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A review by leahrenz
Red Azalea by Anchee Min
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.75
Struggled to rate this book, could be a 3.5 or a 4 star read for me and I can't quite decide...
My favourite part of this book was the portrayal of the relationship between Anchee and Yan, and also the introduction of the Supervisor. I loved how Min slowly builds up the observations and emotions felt towards Yan, and thereby allows the reader to realise the romantic love she holds for Yan alongside her own realisation.
The descriptions of Maoist China are also extremely interesting, and confirm what I had already seen when reading Wild Swans. I think if this is your first book reading about Maoist China, then it could become very highly rated because the revelations are shocking. As I personally had already read another 3-generational memoir of living in Maoist China, I knew much of the information already, and so it was not as shocking as the first time. Nonetheless, still fascinating. But perhaps does explain why I engaged most with the lesbian romance at the centre of this memoir.
The writing style is simple and very matter-of-fact - I think for me sometimes too matter-of-fact. I think I personally would have enjoyed more inner exploration of mental states and how she slowly became disillusioned with communism. It is all implied, but most of the writing deals with externals rather than internals, and I think I am a big fan of discovering the psychology of characters. I imagine it might have been hard/painful to remember all of these emotions and thoughts, and it would take a lot of work to try and understand.
My favourite part of this book was the portrayal of the relationship between Anchee and Yan, and also the introduction of the Supervisor. I loved how Min slowly builds up the observations and emotions felt towards Yan, and thereby allows the reader to realise the romantic love she holds for Yan alongside her own realisation.
The descriptions of Maoist China are also extremely interesting, and confirm what I had already seen when reading Wild Swans. I think if this is your first book reading about Maoist China, then it could become very highly rated because the revelations are shocking. As I personally had already read another 3-generational memoir of living in Maoist China, I knew much of the information already, and so it was not as shocking as the first time. Nonetheless, still fascinating. But perhaps does explain why I engaged most with the lesbian romance at the centre of this memoir.
The writing style is simple and very matter-of-fact - I think for me sometimes too matter-of-fact. I think I personally would have enjoyed more inner exploration of mental states and how she slowly became disillusioned with communism. It is all implied, but most of the writing deals with externals rather than internals, and I think I am a big fan of discovering the psychology of characters. I imagine it might have been hard/painful to remember all of these emotions and thoughts, and it would take a lot of work to try and understand.