Highly recommended for those interested in history

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	• Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China Jung Chang Touchstone, 2003 - 544 pages average customer review:based on 352 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Mao's China-Tales from the Dark Side

If you've never encountered a full historical biography of what China was before, during, and after Mao, then, this is the book to read. I was suprised at the level of violence against its own people, under the disguise of the "Cultural Revolution", the "Great Leap Forward", and other such titles. China did not have a much better "quality of life" prior to Mao (many warlords fighting over territories, women treated as possessions, etc), but it did not get that much better with Mao heading the Red Guards, or their numerous cultural "cleansings". Millions have died under dire circumstances, and we are only now beginning to realize the inhumane treatment brought on by the mind of one man. Communist China was an experiment, of the most sordid kind. The writer points out how they just "stopped thinking", they just obeyed "the system" because it had been engrained in their brains by so much propaganda, that they just repeated the slogans and no longer thought if they were true or not. It is surprising to me, that this "experiment" was brought onto so many millions of people, albeit, the vast majority illiterate and peasants. This is why the "peasant revolution" caught on... I could not tear myself away from this book, from this well told story of three generations of women (and their men), with their unfortunate set of circumstances, and their small but meaningful victories. Their voices deserve to be heard. The uncompromising ideals of one man eventually have the ability to sink the whole family into chaos. It is from this chaos that the offspring realize that there must be more to the "revolution", than the level of sacrifice and commitment asked of them, which seem insane. It is also the realization of the parents, that bought into the "revolution" that is so poignantly told in this story. The awakening of the ideas, of the self; amidst all the collective sharing and the collective appartus, which was really the mask of Mao (again, one man).
No matter how much the self gets trampled on, it prevails in this story, in this last daughter. By persevering, she manages to brake away from her oppressing world, while conserving those things she loves about it. Her family, her respect of her elders, her love for her country, no matter how poorly it has treated her and her beloved. A must read.

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Who?

I have taught English in several universities in southern China, students and adults. When Chinese students ask, "What do Americans think of China?", I reply that "We learn about China from writers like Jung Chang". I show them my copy of Wild Swans. None of the students have ever heard of Jung Chang, but they seem eager to read it. Recently, I saw four copies in an English language bookstore in Guangzhou. I found the book very depressing to read: page-after-page of the Chinese being cruel to each other.

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Highly recommended for those interested in history

"Wild Swans -- Three daughters of China" is the true story of 3 generations of Chinese women. The front of the book boasts a review by the NY times, saying "the importance of this book cannot be overstated," and I think they are right. Simply by following the lives of these three women and extended family you get to see the sweep of history -- the helplessness of the avereage person in traditional China, the abuses that women were exposed to, the financial predations of the ruling classes, the warlord (post ming) era, why and how communism took hold on China, how the war for a communist China was fought, and how they (being individuals) slowly woke up from fighting rampant abuses in their society to being prisoners of a revolution of their own making. I would literally say "If you read one book this year, Wild Swans by Jung Chang should be it." Far from being just about the Chinese experience, it really has a lot to say (indirectly) about culture, human foibles, the making of good and bad societies, human relations, and I can not help seeing all of it through a prism of today's political reality.

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Emotional Rollercoaster

Wonderfully written (auto)biographical book about 3 generations. The author (3rd Generation born 1952) writes in a mesmerizing way and it really is hard to put down. I have been seeing this book for the past few years in the bookshops but never got around reading it. But now I am glad that I did. The trials and tribulations of 3 generations of chinese is wonderfully portrayed in this book. The Maoist rule in China is highlighted in a terrifying manner - reasons why people should fight against the scourge of maoism/communism. A must read.

reviews: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, page 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

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