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A review by nickstarr
Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution by Helen Zia
4.0
3.75/5 - I had trouble getting started but it improved by the end.
This book tells the stories of four Chinese people and their exoduses from Shanghai as the Communists took control post-WWII. I expected something akin to The Warmth of Other Suns: a mixture of oral history and broader sociological commentary.
Instead, the vast majority of this book is in a highly narrative style, so that it feels like reading a novel. It’s full of impossibly specific details about what people said, their expressions and movements, etc, with no indication that it’s the result of interviews and recollections decades later. Some might find the style engaging and relatable, but personally I found it off-putting and almost gave it up.
However, the last third or so of the book picks up and gives broader view of China and the world alongside the personal stories, which satisfied what I’d been looking for originally.
I did learn quite a lot and I enjoyed it by the end, but if you’re like me, be aware that the style might be a slog.
This book tells the stories of four Chinese people and their exoduses from Shanghai as the Communists took control post-WWII. I expected something akin to The Warmth of Other Suns: a mixture of oral history and broader sociological commentary.
Instead, the vast majority of this book is in a highly narrative style, so that it feels like reading a novel. It’s full of impossibly specific details about what people said, their expressions and movements, etc, with no indication that it’s the result of interviews and recollections decades later. Some might find the style engaging and relatable, but personally I found it off-putting and almost gave it up.
However, the last third or so of the book picks up and gives broader view of China and the world alongside the personal stories, which satisfied what I’d been looking for originally.
I did learn quite a lot and I enjoyed it by the end, but if you’re like me, be aware that the style might be a slog.