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Reviews
Bullets and Opium: Real-Life Stories of China After the Tiananmen Square Massacre by Liao Yiwu
wannabekingpin's review
5.0
all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
My Opinion: Those of us who live in the countries that were under the Soviet regime will find these stories painfully familiar. We grew up with them, from our parents, from our grandparents, in our history books, in our low budget beautiful old movies. Dehumanizing acts against people who merely spoke up. Brutal behavior, nightmarish conditions, grueling work that killed many, maimed for life even more. And the tale isn’t over, with most of the world not being aware of it.
It’s a very tough book, but for the sake of the names in it, it’s a very worthy read. A 5 out of 5, for nothing else is in my power, but a review and hopefully – a few more readers.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
My Opinion: Those of us who live in the countries that were under the Soviet regime will find these stories painfully familiar. We grew up with them, from our parents, from our grandparents, in our history books, in our low budget beautiful old movies. Dehumanizing acts against people who merely spoke up. Brutal behavior, nightmarish conditions, grueling work that killed many, maimed for life even more. And the tale isn’t over, with most of the world not being aware of it.
It’s a very tough book, but for the sake of the names in it, it’s a very worthy read. A 5 out of 5, for nothing else is in my power, but a review and hopefully – a few more readers.
thekqy's review against another edition
4.0
It feels wrong to give this less than 5 stars because of the atrocities described in it, and I want to clarify that this work is immensely important as a documentation of something much of China wants to ignore or forget. I only take off a star because I didn’t like to read it. Many parts of it were extremely graphic and awful, as is true to their experiences in real life. I guess I really don’t want to give this a star rating at all, so 4 seems like a pretty good default. I feel like this kind of book, which tells of many peoples personal accounts of a massacre and the myriad subsequent injustices, isn’t really meant to be rated from “ok” to “awesome.”
If you want to read on this topic, this is a good source, but definitely be in the right mindset for it. (This almost had me tearing up in my philosophy prof’s office!)
If you want to read on this topic, this is a good source, but definitely be in the right mindset for it. (This almost had me tearing up in my philosophy prof’s office!)
trabska's review against another edition
2.0
Tutaj tylko tłem są wydarzenia na placu Tiananmen, autor opisuje czas w więzieniu, powtarza te same historie po kilka razy, nie przybliża powodu, dlaczego w ogóle te wydarzenia miały miejsce, skupia się bardzo mocno na sobie, a wręcz wydaje się jakby na siłę próbował przekonać czytelnika, że jego krzywda była największa. Cała książka to wywiady z mężczyznami powiązanymi z 4 czerwca, jednak odnoszę wrażenie, jakkolwiek okropnie to zabrzmi, że oni tak naprawdę niewiele mają do powiedzenia. Z tych rozmów jedna lub dwie wydały się naprawdę wartościowe i wnoszące coś nowego. Reszta to po prostu bełkot, oskarżanie wszystkich wkoło, niesamowita nienawiść do kobiet, spowodowana ich problemami z erekcją chociażby.
I oczywiście, to wszystko przybliża nam brzydką prawdę życia po masakrze, traumę która wyniszcza ludzi, to że nie wszystko wyglada jak na amerykańskich filmach, gdzie po bohaterach wszystko spływa jak po kaczkach, ALE wybaczcie nie będę zachwycona książką w której bezrefleksyjnie opowiadane są historie gwałtu na własnej żonie. Autor bez zażenowania pyta o takie rzeczy które w tej książce naprawdę nie są potrzebne. Mocno się zawiodłam.
I oczywiście, to wszystko przybliża nam brzydką prawdę życia po masakrze, traumę która wyniszcza ludzi, to że nie wszystko wyglada jak na amerykańskich filmach, gdzie po bohaterach wszystko spływa jak po kaczkach, ALE wybaczcie nie będę zachwycona książką w której bezrefleksyjnie opowiadane są historie gwałtu na własnej żonie. Autor bez zażenowania pyta o takie rzeczy które w tej książce naprawdę nie są potrzebne. Mocno się zawiodłam.
judythedreamer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
sarajoha's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, and Murder
nini23's review
4.0
This is a very timely nonfictional book to read, especially on the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre. Media attention then was on the students and prominent protesters who happened to be immortalized in western media photos such as 'The Tankman." But what of the blue collar workers, the everyday populace who turned up to support the students - the factory worker, car mechanic, vegetable seller. After the hue and cry died down, these people were identified, arrested, tortured, imprisoned, killed. Those that were fortunate enough not to be killed were incarcerated for many years, performing unpaid gruelling work. The author has unprecedented access to interviewing them.
This is their unflinching brutal story.
This is their unflinching brutal story.