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A review by peanotsilent
Tiananmen 1989: Our Shattered Hopes by Adrien Gombeaud, Lun Zhang
5.0
How do you rate reality? Especially when it is an unspeakable tragedy we even now seem to be on the brink of frequently? We are bombarded with images of violence against protesters daily, and there are so many unseen others in places locked away from the world.
And so a man with a memory of such a place unburdens himself by telling his story, shorn of any rose coloured glasses. He dissects the sheer youth of the protestors, the palpable fear, and also the naivete, but above all the intense need for freedom- from constraints, and censorship, and cruelty.
There are obviously better academic and historical works out there. But this is Tiananmen from the eyes of someone who was there, and felt the hope and fear and loss of everyone on that square. Give it a read because what better way is there to understand how our pasts and futures are intertwined.
And so a man with a memory of such a place unburdens himself by telling his story, shorn of any rose coloured glasses. He dissects the sheer youth of the protestors, the palpable fear, and also the naivete, but above all the intense need for freedom- from constraints, and censorship, and cruelty.
There are obviously better academic and historical works out there. But this is Tiananmen from the eyes of someone who was there, and felt the hope and fear and loss of everyone on that square. Give it a read because what better way is there to understand how our pasts and futures are intertwined.