A personal tragedy well observed
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A delicate and intelligent woman, imprisoned and mistreated, with tremendous courage to fight for her own dignity and the truth of her daughter's mysterious death in Cultural Revolution. With great sympathy towards her personal tragedy, I also very much appreciated her profound observation on the human natures in such historical environment. Those characters around her were truly unique and vivid, for example, her "special" student Da Teh and her local policeman Lao Li, to name but a few. A touching and sorrowful memoir worth its own account enhanced with skilful writing, showing the full strength of a truly original literature work.
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What an eye-opener!
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When this book was chosen as our latest book club text, initially I felt really unsure about it. I'm not a big reader of biographies, and somehow the cover made it look dry and uninteresting, so I placed it on the pile of books 'to be read - sometime' and overlooked it. What a huge mistake I nearly made! Without a doubt, this is a MUST READ type of book.
When I eventually opened it this Half term, I found myself totally engrossed - enthralled by the horrors and longing for some evidence of justice within its pages. Although I already knew something of the horrors of the Cultural revolution from previous reading and from my own, recent visit to China - where we had been lucky enough to have had a local guide who was a Social Historian and who wasn't afraid to tell us about his life; this was still something of an eye-opener, focussing as it does on the experience of one, normal, upper middle-class person.
As I read on, I found myself asking...
... how could one man have such a cult following that it took over such a huge nation so totally - particularly so soon after the rest of the world was still reeling at the horrors of the 2nd World War?
... what made them think that he was right? Some of his ideas were so ridiculous, but millions of people jumped at his every word as his "awesome power (spread) like a banket over China, threatening to smother whomsoever he chose." (p.199) And even now, many years after his death, this blanket is still evident.
... how could cultural anihilation to this extent be called a Cultural revolution? And how come so many wonderful treasures survived? How many must have been lost?
But more than anything else, I found myself asking ...
... how could one woman suffer so much pain (both mental and physical) and so much injustice - and yet still survive?
...where did she find her strength?
Our book club discussions have never been so deep or so involved. Every one of us had been caught up by this one woman's story. Her amazing strength of will and courage is an example to us all. I feel priveleged to have read her autobiography. Thank you for sharing your story with us, Nien Cheng.
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One of the best books I have EVER read
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Fantastic read - you won't be able to put it down. Nien Cheng describes EXACTLY what happened to ANYONE who was middle class or above in the cultural revolution. As a westerner if you don't know what happened during that period PLEASE READ THIS BOOK.
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What a book you must read
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The life story of Nien Cheng has blown me away. I dont think i've ever read anything that has affected me so much.Nien Cheng is such a brave woman but very modest with it. The tragic circumstances in her life are hard to swallow. It makes you realise just how easy life here in the uk is. We moan and groan about stupid things, but my god when you read this it puts everything into perspective. I don't think many of us could honestly say we would have been as brave as this women. I hope Nien Cheng has found peace in her life now. I would love to hear more about her.YOU MUST READ THIS.
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A remarkable book, written by a remarkable women
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Never have I finished reading a book with tears in my eyes. Even though I have read quite a few of the flurry of autobiographies set in "20th century China. This one is set apart. Written by a remarkable, intelligent women whose spirit and insight into humanity will stay with me for ever. I have never thought or looked for personal inspiration from one person, after reading this book one cannot help but be inspired.
Set apart from other biographies of the same ilk, in that this is one persons story,(not family) articulating a remarkable understanding of such a complex countries politics all while suffering the inhumanity of (wronged) imprisonment. Never have I read a book and wanted to know more about the author. Just to know if she found peace of mind (or some semblance of it)
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