A review by dorothy_gale
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
5.0
4.75★: MY FIRST BOOK ON CHINESE COMMUNISM. This has got to be one of the most powerful memoirs ever written. Really, it's one biography, two memoirs AND eye witness histories of about a century of turmoil and tragedy in China. In the epilogue, the author says this book is banned in mainland China. I believe it! The Overdrive description quoted the Wall Street Journal Asia as calling Wild Swans the most widely read book about China. I believe that too. Published in 1991, it has 562 pages and a 4.26-star average rating by 104,326 reviewers. I listened to the audio version and it was 23 hours long at normal speed. The only reason it didn't get a full 5 stars is that about 15% of the historical content was a bit dry. As opposed to the riveting, firsthand storytelling of three generations of women with superhuman strength and the wisdom to know how important it was to get their stories out to the world.
One of the many angers this book triggered for me is the stark contrast of the true victims in China with highly ignorant Americans who refer to things that happen in modern day America as communist or socialist. The author didn't make that contrast; I did as I listened. They have no frickin clue, and I find it disrespectful that they even offer such uneducated opinions on these matters. Millions of people murdered, tortured, dehumanized, relocated, lied to, used, starved, gaslit, and more. Land and food sources destroyed. Education for multiple generations set back decades when Americans whine around about a year or two for a pandemic. Art, history, and culture obliterated. If you have access to a public library, you have the luxury and privilege of the freedom to learn. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to learn of the mistakes and atrocities of the past to attempt to prevent them from happening again. I think all Americans should read this book! Other nationalities too of course, but I'm American so I start with my peeps.
One of the many angers this book triggered for me is the stark contrast of the true victims in China with highly ignorant Americans who refer to things that happen in modern day America as communist or socialist. The author didn't make that contrast; I did as I listened. They have no frickin clue, and I find it disrespectful that they even offer such uneducated opinions on these matters. Millions of people murdered, tortured, dehumanized, relocated, lied to, used, starved, gaslit, and more. Land and food sources destroyed. Education for multiple generations set back decades when Americans whine around about a year or two for a pandemic. Art, history, and culture obliterated. If you have access to a public library, you have the luxury and privilege of the freedom to learn. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to learn of the mistakes and atrocities of the past to attempt to prevent them from happening again. I think all Americans should read this book! Other nationalities too of course, but I'm American so I start with my peeps.