Book 4: Wild Swans
4 WILD SWANS: THREE DAUGHTER OF CHINA Jung Chang (China/England, 1991)
In this memoir, Jung Chang tells the story of her grand-mother, her mother, and herself, from the days of the Japanese occupation to Mao.
I cannot remember the last time I learnt so much from 500 pages. The scope and depth of this memoir is absolutely outstanding. I don't think there's a single paragraph in this book that did not teach me something new.
The author starts with her grand-mother who has her feet forcefully bound so she can eventually become the concubine of a warlord, then continues with her mother, her struggles to enter the communist party, and the disenchantment and sufferings caused by Mao and the cultural revolution. She ends with her own story, and her escape to England.
This is of course a heartbreaking story that made me understand what it was like to live in constant terror and under the shifting, mind-numbing and contradictory orders of Mao. No matter how much I expected them, the violence and unfairness regularly faced by this family were jaw-dropping.
This is a must-read for anybody that has a form of interest in the 20th Century - all of us I should think. All the historical events are spelled out so clearly that there is no need for a thorough background knowledge; it has the potential to serve as an introduction to Mao's times. And because it is a great blend between the personal and the historical, this superb history lesson is a page-turner that might bring tears to your eyes.
5/5
In this memoir, Jung Chang tells the story of her grand-mother, her mother, and herself, from the days of the Japanese occupation to Mao.
I cannot remember the last time I learnt so much from 500 pages. The scope and depth of this memoir is absolutely outstanding. I don't think there's a single paragraph in this book that did not teach me something new.
The author starts with her grand-mother who has her feet forcefully bound so she can eventually become the concubine of a warlord, then continues with her mother, her struggles to enter the communist party, and the disenchantment and sufferings caused by Mao and the cultural revolution. She ends with her own story, and her escape to England.
This is of course a heartbreaking story that made me understand what it was like to live in constant terror and under the shifting, mind-numbing and contradictory orders of Mao. No matter how much I expected them, the violence and unfairness regularly faced by this family were jaw-dropping.
This is a must-read for anybody that has a form of interest in the 20th Century - all of us I should think. All the historical events are spelled out so clearly that there is no need for a thorough background knowledge; it has the potential to serve as an introduction to Mao's times. And because it is a great blend between the personal and the historical, this superb history lesson is a page-turner that might bring tears to your eyes.
5/5