A Single Tear : A Family's Persecution, Love, and Endurance in Communist China

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Summary: One Very Sad and Disturbing Story that Must be Read
Review: "A Single Tear" is the tragic story of a admirable but naive Chinese patriot who made perhaps the worst personal decision possible this century -- choosing to return to China after the civil war ended instead of remaining in the US. The anecdotes of the insanity and chaos that plagued China for the quarter of a century or so from 1950 until Mao's death are gripping and disturbing; If they did not actually occur and were not documented, they would have seemed surreal even in a fictional novel. Ultimate, this is a story about the triumph of the human spirit and the will to survive when tens of millions did not.

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Summary: The heartbreaking experience of a naive patriot
Review: A naive patriot with zeal and love for his mother land went back to China after the Communist took over in 1949. When he was ready to help build a better country for his own people he was accused of being an American spy. He endured all kinds of torture through the years and came back to tell his heartbreaking experience in this wonderful book. When I first read this book it reminded me the famous novel of "The Tales of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. But these are true facts and hard evidence of the horror of the time in history.

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Summary: Beautifully written, heart breaking story about Red China
Review: A Single Tear is a beautifully written book of a heart breakingstory. I cried through the whole book as the story brought back somany terrible memories of growing up in Communist China. ( I should confess now that the author, Prof. Ningkun Wu, PH.D., is my father and that I wrote a few pages in the book).

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Summary: Finding meaning in suffering
Review: Rarely does a book capture the ways that a family can find purpose and forgiveness in the face of cruelty from others. This detailed account of the imprisonment of the father and eventual banishment of the entire family to a rural village in China puts a face on the experiences of educated persons during Mao's rule. In the same tradition as Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning, the author's descriptions and reflections show the resilience and depth of the human spirit. This book is extremely informative about the Maoist regime and inspiring about the strength of persons to survive and thrive in the harshest of circumstances. One of the best books I've ever read.

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Summary: Wonderful memoir; well painted portrait about Mao's China
Review: This is a very well written memoir by a husband and wife, about their life in communist China in the 50's and 60's, in which they survived prison, hunger, separation, to name a few. In one part of the book, she tells about how she was assigned to a job post by the government, away from her baby. Since she wouldn't be able to breastfeed, she had to buy milk on the black market! There were no luxuries such as going to the grocery store to buy baby formula. And yet, she deals with it and copes! That's not the worst of what they had to go through! This couple sets the definition for strength of charactor. Very inspiring and enriching book.

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Summary: A book Reflecting True Character
Review: Wow! I was especially impressed with the clarity with which both the husband and the wife wrote. It is written intellectually, yet with readability. Wu and his wife endured sufferings for actions that they were falsely accused of, yet their love for one another and for their family heightened throughout the entire nightmare. Being sent to prison for 30 years for returning to your own country in order to make it a better place is something that few of us could withstand, yet Wu withstood and became a better person for it. This is one of the best books that I have ever read. It inspires the reader to take a closer look at priorities, and leaves the reader with a deep sense of loss for the authors on one hand, yet a deeper sense of gain in areas of life unseen.

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Summary: Excellent Depiction of Life in Post-1949 China
Review: Wu Ningkun's "A Single Tear" is an excellent look at a young Chinese man whose decision to return to China from America after the 1949 Mao Zedong revolution has lasting and potentially tragic implications for both him and his family. Like many Chinese who emigrated to other parts of the world after WWII, Wu believes that China will be able to enter a better, prosperous and independent phase with the new Mao regime. Although quickly disillusioned, Wu and his family remain, subject to imprisonment, deprivation, and humiliation, especially during the infamous "Cultural Revolution" of the 1960s. By the time of Mao's death in the 1970s, the Wu family has been moved -- separately and together -- from city to country and back again, persecuted for their religious beliefs (Christian), and distrustful of neighbors and friends with the constant denunciations that have become standard. This book will show you what I have heard firsthand in China: the destruction of the intellectuals and "old" by a new generation with no sense of the past. Very moving and inspirational.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Depiction of Life in Post-1949 China
Review: Wu Ningkun's "A Single Tear" is an excellent look at a young Chinese man whose decision to return to China from America after the 1949 Mao Zedong revolution has lasting and potentially tragic implications for both him and his family. Like many Chinese who emigrated to other parts of the world after WWII, Wu believes that China will be able to enter a better, prosperous and independent phase with the new Mao regime. Although quickly disillusioned, Wu and his family remain, subject to imprisonment, deprivation, and humiliation, especially during the infamous "Cultural Revolution" of the 1960s. By the time of Mao's death in the 1970s, the Wu family has been moved -- separately and together -- from city to country and back again, persecuted for their religious beliefs (Christian), and distrustful of neighbors and friends with the constant denunciations that have become standard. This book will show you what I have heard firsthand in China: the destruction of the intellectuals and "old" by a new generation with no sense of the past. Very moving and inspirational.