Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
by Jung Chang
1992, 508 pp.
Rating: 4.5
1994 British Book of the Year
This is a long, fascinating book that I’m really glad I finished. I got this after reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I absolutely loved. I didn’t know it was non-fiction until it came in the mail. I saw that it was a banned book, so I used it for the Banned Book Challenge as well as the Chunkster Challenge.
The book tells the life stories of Jung and her mother and grandmother. Along the way I learned quite a bit about China under Mao as well. I love history when it is presented this way. I’ve always felt that history was more about how people’s lives were affected by their rulers than just names, dates, and events that occurred.
The book is told chronologically. The first story is about how Jung’s grandmother had no choice in being a concubine to a Chinese general. The “marriage” was arranged so that her grandmother’s father would have more privileges of his own. Jung’s mother was born from this union.
Next, we learn of her mother’s life growing up under Japanese occupation in Manchuria, and then after the Japanese surrender, the fight between the Kuomintang and the Communists for power in China. Jung’s parents become Communist officials who very much believe in the Communist ideals. Their “faith” is eventually shattered by Mao’s thirst for power and his “Cultural Revolution.”
Although her parents were still receiving their salaries from the government, they were also being detained or being made to go to denunciation meetings where they were yelled at and/or beaten. The Red Guard and the Rebels were encouraged to rise up against the old Communist officials and take control. Even young children were encouraged to beat up their teachers. School days consisted of reading Mao’s works, punishing anyone who was a “class enemy”, and tearing up the grass and flowers in the courtyards as they were too “decadent.”
As Jung grows up, she is at first enamored with Mao, but is eventually disillusioned with what has happened to her family and to herself. She is a bright young woman who is required several times to be “reeducated” by the peasants or factory workers. After Mao dies, eventually China changes for the better. She is able to go to the West and study, but she never permanently returns to China.
I highly recommend this book if you are interested in history in general or Chinese culture. It is also a “wake-up” call to us softies in the West. Books like these really make me appreciate American freedom!
Wild Swans is a great book! You might also like The Sacred Willow by Duong van mai elliott. It’s about 4 generations of her vietnamese family, starting in the late nineteenth century, and continues up until the 1990’s. It is also non-fiction, but told in a narrative style, with a lot of it reading like a novel.
I didn’t think I was going to like this book at first, and I didn’t love it, but it definitely kept me reading and I did care about the characters.
Kerewin is an artist who lives in a Tower by the sea. She likes living by herself and even likes the isolation. She is estranged from her family.
Joe is a factory worker with an adopted son who is always getting into trouble. Joe has a bit of a drinking problem and doesn’t keep good tabs on his son. The boy ends up at Kerewin’s place, and the three end up becoming friends, if not a quasi family unit. Secrets, lies, and violence lie beneath the surface, though, and threaten to tear them all apart.
The story takes place in New Zealand with Joe and Kerewin being part Maori. Some of the myths, culture, and history of the Maori are also part of the book.
This is a different kind of book that is written in almost a “stream of consciousness” style. I thought this was a bit distracting at first, but then I got used to it and even enjoyed it. I also don’t like it when authors use the present tense rather than the past tense. This aspect bothered me for about 3/4 of the book, but then I didn’t notice it anymore.
For instance (p. 34) “She picks up the curious pendant one last time, to fondle and admire before she goes downstairs,” rather than “She picked up the curious pendant one last time and fondled and admired it before she went downstairs.” I guess it’s a preference issue.
If you’ve already read this book and would like to talk about it further, we are discussing it right now at BookAwards.
I listened to this on CD with my kids. It was narrated by the author, and I must say he did a fantastic job. I will definitely be reading more by Gaiman. I hope to read Stardust before the movie comes out.
Coraline is an only child who lives in an apartment with her work-at-home parents. She’s a bit bored and is always looking for something to do. One day she unlocks a door that has a brick wall behind it–only the brick wall isn’t there anymore. She goes through the door and finds what looks like an exact replica of her apartment–including her parents. I will stop here because I don’t want to spoil the plot. Let’s just say I highly recommend it! Thanks to those in the Once Upon a Time Challenge who recommended it as well.
I simply adored this book! I’ve had Stardust in my hand the last two times I’ve been in the bookstore, but opted for American Gods and then M is for Magic. I’m guessing the third time will be the charm. Of course, I really to need to read the ones I did buy at some point, huh?
