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Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating cultural and historical insights.
Review: Although there is substantial dialogue, this book almost reads like a biography of Liang Shi-yi, with cultural and historical gems thrown in. The best parts (I think) are in the author's description of common life which are virtually unknown to westerners (like the acquisition of various wives and concubines). The plot can get bogged down in detail at times, but at other times, the detail provides amusing insight into the life of a Chinese leader.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating view of 20th century China!
Review: I could hardly put this book down. Yes, I know it's not really a novel in the usual sense. It's more a "life and times" with emphasis on the "times." And yes, it is very detailed and sometimes complex, but what a picture of China! Events and issues that had previously been inexplicable to me suddenly seemed much more clear: Origins of the Vietnam War, why the Chinese embraced communism, the animosity between Chinese and Japanese, etc. I was, perhaps, more interested in the glimpses of family life. What a family! At the end of the book I wanted to know how they had fared under Mao and where they were now.
The book is similar, I think, to Blood and Oil : Inside the Shah's Iran, by Manucher Farmanfarmaian and his daughter Roxane Farmanfarmaian. Both are stories of landed and wealthy families dedicated to public service in 3rd world countries struggling to balance a long, proud history and tradition with the demands of the 20th century. The issues were similar--maintaining order through times of tremendous change, implementing some level of democracy, keeping national identity while adopting parts of Western culture, and, of course, trying to stay alive in very dangerous times. Although the fathers of both men were from different countries, I saw great similarities. Both were stern patriarchs with many wives and children who valued education for their daughters as well as sons and tried to keep their families safe through money and influence.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating view of 20th century China!
Review: I could hardly put this book down. Yes, I know it's not really a novel in the usual sense. It's more a "life and times" with emphasis on the "times." And yes, it is very detailed and sometimes complex, but what a picture of China! Events and issues that had previously been inexplicable to me suddenly seemed much more clear: Origins of the Vietnam War, why the Chinese embraced communism, the animosity between Chinese and Japanese, etc. I was, perhaps, more interested in the glimpses of family life. What a family! At the end of the book I wanted to know how they had fared under Mao and where they were now.
The book is similar, I think, to Blood and Oil : Inside the Shah's Iran, by Manucher Farmanfarmaian and his daughter Roxane Farmanfarmaian. Both are stories of landed and wealthy families dedicated to public service in 3rd world countries struggling to balance a long, proud history and tradition with the demands of the 20th century. The issues were similar--maintaining order through times of tremendous change, implementing some level of democracy, keeping national identity while adopting parts of Western culture, and, of course, trying to stay alive in very dangerous times. Although the fathers of both men were from different countries, I saw great similarities. Both were stern patriarchs with many wives and children who valued education for their daughters as well as sons and tried to keep their families safe through money and influence.
Rating:
Summary: Last of the Mandarins
Review: This historical novel about the life and times of Liang Shiyi should be considered a must read by anyone interested in better understanding China and her people in particular, as well as the background of the relationship between the East and the West in general. The book covers the period from 1844 to 1933. For key points of reference of this period, 1848 marks the date of the Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels, 1853 was the date of the "opening" of Japan by Commodore Perry of the U.S. and 1931 was the date of the start of active Japanese aggression in China which in effect was the first major step on the road to World War II. In many ways the main character, Liang Shiyi, is a personification of the Chinese people and society which was a village based, family oriented agrarian culture under dynastic rule and governed by a bureaucratic meritocracy. The book chronicles the rise of Liang Shiyi from one of these villages to the upper ranks of the governing Mandarin class. With the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 and his role in abdication of the emperor in early 1912, Liang Shiyi can be viewed as one of, if not the last of the Mandarins. Although the book is written in the more lively narrative style of a novel, in many ways it maintains basic elements of a historical biography. The book is comprehensive and meticulously written as are other books that have been written by the author while a professor of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. The book is divided into three major parts and each part is divided into 24 "bite-sized" chapters of 6 to 7 pages. The western oriented reader may find some difficulty in keeping track of formal names of people and places not unlike that found in Russian novels such as War and Peace. Thus the map provided in the front of the book and the index of Chinese names at the back proved very useful. In conclusion while the book provides interesting reading in its own right, it is particularly beneficial to anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of China and her people, particularly with the desire to be better able to interpret current events within the context of relatively recent Chinese history. It would appear that this was one of the author's main purposes in writing the book among others.
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