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Product Reviews:
Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: What happened AFTER the Cultural Revolution?
Comments: Chinese Lessons scratched a persistent itch for me: How in the world did the participants and victims of the Cultural Revolution move beyond it?
Several books by victims have graphically illustrated what it was like to be a victim of this horrifying period in Chinese history. (Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng and Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong,2 different however equally powerful memoirs, are my favorites to date.) however this is the 1st I have read that Comes with the other side and explores the aftermath.
What was it like to be a perpetrator, a Red Guard, and what kinds of lives did they (and the survivors) build when the government once again shifted and Cultural Revolution rather suddenly ground to a halt? How did they get from "there" to the often cut-throat capitalism-with-Chinese-characteristics of today's China?
The individual stories of John Pomfret's classmates (and his own) bring the ensuing3decades to life in a readable and thought-full way, while taken as a whole, the book's overarching viewpoint that the Communist party is still committed to doing anything necessary to remain in power(mainly, suppression of people, ideas, and its own failures) gives credence to his conclusion that the Chinese system today is on shaky ground (all those peasants who haven't gotten a piece of the pie yet!!) and the biggest story of the 21st century could be China's failure rather than its success.
Personally, I hope that doesn't happen, as I have been there and share Pomfret's fascination with the sheer dogged determination of the people to not just survive, however thrive. Still, I can not deny his thesis.
Last words: readable, couldn't put it down once I started reading, learned a lot, highly endorseed. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Chinese Lessons
Comments: This book was suggested reading for a trip I am taking to China in November. I am glad I purchased the book and read it. There was a lot of history and real people's experiences. I had so little idea of what it was like to live through the Cultural Revolution and in the snitch society maked by Mao. I would endorse this book to anyone. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Chinese Lessons
Comments: I needed this book for a college class. I was able to purchase it on line for a savings of about 40% even after shipping charges. The book arrived in great shape and in plenty of time for my class.
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Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: great Book For Understanding Today's Chinese
Comments: Though it is going to sound like a newspaper movie ad, I cannot resist quoting the tag lines from others who have already reviewed this book:
1. "Masterful account of modern China"
2. "Superb"
3. "A book you can not put down"
4. "An exceptional book, exceptionally written"
5. "Extraordinary"
6. "I laughed, I cried" Okay, so I made up the last one.
The book beautifully (and usually depressingly) describes how China's past so heavily influences its present. I felt I knew eone in the book because they were composites of the real life Chinese with whom I deal in my work as a lawyer dealing with China. It was a joy to read and it increased my understanding of China. To understand today's China,1must know at least the basics of China's modern history and, perhaps even more importantly, how that history has affected today's Chinese. This book definitely aids in that understanding. |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: A great ride
Comments: easy to read. Great entertaining writing style with lots of clever anecdotes. On completing this book I then had to a) read all the other reviews here and b) check the Washington Post for any further author work. The big question here is:
what happens to the5profiled students in this book?
Are they still friendly with the author?
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