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Summary: Wow
Review: I read this book 3 years ago when I first moved to China. The book made its way through the expat community in the city Xiamen where I was living. I picked it up with little enthusiasm, but couldn't put it down. When I finished it, I gave it to my husband and then he gave it to his mother who gave it to his father. I often asked Chinese friends whether they had read the book, but since it is not published in China, most had not read it. I would then ask them about their or their mother's experiences during the Cultural Revolution. Almost to a person, they confirmed what Jung Chang told about in her book. I believe this book should be required reading for anyone going to spend any amount of time in China or for anyone interested in the China of yesterday or today. Don't be put off by the size of the book or the fact that it was written as a disertation. It is a truely excellent book.
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Summary: Mao's politics similar to Federal Govt Upward Mobility
Review: Extraordinary book. The description of Red Guards/Black Guards reminds me of Federal Govt Upward Mobility policy without the violence. Right down to the "No history beyond the last 6 months." The personal interactions are textbook Prisoner's Dilemma. See Matt Ridley's The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation. Jung Chang's search for a "decent" person regardless of political label is just a search for a Discriminating Altruist.
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Summary: A Light that Shines on Golden Bookshelves
Review: Knowledge. Perspective. Beauty. Pain. Loyalties. Honour. Dogma. Treason. Lies. Humour. Anguish. Hope. Hate. Love. Fear.Humbled and enriched to have read this book. I wish someday to meet its author and thank her for the privelege. Give yourself the same gift when you are ready to receive it.
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Summary: Give this book to your children to read
Review: If they are not old enough for reading it yet, keep it for them until they grow up. Give a copy to your local library. Since I read it I have accidentally run into persons who grew up in the same suburb as the Author and who knew her. That was really exciting, since I was able to get some extra information. With 118 reviews this book probably does not need another one. I did not have time to read them all today but I will be back!!!!!!!
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Summary: Courageous story of three incredible women ............
Review: I, too, knew practically nothing of modern Chinese history prior to reading Wild Swans. I started to read this engrossing book and just could not put it down. The story spans three generations of Chinese women. From the grandmother who was a warlord's concubine; the mother raised during the early days of Mao's revolution with her prominence during the communist party being denounced during the Cultural Revolution; to Chang, the narrator, who grew up during the reactionary Cultural Revolution. This is a compelling story of three brave women recounted during a period of Chinese history which in itself is often shocking. The story is beautifully and sensitively written and will surely be a book that over time I will most certainly read again. This is an absolutely memorable book and is one of the best books on Chinese history I have read as well as being one of the better books I have read in the last couple of years. I simply loved this book and strongly recommend it.
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Summary: Fantastic!
Review: One of the best books I have ever read. Months later, it still haunts me.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of family and social history
Review: I read this book shortly after it came out, almost 10 years ago. In that time the details of the story have faded from my memory, but many of Jung Chang's extraordinary scenes are indelible: the shocking description of the foot-binding her grandmother and countless others were all but crippled by, her mother forced to walk beside her father's car (to let his wife share his privilege of riding in a car would have been considered 'nepotism', and forbidden by Communist Party discipline), the village where Chang herself was sent in the Cultural Revolution. This is vastly the best of the several books I've read on the Cultural Revolution, but it is also far more than that. It's one of the most powerful and finest books I've ever read. Chang brings the people whose stories she tells to life. She describes scenes and chooses details superbly, and by doing so makes the history of her own family also a history of the revolutions and disasters of an entire culture.
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Summary: The Textbook demostration of a historical saga
Review: My review of the book is that Jung Chang should be remember as one of the most beautiful and talented writers of the modern world. Portrayed in her book is the saddness and oppression of the Chinese people during that era as they hope for a new China away from the Emperor. It shows their excitement as Chiang- Kai-Shek comes snd their saddnes for his corruptness and betrayal. It demonstrates the saddness through the bloodshed and their survival through the famine and deaths, from Sun Yat Sen to Mao Zedong. Also portrayed is the is the delicate story of a Chinese family who went through hell. It's this mixture of history, bioraphy, auto-biography that creates the beauty of this sory and is a text-book demonstration of how to get a story, history morals and points across and still interest the readers
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Summary: Gripping & riveting true story
Review: An eye-opening tale of the life of 3 women and their struggle to live in China. Wonderfully written with vivid descriptions. One of the best books I ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Chronicle of Strength and Bravery
Review: Wild Swans is a compelling account of how Jung Chang and her family endured the brutality, torture, censorship and terror of China's modern history. She honestly describes what they endured and how they managed to go on when surrounded by injustice, pettiness, and physical horrors. I like how she also adds details of traditional Chinese values (e.g. poetry, nature) thus we learn of her heritage. (I want to read some classical Chinese poetry and more Chinese history.) She includes a lot of the political and historical background so readers understand the context of the events she describes. The only draw back is that she often uses cliches (e.g. "My father really stuck to his guns.") rather than some more original writing.
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