pickA vivid portrayal of China from 1976-81:
"...Informative, disturbing, poignant and absorbing...personal encounters with individual Chinese that (were) almost unprecedented for any American journalist (at this time this book was written)." - NYT Book Review
Fascinating. I learned that I know less than I ever could have imagined.
https://youtu.be/qNC0kAqAPj0?si=taHq8-VbdoF-0UbF
Mikiko‘s reading project was to read six of my favorite books. Here‘s what happened.
Books
Happening by Annie Ernaux
Tanya Leslie (Translator)
Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
Indelicacy by Amina Cain
The Peacock by Isabel Bogdan
Annie Rutherford (Translator)
pickThis is a true story of a young girl who lived through the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the 1960s when Chairman Mao was in power🇨🇳. It was brutal. “This is the most frightening lesson of the Cultural Revolution: Without a sound legal system, a small group or even a single person can take control of an entire country. This is as true now as it was then.
#Pantone2023
#MagnificentMay Readathon Day 1
so-soHeavy going novel translated from the Chinese.
In parts fascinating: covers so much, from the perspective of two characters and their family history. The Cultural Revolution continues to impact on lives. New wealth is central too.
I found the characters' experiences sometimes blurred together, and coupled with the lack of resolution and the bleak attitude to relationships, ultimately not my cup of tea.
It was 1993, and this industrial city was beyond help. Our springs ran dry, the river round the city stank to high heaven, the large-bellied chimneys of the power plant belched thick up clouds of smoke, high-rise buildings were being constructed everywhere, and cranes were hauling rubble into the sky, scattering dust back down to earth. I couldn't help thinking the end of the world might soon be upon us.
Dad's thuggish ways could be traced back to his child- hood. Before graduating from elementary school he was already hanging out with the Red Guards, doing all kinds of horrible things. Even after the Cultural Revolution had ended, he found he couldn't stop, but kept picking fights with people. Rather than getting a proper job, he found ways to cheat or extort money.... Behind his back, they called him Death-Defying Cheng.
Image from Wikipedia.
"When I was making the arrangements to have your granny cremated, I had to produce documents to show I was family. They wouldn't do it otherwise. So what do you think they did with your grandfather's body? Buried it? Dumped it? That's illegal. The only thing they could have done is snuck it back."
....
"So you've been hoping one day you'll open the door, and he'll be there."
