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What Members Thought
Wild Swans must be one of the most popular books about China. I read this book because it was recommended to me by almost everyone. However, it took me nearly a year to finish it. My biggest problem with this book is its writing style. It's so tedious, too much telling and no showing. Yes, it's a biography not a fiction, but sure the writer could have made it more interesting?
It's still a good book. It may be a good starting point for someone who knows little about Chinese family, history and cu ...more
It's still a good book. It may be a good starting point for someone who knows little about Chinese family, history and cu ...more
On the good side, this story showed how difficult it would have been to live and stay relatively safe in Mao's China. The rules and expectations continually changed. What was "party line" one day would be denounced the next. People must have been terrified to say or do almost anything. Their lives, and the lives of their extended families, could change in a moment with an action or spoken word.
On the not so good side, this story dragged and as the book progressed there was a lot of moaning and ...more
On the not so good side, this story dragged and as the book progressed there was a lot of moaning and ...more
I loved the writing even as the subject matter was hard to stomach a lot of the times.
Dec 25, 2008
Erika
marked it as to-read
Nov 29, 2015
Pamela
rated it
liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
boxall-1001-read,
read-pre-2014
Mar 08, 2016
Jennifer
marked it as to-read
Sep 04, 2018
Nike
marked it as to-read
