Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Private Revolutions
Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China | Yuan Yang
'As powerfully intimate as it is politically incendiary' VOGUE 'A portrait of China through four women who refused to accept the life laid out for them. Incredible' SUNDAY TIMES 'A revelatory, moving and tender tale of hopes, fears and change' PETER FRANKOPAN 'Meticulously reports on a country in the throes of change' GUARDIAN *A Sunday Times, Observer & BBC Highlight for 2024* This is a book about the coming of age of four women born in China in the 1980s and 1990s, in a society about to change beyond recognition. It is about Leiya, who wants to escape the fate of the women in her village. Still underage, she bluffs her way on to the factory floor. It is about June, who at fifteen sets what her family thinks is an impossible goal: to attend university rather than raise pigs. It is about Siyue, ranked second-to-bottom of her English class, who decides to prove her teachers wrong. And it is about Sam, who becomes convinced that the only way to change her country is to become an activist even as the authorities slowly take her peers from the streets. With unprecedented access to the lives, hopes, homes, dreams and diaries of four ordinary women over a period of six years, Private Revolutions gives a voice to those whose stories go untold. At a time of rising state censorship and suppression, it unearths the identity of modern Chinese society and, through the telling, something of our own.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
jenniferw88
post image
Pickpick

#wpnf25

#52bookclub25 #audiobookhasmultiplenarrators

I can see why this is on the shortlist, but it wasn't particularly outstanding for me.

review
AnneCecilie
post image
Pickpick

I‘m so happy #wonf25 put this book in their Longlist. I never would have read it if it wasn‘t for the list.

It‘s interesting to learn about a society and culture that‘s completely different from your own. And I‘m just talking about China being communist. Like the school system, children walk hours to get to school, where your family is registered decides where you go to school and the competition.

Cathythoughts Great review. Stacked 👍🏻❤️ 3w
AnneCecilie @Cathythoughts Thank you 😊 3w
57 likes3 stack adds2 comments
review
fredthemoose
post image
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Interesting look at the coming of age, education, and early careers of four women in China and the ways they managed their ambitions and passions given the resources and restrictions they faced. Their resilience and persistence were really admirable. A book I wouldn‘t have picked up if not for #WPNF25!

blurb
TheKidUpstairs
post image

I love that Yang chose to profile four regular women in China, this book really does provide a glimpse into a very different kind of everyday life. The challenges of work, family, and independence made for fascinating reading. There were some things that I wish were addressed (*see comments) but overall another great #wpnf25 read. Very impressed with this year's list so far!

TheKidUpstairs *for instance, at least three of the four women had siblings, but only Leiya's story touched on one child policies, and it made me curious as to the different families' experiences with the policy. 1mo
squirrelbrain I agree - I found this book really interesting but, on occasion, it didn‘t quite delve deep enough. 1mo
Hooked_on_books Totally agree with you about the list. It‘s seems really strong based on what I‘ve read so far. The only one I‘m not happy with is Neneh. I just couldn‘t stay interested. 1mo
76 likes3 comments
review
Hooked_on_books
post image
Pickpick

I just happened to be reading this when the #WPNF25 longlist came out and there it was! I can see why. The book delves into the lives of 4 women in modern China, giving a peek into the realities of life in China. I found it fascinating.

TheBookHippie Oh I wondered about this! Guess I‘ll pick it up! 1mo
Hooked_on_books @TheBookHippie You won‘t be sorry! 1mo
TheKidUpstairs I've got this out from the library, too. It'll probably be next after Story of a Heart 1mo
squirrelbrain I just started this one…. 1mo
youneverarrived Looking forward to this! (edited) 1mo
57 likes2 stack adds5 comments
review
Chelsea.Poole
post image
Pickpick

It‘s obvious Yang put time into getting to know the 4 women featured in this book. Her care of the topic and them is evident. However, as a listener of the audiobook I became confused about the 4 different stories as we shifted from one to another. The beginning grabbed me, as did the realities of women‘s experiences in China. Focusing on the work (or lack thereof) for Chinese women and the struggle of the laborers/inequality of classes. #WPNF25

TheKidUpstairs I've got this one out from the library, I think it'll be next for me after I finish 1mo
91 likes2 stack adds1 comment
quote
charl08
post image

When Sam was little, the Shenzhen Children's Library opened a half-hour walk from her home. It was ahead of its time: the first dedicated children's library in all of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau....a children's library was groundbreaking. It had a mission: 'When the children are wise, so is the nation; when the children are strong, so is the nation.'
---
Fascinating look at a group of women's lives growing up in modern China.

Butterfinger Love that quote. I'm curious about the growth of empathy through reading. I am pretty sure the library is state controlled, being strict Communist. I hope I am wrong. 2mo
charl08 @Butterfinger one of the things that's interesting about the book is how much has changed over the past twenty years, and how different parts of China had different controls (like Shenzen). 2mo
32 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
charl08
post image

June devoured the memoirs and travelogues of Sanmao, a writer beloved by Chinese teens. Sanmao was born in south-western China in the 1940s and rejected the traditional path prescribed to the women of her era. She travelled the world, living in Taiwan, Germany, Spain, the Canary Islands, Central America and the Sahara Desert. Sanmao wrote about her itinerant life in a carefree style, as if anyone could simply pack their bags...