Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #121946 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780151013425
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. As a young student, award-winning Canadian journalist Wong (Red China Blues) spent a year in Beijing on a foreign exchange program during the cultural revolution, and in this suspenseful, elegantly written book, she recounts her return to the city in an effort to find a former classmate she betrayed with grave consequences. As a fervent young Maoist eager to fit in with her compatriots, the author had voluntarily informed on Yin Luoyi, who had been interested in visiting America at a time when expressing approval for the imperialist running dogs could lead to expulsion, ostracism or worse; Yin was expelled from the school. Wong returns to a transformed Beijing. Gone is the semirural capital where the author's revolutionary course of study included bouts of hard labor and self criticism sessions. In its place are eight-lane expressways lit up like Christmas trees, shiny skyscrapers and the largest shopping mall in the world. Wong is a gifted storyteller, and hers is a deeply personal and richly detailed eyewitness account of China's journey to glossy modernity. (Feb.)
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From Booklist
In the 1970s, Wong, a Canadian student with idealized views of Communist China, got the opportunity to study at Beijing University. Swallowing Mao’s doctrine hook, line, and sinker, Wong turned in a fellow student, Yin Luoyi, after the girl approached her about finding a way to get to the United States. In 2006, Wong—now a married journalist with two sons—travels with her family to Beijing with the intention of finding Yin, not an easy task in a country where people routinely change their phone numbers—and even their names. The journey takes Wong back into her past, as she reconnects with teachers and fellow students from Beijing University, and gives her a glimpse into the way the Chinese are rapidly and eagerly embracing capitalism and technology. It couldn’t have been easy for Wong to write a book about a shameful act from her youth, but she approaches the subject with courage, grace, and dignity, offering readers fresh insights into China and her people during the Cultural Revolution and today. --Kristine Huntley

Review

Customer Reviews

More than a Story

There are many biographical narratives about life in the Cultural Revolution. There is a whole genre for survivors who find a way out of the country. Another genre like the now classic, Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China puts the Cultural Revolution in a generational context. Yet another genre represented by Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China gives a then and now report. There is also fiction for each of the categories. I believe this book is unique because it is written by a former true believer, that is, a former persecutor who admits guilt.

The writer arrived in China in 1970, one of the first foreigners to study after/during the Cultural Revolution and participated in the denunciation of a classmate. While her act was small in comparison to what others had done, being on the persecution side, she is able to give clues as to the pshchology and temper of the times. As one survivor in Chinese Lessons observes, everyone claims to be a victim, but "do the math".

The breezy narrative ("Cult Rev") and the travelogue belie the serious content. This it the first volume I've read that compares this history to other mass hysteria movements like the Holocaust, where citizens were proud to inform, to destroy and to generally participate. This is also the first volume I've read that even mentions the psychological fallout, such as the compartmentalization of the persecutors and the damaged self of the persecuted.

Also important is that this is the first story I know of that reports on an every day (not a Deng Xiouping, etc,) fully persecuted survivor who is still in China. We learn about the many years she suffered, like an abandoned child, or a victim of child abuse and/or poverty, and of her careful steps in her own rehabilitation - it did not "just happen".

The author speaks to her own psychology of joining the movement. She wanted to fit in, to prove herself to the group. With the benefit of distance, life in Canada, knowledge of history and psychology she had the tools to understand what happened. China is collectively wiping this out today. In this book, many young people don't know much about the formerly life and death issues of "left' and "right". Wanting to leave China is not a crime and the youth probably don't know that once it was. Since so much of the literature of this time is created by the persecuted survivors who have escaped to the west, it may be that the whole sad generation of "Cult Rev" persecutors takes their stories to their graves.

so, so
while the book contains some interesting areas, it drags on and on and many times the author repeats the same information. not much of an effort by the author,just writing because the need to publish another book.

I enjoyed this book
Two people replied and gave the book a one star and a five star. I felt I had to reply. Just today there appeared a three star. I loved this book, and think Jan (the author) was a victim as much as the millions of other Chinese. The pace was just fast enough, with lots of history, facts, funny things to write about and of course sad things. I would recommend this book in a flash.

I think the "victim" (so to speak) brought much of her problems on to herself, as she stated that 25 to 30 people reported her. She was no angel. However, future readers, it has a happy ending. Not giving too much away, she became a lawyer and was busy planning her wedding. I don't think for a moment that the victim would accept anything from Jan, it isn't necessary and they all have tried to forget the past. As a matter of fact, the victim went to NYC and lived there for two years, the thing that she wanted to do at an earlier time did come true. But, politics got in the way.

The author lived in China for many years and even when she returned to Canada, she made frequest trips bact to Beijing as a well respected journalist. Her husband and two sons went with her. Today, teenagers have to be dragged everywhere, but after their month long trip ended, one son thanked his mother for taking him there. I believe they had a wonderful time.

What I especially enjoyed were the comparisons during the 35 years that Jan Wong lived in or visited China to today (2003). She is extremely knowledgeble.

If you read my review for Factory Girls (Jan. 2009), you will see that I wanted more information on the Cultural Revolution...hey, I got it from this book!

I read this book because it received an A rating in one of the magazines I subscribe to. Thank you Jan for writing it.