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Summary: An incredible book!
Review: Anchee Min's story is a remarkable tale of survival and unbelievable strength. I have given this book again and again as a gift.
Rating: 
Summary: Strangely Beautiful
Review: Anchee Min's story of growing up in post-cultural revolution China is a beautiful and compelling narrative that grows on you the more you read. Her prose style, bare and abrupt, echoes the environment in which she grew up and helps to set the tone and the mood. Intensely emotional scenes are rendered in a distant, removed fashion that serves to highlight both the depths of the emotion and the overwhelming necessity to keep that emotion hidden and controlled. The strength of the prose and the compelling nature of the story are almost enough to make up for the sudden, unsatisfying ending. It is impossible to read a story this engaging without wanting to know more about how all the characters fared in the end. Min ends her story right after the death of Mao and the disgrace of Madame Mao. She tells us that she spent another six years in China before moving to the United States, but those six years are summarized only briefly, and we never learn what happend to her one-time lover, Yan, or the mysterious "Supervisor" who had such a strong influence on her career and her life. Nor do we learn anything about what happened to the other members of her family. All in all, the book is stunning and powerful, and highly recommended despite the unsatisfying ending
Rating:
Summary: Tremendous
Review: As required reading for a college course on Asian history, I picked up this book one night and finished it the next. It is a heart-stoppingly real, rough and dramatic account of a young woman's ascent and descent in the Red Army during Mao's reign in China. At times I was moved to tears, literally -- while commuting on a subway. I was enthralled with the author's "voice" in telling her own sad, victorious, heart wrenching story from childhood through adulthood. Red Azalea is an important piece of writing which I'd recommend not only to students interested in Chinese history, but to anyone who enjoys a real human story with historical reality.
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Summary: Kevin Duggans Review
Review: Book had great momentum,... at the end it slowed a bit. But was a great book,... some of the romance was a bit too much for me. A good illustration of living thru the cultural revolution..... All in all a good one RECOMENDED
Rating:
Summary: Made in USA
Review: Essentially this is a book written for the Americans. While the narrator's account of her struggle in the Communist society hits close to a home-run, the graphic portrayal of the main character sexuality leaves an obscure taste in one's mind- a true piece of true Chinese literature would never be so visually explicit, even in communicating the most intimate passion.
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Summary: A powerful, hypnotic read
Review: I bought this book after I had read Memoirs of a Geisha. I was looking to find another book that was just as good. While this book was not anything like MofG it was still a great read. Anchee Min is an awesome write. At times I couldn't believe she was willing to let the reader know some things that many authors may have kept private. Min gives great detail of what growing up under the leadership of Mao was like for a small child-then teen. It's hard to belive that life in the 60's could be so different in China that it was in the U.S. The part of the book that will keep its readers attention is when she goes to live and work as slave labor (even though she believes that she is being guided to a better life by Mao) at the Red Fire Farm. I agree with another reviewer when they say this book is heartbreaking and erotic. Although this book is normally found in the fiction section of the book store, I think it is helpful in teaching the readers about what China and Mao were actually like. Min is an author that should be noticed for her work as well as her survival. I hope that she will continue writing for many years to come.
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Summary: A better understanding of life under Mao.
Review: I bought this book after I had read Memoirs of a Geisha. I was looking to find another book that was just as good. While this book was not anything like MofG it was still a great read. Anchee Min is an awesome write. At times I couldn't believe she was willing to let the reader know some things that many authors may have kept private. Min gives great detail of what growing up under the leadership of Mao was like for a small child-then teen. It's hard to belive that life in the 60's could be so different in China that it was in the U.S. The part of the book that will keep its readers attention is when she goes to live and work as slave labor (even though she believes that she is being guided to a better life by Mao) at the Red Fire Farm. I agree with another reviewer when they say this book is heartbreaking and erotic. Although this book is normally found in the fiction section of the book store, I think it is helpful in teaching the readers about what China and Mao were actually like. Min is an author that should be noticed for her work as well as her survival. I hope that she will continue writing for many years to come.
Rating:
Summary: And Then?
Review: I enjoyed reading Red Azalea even while squirming at the control and lack of sensitivity of the Communists, the Red Brigade and the way people believed in Mao and his Little Red Book. It is very scary to see that a country with such an enormous population could get to this state. I would really like a book by Min about leaving China and how she felt when she came to the U. S. Is she a citizen?
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely powerful
Review: I have read many, many good books on the Cultural Revolution in China, but Red Azalea has captured my imagination, has brought me to the depths of truth in the time period under Mao. What an awesome book. I always found time to read Red Azalea, even trading eating at times! You will not be disappointed, absolutely beautiful! A must read!
Rating: 
Summary: Not for me
Review: I have read several Chinese women authors dealing with the Cultural Revolution and found Red Azalea by Anchee Min to be most unsatisfying. I found myself skipping whole paragraphs because she would dwell on a particular incident so long that I didn't care about it anymore. I would not recommend this book.
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