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This is one of those perspective changing accounts that puts name and face to those geographically distant historical events that actually impact the world in which we all live. The copy of "Wild Swans" I read was found at a local thrift store. After reading a 100 pages, I had to buy a copy for my best friend. The author and I were born the same year, and when she is telling her personal experience growing up in Mao's China, it helped to recall what I was doing on the other side of the world in the same period of time. I write this to honor the author Jung Chang, her mother and grandmother, grateful that she gathered these people and events together to share the near incomprehensible struggles and survivals.
She eventually leaves China in the 1970's using her learned English skills to become a teacher in the UK. I read this book in paperback quite awhile ago but remember it as one of the better reads I ever had.It was very interesting to read about a China, that had been hidden from the rest of the world for so long, via this woman's family saga that starts with her grandma back in the early part of the 20th century when women still had to have their feet bound (unbelievable cultural norm in those days).It continues via her parents who tried very hard to be politically correct/current during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution under Mao (a psychopathic ruler if ever there was one). Concurrently with her parents' story, is the author's own as she watches/experiences her family's trials/tribulations under Mao. I was fascinated to learn about what China had been like during the era when it was firmly behind a bamboo curtain. This book vividly did that for me.Highly recommended.
A capturing story even for me as a Chinese who grew up hearing some of those things already. I have recommended it to several friends and keep this book on my bookshelf as a cultural reading. Highly recommend it.
I ended up returning this because my "new" book was dirty on three sides and marked up with a marker. The price at the time was great though. I think if the description had said dirty book with marker then consumers could make an informed decision whether that would bother them.
This is a beautifully written family memoir which will educate readers about the history of China since the 1920's through the eyes of three women who lived it.We hear of the "Cultural Revolution" and Chairman Mao in passing, but there's very little understanding of how it really played out for those living there. It's sad, and at times I was angry about what happened in China, but in the end I realized the beauty & strength of Family.
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