Reddit Reddit reviews Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

We found 12 Reddit comments about Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Biographies
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Ethnic & National Biographies
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Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
ChinaEyewitness HistoryTwentieth Century ChinaFamily HistoryBarefoot Doctor
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12 Reddit comments about Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China:

u/[deleted] · 66 pointsr/books

This is a brilliant idea.

I'm just been trying to remember what books I liked when I was still at school, the ones that I have come up with so far are: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (I know it's a graphic novel but it's really good!), Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie, Wild Swans by Jung Chang, The Wind Singer, by William Nicholson. There are probably many more, but that's all I can think of right now - hope I've helped a bit though!

u/SamuraiSevens · 9 pointsr/IAmA
u/biggyofmt · 9 pointsr/tifu

I recommend Wild Swans if you want to read about Mao's time

http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Swans-Three-Daughters-China/dp/0743246985/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422211501&sr=8-1&keywords=wild+swans

It's from the perspective of a Chinese woman whose parents were both staunch Communists, and details what they went through during the Cultural Revolution, and before.

It's really eye opening

u/duncanlock · 5 pointsr/history

It's not a history textbook, rather a family memoir, but I assume you've read Wild Swans? It's really good and covers this whole period.

u/Critical_Liz · 5 pointsr/history

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

It actually covers the twentieth century in total, told through the eyes of the author, her mother and her grandmother. The cultural revolution is covered too.

u/StaryStarling · 4 pointsr/suggestmeabook

this isn't fiction, but its a great read if you're interested in communist china and how women were and have been treated in china. I'm part Chinese, and it was kinda required reading:

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Swans-Three-Daughters-China/dp/0743246985

It follows three generations in the same chinese family, showing maos impact on chinese life as a woman.

u/Thatzionoverthere · 2 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

Originally as others have noted he was trying to purge china of the four olds. Basically their culture,history etc the closest equivalent would be what the Khmer rouge attempted with year zero. However towards the end though the original aims and goals went out the window, as the party tried to make Mao irrelevant, they wanted him to be a godlike figurehead someone revered but neutered concerning actual policy and control. That's when the greatest excesses of the cultural revolution occurred because Mao retaliated, he more or less gave his wife in others like the red guard who were loyal to him free reign to do what they pleased, at certain points mini civil wars were occurring throughout china. During the cultural revolution, china's government for better or worse was non existent in concerns to controlling what was going on. I still feel sadness reading about the destruction of millennia of history in a few short years. Temples, artifacts all gone, i believe at one point some people even tried to target the forbidden city for destruction which point only due to the some elements of the Chinese PLA intervening was this prevented but it's been a few years since i read up on that incident so i may be a little off.

There's a really good book i read called the wild swans. It not only goes indepth into the history surrounding the horror of the great leap forward and cultural revolution but also gives a nice view of china during the warring warlord period, the japanese vs communist vs nationalist period through the eyes of three generations of women in a chinese family. The author was a red guard when she was younger, her father and mother were top communist officials who ended up being denounced during the revolution, her grandmother was a warlords concubine who had her feet binded it's a fascinating history i recommend if you want an in-depth and easily accessible read concerning the history to pick up the book for a first hand account of Mao's lunacy http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Swans-Three-Daughters-China/dp/0743246985/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454251993&sr=1-8&keywords=china+red+guard

u/brownhedgehog · 1 pointr/AskReddit

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

u/emreorta · 1 pointr/suggestmeabook

Thanks! I guess you mean this book, right?

u/alan_s · 1 pointr/travel
u/bookemdanno050 · 1 pointr/booksuggestions

"Wild Swans" by Jung Chang is a tri-generational memoir spanning across some of the most interesting (and turbulent) times in China's recent history. The entire book was captivating enough that I've been meaning to re-read it for some time now. I'd highly recommend it!

u/sarahbotts · 0 pointsr/China

Couldn't comment when I made this, but if you haven't read Wild Swans by her, you should. It provides a very good narrative for 3 different time periods (pre-communism/revolution/communism) and actual experiences/eye-witness viewpoints. I read it while I was studying Chinese politics, and it opened my eyes. I know this article linked is brief, but Jung Chang is a good writer. While the validity of parts of her other book (Mao: The Unknown story) is debated, she is a worthwhile author to read if you are interested in China.

The link to the guardian article is more informative, but the new book is about empress dowager Cixi
>Her "groundbreaking" new biography will "comprehensively overturn … the conventional view of Cixi as a deeply conservative and cruel despot", said Jonathan Cape, and show how she abolished foot-binding, developed foreign trade and diplomacy, and revolutionised China's education system.