Reference
This is the touching, and at times humorous story of the author, growing up through the famine caused by Mao’s Great Leap Forward and then the Cultural Revolution, with the added burden of having been born into the despised “landowner” class.
The author, his family and friends are people you can really become attached to and in spite of the constant backdrop of disadvantage and repression there is also another backdrop of rural china that is beguiling in its simplicity. It is an excellent snapshot of a remote part of China during this important part of Chinese History.
The book focuses on the author’s school years, and the disadvantage he and his whole family faced because of their despised status and the choices, both good and bad, he was forced to make to achieve his aim of avoiding the life of a farmer in rural China and gaining access to University. It is also about the people and the system who at times made his life utterly miserable and others who made it bearable and in the end who made all the difference.
I found this a thoroughly enjoyable story that I would highly recommend, however its usefulness in the classroom would be limited by its honesty to real life in China by not avoiding strong language and adult themes and behavior. It is also one of the best if unintentional examples of product placement I’ve ever read, to such an extent that the makers of Lucky Horse cigarettes or a tobacco company in general could seriously considering some sort of sponsorship of the author and this book.
