970s. Ominous manifestations of death and danger shade her childhood, and as she grows, we are taken along on her journey.
The one relatively minor issue I have is Wen’s use of Westernised prose - I can’t imagine our Chinese teens saying they really ‘dig’ something or that it’s ‘pretty rad’, but maybe I’m wrong. This language style also lends a rather YA feel to the book, but again, perhaps that is deliberate given the age of our protagonist.
While lengthy, the novel, at almost 500 pages, is worthwhile, not just because it marks the anniversary of one of the most infamous protest crackdowns in modern history but also because it is a captivating read with an autobiographical basis—it is faction, aka embellished fiction.
While reading, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the Israel-Palestine protests, particularly on campuses around the globe. Though the actions of student protesters may be imperfect, their shared anguish and longing to be heard are truly profound. 4⭐️
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley; as always, this is an honest review.