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A review by bharat_ravi
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran
4.0
This is a collection of stories of different Chinese women, interviewed by the author, Xinran, in 1980s-90s. One of the stories is about her own childhood. The book is well written in a very simple language and is quite easy to read. This was my first book about communist China and the reading was certainly great, knowledge wise and for opening me up to a new area of contemporary social history.
This book essentially gives an idea about the patriarchy which was prevalent even in the communist (and therefore a "supposedly egalitarian") regime. Some of the stories are quite painful and shocking. A book such as this deserves to be published and read.
However, I believe that new readers should not really consider this as a reflection of the current Chinese society (I am not an expert in this area as well but I believe things may have improved, having seen some of my Chinese colleagues/acquaintances).
This book essentially gives an idea about the patriarchy which was prevalent even in the communist (and therefore a "supposedly egalitarian") regime. Some of the stories are quite painful and shocking. A book such as this deserves to be published and read.
However, I believe that new readers should not really consider this as a reflection of the current Chinese society (I am not an expert in this area as well but I believe things may have improved, having seen some of my Chinese colleagues/acquaintances).