(no subject)
At last, my very own copy of Mao's little red book.
I found it in a pile of similar little red books, but chose this one in particular because it had scribbles in it, and I was hoping for a discount. Here's an un-engrified transcript of the ensuing conversation:
"Hey, man, what's with the scribbles in here?"
"That is the face of Lin Biao, Mao's successor. He attempted a coup of the party, as he was getting on in years and expecting to die first. He ended up dying in a plane crash while fleeing to Russia."
"Whoa."
"All across China, the people removed all reference to his name and face. You will see over here on the title page that acknowledgment of his having published the book has also been blackened out, as well as his name attached to each quote."
"This must be pretty old to even have his picture in then, I guess?"
"I'd guess no later than 1965"
So I bought it, in addition to a wall scroll which reads "To get a better view, you must go high." Which was right next to their antique water pipes, and therefore impossible to resist. I'm surprised the stoned kids who had stumbled inside while I was leaving my number with the girl at the front didn't snap it up first.
I ended up getting a discount anyway, as they had a boxing day sale on for some reason, but I just have to wonder... having spent $30 bucks on red Chinese paraphanalia, am I being a good consumer, or a bad one?
I found it in a pile of similar little red books, but chose this one in particular because it had scribbles in it, and I was hoping for a discount. Here's an un-engrified transcript of the ensuing conversation:
"Hey, man, what's with the scribbles in here?"
"That is the face of Lin Biao, Mao's successor. He attempted a coup of the party, as he was getting on in years and expecting to die first. He ended up dying in a plane crash while fleeing to Russia."
"Whoa."
"All across China, the people removed all reference to his name and face. You will see over here on the title page that acknowledgment of his having published the book has also been blackened out, as well as his name attached to each quote."
"This must be pretty old to even have his picture in then, I guess?"
"I'd guess no later than 1965"
So I bought it, in addition to a wall scroll which reads "To get a better view, you must go high." Which was right next to their antique water pipes, and therefore impossible to resist. I'm surprised the stoned kids who had stumbled inside while I was leaving my number with the girl at the front didn't snap it up first.
I ended up getting a discount anyway, as they had a boxing day sale on for some reason, but I just have to wonder... having spent $30 bucks on red Chinese paraphanalia, am I being a good consumer, or a bad one?