"Wild Swans" by Jung Chang
Today, after probably a whole week, I managed to finish "Wild Swans" by Jung Chang. It is probably the thickest book I've read in my entire life, of course excluding my textbooks. Yet, the book covers exactly what I studied in Secondary School History; the experience of Communism in China. I do wish I had read this book when I was in Secondary School because it really would have helped in my History grade, or even when I was still in MI. However, it is too late for any regrets and anyway, the book really was worth it.
Basically, this book is about three generations of women and their families during the twentieth century, during the rise and fall of Communism. It also outlined key events in the History of China, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, as well as a phycological evaluation of Mao and his policies. It was altogether a very interesting book, and it raised a lot of issues that I would be touching on, prefarably in other entries because there are too many to touch on.
What I liked about the book was that it was in an easy to read format; the author did not use many difficult words to explain her points, and I loved her descriptions of the surrounding countryside. I also loved the way she described the people she encounted during her experiences, and how she made them seem so real, so much so that it makes you want to get to know them better and to find out what happened to them in the end. It is particulary sad though, when you read about the deaths of the bravest of people, just because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
There were also some light-hearted parts that really made me laugh. One such part was the mention of the Christian Warlord, who baptised his troops with a waterhose. Humour, especially in the hardest of circumstances, are so rare and yet so necessary sometimes. For example, the cynical humour of the author's younger brother, Jin Ming, as well as the kindheartedness of him and other people mentioned throught the books, made it a testiment of human spirit and how it could shine through the hardest of circumstances.
This book also contained sentimental value for me as a Chinese, because even though I know that I'm a Singaporean and I consider myself a proud Singaporean, I am also a Chinese, and this was the land that my ancestors came from. Moreover, the author's father really reminded me of some of the principles that I should be upholding, and I would be talking about these in subsequent journal entries, because the his story was the story that stood out for me the most in the entire book, and he deserves his own entry.
Right now, I am reading Ian McEwan's "Atonement", and I will be commenting on it when I finish.