Rating: 
Summary: Well, the first quarter of the book is good...
Review: I delved into this book immediately, relishing the wonderful description of a life so alien to my own. I could admire the dedication of Chang's mother, grandmother, and father when they were presented historically.Then the chick started talking about herself, and it all went downhill. Interesting events turned to petty, schoolgirl tales. Wondering about the noble intentions of people changed to reading -- over and over again -- whiny justifications of ignorance and stupidity. And even worse, it seems as if the editor lost interest in the book at about the same place, since the self-obsessed nonsense goes on and on and on... By all means, read the first part -- but stop before you too resent the hours wasted on the later drivel!
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: This book tells us about three generations of Chinese history in its political, military, cultural and social struggles through a woman's perspective. I think that this can be quite an empowering book to read, and I truly recommend anyone to read it.
Rating:
Summary: The truth
Review: I've studied the history of China for years and even lived in China for a year. I found this book amazing in many ways. First it is a true story covering three generations - three radically different times in Chinese history. Second it is told with a brutal honesty. Most amazing still is Jung Chang's writing style she has the ability to paint a picture describe a scene and you are there. Her words give you enough detail to be in that place and feel the emotions of the situation. You will not get lost in endless descriptions of the background and the weather as in some historical tales. Nor does she delve into a philosophical debates and explanations of political decision making processes at high government levels. (This would have been very tempting to include). There is a great deal of political information in the book. There are details of the political life of Party Members but throughout the book Jun Chang keeps the details wound tightly around the main characters - her grandmother, her mother, her father and herself. Her honest descriptions of the student led cultural revolution are as heartbreaking as they are terrifying. If you have any interest at all in the history of China or of social behavior you will not be disappointed in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Valuable as a historical lesson learned
Review: I come into Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang a little late in the game. Nonetheless I find it's broad base in terms of time and topic highly informative in this post cold-war era. Perhaps it is timely since China is getting a revisit these days as an emerging superpower. True to form, and it is documented in this book that unlike most other countries, no other modern country has seen the kind of upheavals China has. That the history of China is cyclical should come as no surprise and that China is a country of contradictions blending as this book does periods of construction and deconstruction. One thing Wild Swan does well is to explore the nature of the excesses of a totalitarian regime. Chang does focus on, and Wild Swan is full of examples of, is abject poverty. Chang does show the Chinese have a certain resiliency of spirit or is it naiveté. Having grown up in the Marcos dominated Philippines; it is easy to see why so many choose not to fight but to go with the flow. A difficult thing power is really. Truth is often a difficult thing to figure out, specially in a situation like this. After reading the many pages Chang writes about the Cultural Revolution, I am reminded of Pol Pot and the atrocities in Cambodia. Was Pol Pot mesmerized by the power that Mao wielded and was he guided by it? As a historian trying to weed through an archive already tainted by agenda it is interesting when one like Chang can, through experience, demarcate where truth and lies converge into a simulacra propagated by the state. No doubt Wild Swan is personal perspective. However, it is not anything near the Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston but more like A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Jung Chang does not weave a tale; she is not a spin-doctor. Chang does deftly moves from her grandmother (the concubine and later wife of the old guard), her mother (who becomes perhaps next to the her husband the most ardent follower), and herself (the astute cynic). Chang is at her best when she fuses all three. However, this is not a story with three perspectives but one writing about all three. This is not a minor distinction. Chang is convincing about how she both suffered and benefited from the connections of her grandmother and mother/father had exposing a huge fissure in their cultural infrastructure an almost endemic sense of corruption and short sightedness. Nonetheless, I am still really intrigued by the Mao phenomenon. Moreover, I was really intrigued by the insight she so calmly narrates concerning the destruction by the Red Guard. It was not so much what they had lost but that it will never be rebuilt. There really is much to be said about preserving out past - it gives us a roadmap of where we came from. Ironic as it seems that a country that preserves the wonders of Xian was capable of such wanton destruction in the name of the creation of a new order. Readers explore the notion of an Orwellian like setup - much like what Milan Kundera and Ivan Klima have written about in their more Samizdat days. We write as if it is over. Is it? The value of a book like Wild Swan is one that A Diary of Anne Frank would have - lest we forget. As a primer for historical reference concerning modern China this book is valuable. As a warning and a lesson learned, the value of this book is incalculable. Miguel Llora
Rating:
Summary: Not a book I would have thought I would like.
Review: I came to this book through my participation in a book club that focuses on cultural diversity. We've read both good and not so good books, and to tell the truth my initial feelings on reading this book were less than positive. I was surprised and impressed to find that Jung Chang makes the cultural history of China, something I knew NOTHING about, fascinating. She weaves her family's personal story of gain, loss, joy and anguish together with the historically accurate tale of a nation in the midst of wrenching change.
I have never been happier to be wrong than I was with this book, it deserves to be read over and over.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: I have to admit, my knowledge of history of any Asian country is/was almost non existent. Now at least I have an idea of the post war lord days of China and I'm sure that my jaw hung open while reading most of this book-from the very beginning when the author describes the foot binding through all of the beatings, tortures and "government" way of life. I can't imagine that anyone living in China during this time period was unaffected by all that went on. This book was well written, easy to follow (despite all of the foreign names and places!) and told a most incredible story. I am still in denial that an entire country was treated as they were. Incredible!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Modern Chinese family history
Review: "At the age of fifteen, my grandmother became the concubine of a warlord." That's a grabber, if ever there was one. Author Jung Chang, who now lives in London, leads readers through the traumatic events that befell her family members as the Communist revolution overwhelmed the country. Even if you think you understand the far-reaching and pervading effect of Chairman Mao's edicts, I guarantee your eyes will open even wider as you read the 500 pages of Wild Swans.
Although Mao's rise to power destroyed the corrupt Kuomintang and brought quick relief from their brutality, subsequent events proved the truth of the old axiom, Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, for Mao created a maelstrom that ultimately resulted in the deaths of 40 million Chinese. The country plunged into years of famine, torture, and chaos.
Written by a member of the Red Guard and the granddaughter of that concubine introduced in the beginning, Wild Swans will stand the test of time.
Rating:
Summary: a good read ( 3.75 stars) they dont have that up there
Review: wnjoyed this one. was very good, had a lot of history in i, went into enough detail and depth with characters as they cameon the scene. a good book, worth reading
BUT the thing I d have done differantyl is that it was a bit long in the middle ( the mothrs story) I think the suthor could have subtracted abt 100 pages and still had the same effect. too much written on the mom, and not enough on the granny and the granddaughter.
disclaimer> just my opinion. feel free to agree or not
Rating:
Summary: a book you can't put down
Review: I read this enormous book in about 5 jet-lagged nights. It is incredibly compelling, as other reviewers have mentioned, it "sucks you in" and clarifies recent Chinese history. It is an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: fantastic book
Review: Jung Chang writes an incredible account of three generations of Chinese history. Not only engaging and interesting for its historical significance, but this book is also just a darn fine read.
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