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Book Review (View All)
Wild Swans
Friday, March 30, 2007 2:57 PM
Rating
(loved it!) 
(is a favorite)
(loved it!) (is a favorite)
Notes
Full Title: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
If you ever want to get me started chatting or even perhaps blabbing away, just mention "The Great Leap Forward" or the "Cultural Revolution", or practically anything else that happened in China between 1910 and 1980. Armed with my knowledge of a little bit of Chinese history I learned from Wild Swans, I'm eager to learn more.
The book was totally engrossing while I was reading it, I found the story and events to be fascinating. I feel like it taught me a tremendous amount about 20th century Chinese history in a form far far superior to a textbook - many of the events are described from first hand experience of them. Others are told as the author heard them from friends and family. Overall, the book is superb.
Instead of praising as I could for many more pages, I will address the possible complaints a small percentage of people might have, and what a reader should prepare for when they pick up the book: 1) the writing style is either too dry or to the point, 2) the book weaves in and out of too many stories and recollections and should have stayed more focussed, and 3) possibly that the book is too "negative" as one reviewer on Amazon put it.
In response to these possible complaints. 1) I would say that the reader should be prepared for a frank and direct record of events surrounding the author - I actually liked this about the book, as it made it more convincing and did not bead around the bush. 2) On getting sidetracked, I would agree that for a little bit during the last 75 pages of the book or so, there was a lull as the author described events happening around various family members and friends. It could have stayed a bit more focussed and been slightly shorter, but this complaint will probably be voiced mostly by those who can't handle reading a 500 page book... 3) On being "negative", I disagree and believe readers simply need to see how uplifting the book really is. There is not negativity or wining in the book in my opinion, although there is a strong political message surrounding Mao that develops in the latter half of the book. This message is not a "complaint" though, and from my view the author is, as I am, struck by Mao and what he was capable of in China during his reign.
If you ever want to get me started chatting or even perhaps blabbing away, just mention "The Great Leap Forward" or the "Cultural Revolution", or practically anything else that happened in China between 1910 and 1980. Armed with my knowledge of a little bit of Chinese history I learned from Wild Swans, I'm eager to learn more.
The book was totally engrossing while I was reading it, I found the story and events to be fascinating. I feel like it taught me a tremendous amount about 20th century Chinese history in a form far far superior to a textbook - many of the events are described from first hand experience of them. Others are told as the author heard them from friends and family. Overall, the book is superb.
Instead of praising as I could for many more pages, I will address the possible complaints a small percentage of people might have, and what a reader should prepare for when they pick up the book: 1) the writing style is either too dry or to the point, 2) the book weaves in and out of too many stories and recollections and should have stayed more focussed, and 3) possibly that the book is too "negative" as one reviewer on Amazon put it.
In response to these possible complaints. 1) I would say that the reader should be prepared for a frank and direct record of events surrounding the author - I actually liked this about the book, as it made it more convincing and did not bead around the bush. 2) On getting sidetracked, I would agree that for a little bit during the last 75 pages of the book or so, there was a lull as the author described events happening around various family members and friends. It could have stayed a bit more focussed and been slightly shorter, but this complaint will probably be voiced mostly by those who can't handle reading a 500 page book... 3) On being "negative", I disagree and believe readers simply need to see how uplifting the book really is. There is not negativity or wining in the book in my opinion, although there is a strong political message surrounding Mao that develops in the latter half of the book. This message is not a "complaint" though, and from my view the author is, as I am, struck by Mao and what he was capable of in China during his reign.
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