wild swans three daughters of china book review

But it is also inspiring each family member’s resilience and courage to stand up for what they believed in is incredible. Wild Swans is depressing – you can’t read it and not despair at the lengths people will go to for power. I picked up the book with a new level of respect I was determined to travel with Chang through her horrific, yet inspiring journey. I can watch a horror film or read a post-apocalyptic book without flinching would I so easily push this novel aside for being too real? I found it too depressing and even considered giving up at one point.īut then I realised something this book is a non-fiction and, as such, the awful, horrific, terrible events were not only true, but only one account out of millions who had suffered similar fates. The horror these women had faced was too much for me to bear in one go. This isn’t an easy book to read at times, I had to step away from it for a day or so and read something a little more light-hearted before I could face it again. Her quiet retelling of the horrors of her family’s life is incredibly emotive what she doesn’t say stands out more than what she does. This is a beautiful rendition of the struggle three generations of women have faced under Chinese rule.Ĭhang discusses her parents’ torture, her own brainwashing as a member of the Red Guard and her subsequent disillusionment in a calm, dispassionate tone.

Skip forward another two years and I’ve finally gotten through it. I then bought it on my e-reader in the hope that I’d actually read it. At a hefty 650 pages, my fingers would always slide over it when choosing a book to read and – a year later – I gave it back untouched. I came across this book on a friend’s shelf it looked intriguing so I begged to borrow it. “Father is close, Mother is close, but neither is as close as Chairman Mao.” Title: Wild Swans – The Daughters of China For this new edition, Jung Chang has written a new introduction, bringing her own story up to date, and describing the effect Wild Swans’ success has had on her life.

At times terrifying, at times astonishing, always deeply moving, Wild Swans is a book in a million, a true story with all the passion and grandeur of a great novel.

Synopsis: Through the story of three generations of women – grandmother, mother and daughter – Wild Swans tells nothing less than the whole tumultuous history of China’s tragic twentieth century, from sword-bearing warlords to Chairman Mao, from the Manchu Empire to the Cultural Revolution.

Wild swans three daughters of china book review