Brings you back to Chinese History

books:


	• 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

a modern classic

I'm not all that avid a reader but once I started Wild Swans I couldn't put it down. Along the way I felt like I learned a lot about 20th century China and the horrors that accompanied the cultural revolution. It really made me think critically about what the right thing to do would be in such outlandish and often cruel situations, and it made me wonder what I would do. I came away with a tremendous amount of respect for both the author and for her truly extraordinary mom. The author writes beautifully, and has great talent for telling her stories in a compelling and thought provoking way. Don't miss out on the opportunity to sit down and read this book. I look forward to reading her recently published biography of Mao as well.

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a moving and inspiring story

If you want a book on modern China this is the best choice. Well-written and enlightening. A moving story of the struggles of human beings encountering oppression in their own lands. A true history lesson of life under Chinese Communism.

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Wild Swans

This book was recommended by our Chinese tour guide when I visited China in Summer 2005. She was very knowledgeable about Chinese history and said the cultural revolution years were very bad and she had to wait 10 years before she could go to college.
The author, Jung Chang, now lives in Britain. She gives us an inside look,into the life an ordinary Chinese family who embraced communism wholeheartedly,and looked forward to a better life for all. Chairman Mao made some horrendous decisions, caused a famine by insisting that even farmers make steel instead of raising crops! Madam Mao and the Gang of Four were even worse. Perhaps, deep down in the psyche of the Chinese, they were still "Emporer-minded", with Mao only too willing to take that position in the minds of the people. He used their own weaknesses against them,giving authority to greedy,immoral and vindictive people. These policies were devastating to the Chang family, who had served the party willingly and wholeheartedly and were basically good,honest people.

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Engrossing

An engrossing and deeply moving book about life in China before, during, and after the Communist takeover. Jung Chang tells the story through the lives of her grandmother, her mother, and herself, painting a deeply personal and evocative portrait of the tremendous, tumultuous and chaotic forces shaping and rocking the country. The harshness of the Great Famine and the terrifying chaos of the Cultural Revolution are starkly portrayed, as are her parents' suffering as they are branded as counterrevolutionaries and tormented. One of the most evocative and harrowing images (in a book filled with evocative and harrowing images) is Jung Chang's childhood memory of her father sobbing brokenly as he is forced to feed his priceless antique book collection into the flames by the Red Guards; Jung Chang believes that this event helped to trigger her father's eventual breakdown. Must reading for anyone interested in the history of modern China.

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Brings you back to Chinese History

This book will definitely glued you especially after the World War II part. The lifestyle of the author's parents as well as how China evolved to being a Communist country is definitely an eye-opener. My favorite part in reading this book is following through what the author's parents have to endure their sufferings and changes from being one of the top officials to being a peasant. I did not like the part about Jung Chang's personal sufferings that much (last few chapters). It sounds to me that it's all about her sufferings and complaints. But overall I love this book and would recommend to anyone who loves history as this book describes the scenes really well and will definitely captivate your imagination.

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reviews: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, page 18, 19, 20

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