A review by koberreads
One Child: The Story of China's Most Radical Experiment by Mei Fong

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Even though I am Asian (Filipino), life in China especially during and after the implementation of the one-child policy is so exotic to me and otherworldly... 


It is dark and horrifying historical truths that are known but not deeply understood but once you are deeply aware of such, it will give you a great insight into human nature and how often, even though we mean the best for the greater good of all, our actions towards a better world, is often founded/created by misguided beliefs and shaky understanding of reality, society, and how human beings react to current obstacles and will react to the future ones, that lead to the complete opposite of the results we intend to make


No one truly can predict the future 100% or less of such. 


Spoiler alert (But it does not exactly ruin anything)


The story of Mei Fong was made up regarding China and its one-child policy.


“There was a land so poor that the emperor of that land demanded each parent must have only one child… this made the land of the old. I don't know how this story ends.”


A great summary of the whole book in story form. This made me realize a lot of things and opened my eyes to the reality of parenthood, child raising, being a child, a child turning to an adult, an adult deciding a child’s future, and a child deciding his future. 


Thank you Mei Fong for writing this and allowing it to turn into an audiobook. This benefits me even if I am not Chinese.


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