A review by annewithabook
Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang

emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This book is such a fascinating read, especially as an adult. Apparently a lot of students have to read this book in school, but I never did. And I personally think it is more meaningful to me as an adult than it would have been as a child. Understanding how totalitarian dictatorships gain control of the populace's minds, even the children, is something relevant to understand throughout history, even in modern America. The writing is simplistic, but the story itself is moving and sad, to watch Ji Li being brainwashing by the Mao Ze Dong Communist government in China. To watch perfectly normal children turn into cruel monsters. To see families torn apart by suspicion and see children betray their own parents. It's a sobering story, but a beautiful one. If you haven't read this memoir, I highly recommend it.