Red Azalea

Rating:
Summary: I am deeply impressed, I hope more books will follow.
Review: I have read the book in one day and it was really amazing how impressed I was. It felt like if the words were written for my eyes only and although I am European, every feeling and discription looked so familiar to me. I don't know enough words in English to descibe the book and how I felt about it...

Rating:
Summary: A sad and interesting book where you could feel the pain.
Review: I love this book so much that I ofthen think about my life...I learn from her to live on with so much pain .if she could do it, then i can too. My sister was the one who brought the book ....I hated reading books but after reading Red Azaela I'v change to a totally new person...I dunno why but this book ofthen reminds me of my life and how I was treated. I could feel the pain in her heart and the darkness inside her. It made me cried and laughed at the same time. I wish i could meet the author some days. i felt like reading the book another time. Its sad and beatiful full of interest in each readers mind. at first starting reading it, it took me forever but when i was half way I wish this book will never end.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating!
Review: I normally avoid dramas and books about people who emerge from adversity, but this book was SOMETHING ELSE. I was so fascinated I couldn't put the book down. The events move along, preventing the reader from becoming bored. Also, I had never learned about what Mao's reign meant for the daily lives of the Chinese, so the rules and propaganda were all new to me and also horribly fascinating. The author's story is told with beauty and in an endearingly straightforward style without any of the sappiness and drama that usually gives me the heebie jeebies. A MUST READ if you don't know anything about Communist China and/or if you love a good (true) story.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Haunting
Review: I think I walked around in a daze for days after reading this book.
I found Anchee's first part is a little choppy as I grew accustomed to her style. From part two on, I was her captive - unwilling to put the book down for a moment. I fell into her beautiful language and wept for the emotions that rose in me, especially during her experiences with Yan in the labor camps. I ached for her sadness and was uplifted by her hope. The book changed me - the mark of a truly wonderful author. You owe it to yourself to read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Haunting
Review: I think I walked around in a daze for days after reading this book.
I found Anchee's first part is a little choppy as I grew accustomed to her style. From part two on, I was her captive - unwilling to put the book down for a moment. I fell into her beautiful language and wept for the emotions that rose in me, especially during her experiences with Yan in the labor camps. I ached for her sadness and was uplifted by her hope. The book changed me - the mark of a truly wonderful author. You owe it to yourself to read this book.

Rating:
Summary: I was let-down!
Review: I was excited to read this book, because I collect Asian culture books. I did not enjoy this one! Anchee Min has a beautiful way of writing ( if you can overlook the fact that she does not use quotations ) I kept reading thinking there would be some valuable content only to be disappointed in the end. I don't even know why I stuck with it to the end, I guess it was because I didn't have another book to read.I can see Anchee Min writing poetry, I'm sure it would be beautiful.Red Azaelea was boring.I had just finished Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah. It was wonderful. Red Azaelea...disappointing!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read.
Review: I've never read a book so fast. I was at work when I read it but I just couldn't stop until I finished. When I read, "reads like a novel" I almost put it back because I don't normally read fiction but I'm really glad I got it. This book is amazing. This book deals with such powerful personal feelings. It's too bad that many people who've reviewed it here seem to have glossed over the point of Anchee's feelings. After reading it I was speechless. One of the things I liked best about the book is she talks about the hope and joy when things are at its worst. Not because it's uplifting or anything, but because it shows how the small joys become so important as to become obsessive.It's a feeling that cannot be easily described. Nor can the book. Reading the book was a beautiful experience and I would highly recomend it to anyone who's interested in anything. I will buy whatever she sells. Anyone know where I can find her photos and paintings? [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A Touching Autobiography
Review: In Red Azalea, Anchee Min creates a vivid image of growing up in China at the height of Communist rule under Mao. She became leader of the little Red Guard as part of the Proletarian Cultural Revolution and eagerly demonstrated her devotion to the Party. The real story begins when she is seperated from her family and sent of to the Red Fire Farm,a dreadful work camp, durring her teen years. Life under Mao was a struggle for survival where the individual's needs were not considered. In her writting, Min does not show disrespect for those in powere, but rather describes the poverty and condition of the counrty. Min's fate took a remarkable turn one day when she was chosen from many girls to become and actress in training. This account is easy to read yet the concepts are deep and meaningful. Her life makes the reader think about their own fortunes or perhaps misfortunes. Red Azalea is a beautiful autobiography that creates a powerful sense of life in China during the country's most heartbreaking time.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, stunning
Review: One of the best literary books I have read about the intersection of large political forces and individual human character. Stunningly written, in a clear, deceptively simple voice that goes down like water but affects you like vodka--intoxicating, heart-stopping. I keep buying new copies because I loan it enthusiastically to friends who never return it. Only read this if you are interested in the dark, harsh side of human nature--and in redemption. (However, *the* best book I know in this category is Under a Cruel Star, Heda Kovaly--a must read.)

Rating:
Summary: Autobiography of a Young Woman's Life in Repressive China
Review: Red Azalea by Anchee Min is an autobiography of a young woman's life in China under the regiment of Chairman Mao.
It begins when she is 5 years old and already having to look after her younger sisters and brother while her parents work.
Life in China is extremely repressive with the possibility of anyone being a spy who will report you as a reactionary to the party.
Sexual expression is forbidden outside of marriage, and the party decides when or if you will marry. Romantic love is considered a bourgoise lie.
Anchee is raised on Madame Mao aka Comrade Jiang Ching's operas of revolutionary heroines for the rise of Communism. Any other form of entertainment expression doesn't exist in China. Everything is for the good of the people's party.
The Party decides how you can best serve. The Party assigns what job you will do.
At sixteen, Anchee is sent to a large, communal farm. There, she makes an emotional and sexual connection with a woman she greatly admires.
However, it seemed to me the two women did not necessarily have lesbian sexual orientations. It was more a matter of two people starved for human love and contact in a harsh, barren world.
Eventually Anchee is choosen to be an instrument in furthur spreading the message of Communism. This takes her into a different world from what she has known with her parents or at the communal farm.
However, when Chairman Mao dies, everything falls apart. Chariman Mao's wife, Comrade Jiang Ching has powerful enemies. I think this is a good book, and well worth reading. It gives a great deal of insight into what life was like in China at that time. And, from all indictations, it is very similiar today.