Wild Swans - Jung Chang

This book may as well be handed out to expats in China along with their visas. It seems every foreigner associated with the country within the past fifteen years has read it. But, having been through it, its appeal and ubiquity are much easier to understand - it is essentially a crash course on recent Chinese history in a highly-readable story form. Jung Chang uses the experiences her own family as a center-point, around which she forms a general account of China's bizarre twentieth century, from the collapse of thousands of years of dynasty rule to the short-lived republic, the Japanese occupation, installation of Communism, and the tumultuous years of Mao Zedong. The result is a story that often seems impossible - the years of glorified ignorance and repression of the Cultural Revolution could be passed as science fiction, some horrifying Orwellian vision manifested. Jung Chang manages to maintain humility and composure, even while describing the most violent or painful episodes, though at times the narrative is bit too heavy with her own sentiment and, towards the end, stumbles in and out of repetitiveness. The subtitle of the book is Three Daughters of China, suggesting the presence of a definite Mom book; but, while the author relies a little too heavily on possessive adjectives (my mother, my mother, my mother...) and occasionally delves into unnecessary emotional reflexion, it is just as much a story of her father (and China in general), and is on the whole rather subdued and somber.

Worth Reading
3.5 out of 5
Buy this book: Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China

The Gate - Francois Bizot

Maybe it's a translation issue, but this meandering tale of the only imprisoned Westerner to survive the Khmer Rouge is definitively lacking. An account of the French author's capture and three month internment in the early 1970s followed by a confinement to the grounds of the French Embassy and eventual expulsion from the country is made somewhat interesting by his interactions with Douche (Duch), who is currently being tried for his later role as the director of Tuol Sleng detention center. Bizot's story is long and insipid. Though his experience was not one I'd like to have, millions of Cambodians probably would have begged for it when compared to their outcomes. Between seemingly unrelated tangents and a writing style that constantly detaches the reader from the story, this is a book worth skipping. Instead consider reading one of the Cambodians' stories.

BOOOOOOOO!
1.5 out of 5

Buy this book: The Gate