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Summary: Its a great book about the Cultural Revolution.
Review: I enjoyed "The White-Haired Girl" much more than most other memoirs from the Cultural Revolution. This book really made me feel that I was experiencing events from the perspective of a child in a time of tremendous chaos and political upheaval. Although the author certainly experienced considerable hardship, her story lacks the self-pity or moralizing one often finds in similar accounts. One proof of the author's skill is the fact that I found myself more interested in the people she writes about then in the political events surrounding them. The people who fascinated me the most were Ms. Sun's father and her friend, Little Plumb. I have a feeling that I would have been interested in their stories regardless of the environment or historical circumstances in which they lived. One or two parts of the book irked me a little. For example, in describing the romantic evolution of her first love, Ms. Sun says something to the effect that Spring's perfect love turned into Summer's splendid passion and she didn't even tell her mother. I took this to mean that the relationship became very serious, perhaps even physical, and that she concealed this fact from her mother. While I sympathize with Ms. Sun's desire not to be explicit on this subject, I also find the metaphor to be a little weak. But aside from such insignificant flaws, this is a powerful, honest, and well written memoir that I recommend warmly. I am curious to see the author's next project.
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Summary: Refreshing account of someone who survived and thrived
Review: I've read many first person accounts of living through the Cultural Revolution in China, and this ranks high on my personal list of favorites. Jaia's childhood story is told with a great deal of honesty, and she lets us see along with her the first realizations that all she is told might not be fact, and that there are different ways to view events. I loved the account of a survivor of the Long March talking at her school. Like another reviewer, I'd like to know more about her life in the US, and would love another book by her telling that story.
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Summary: Its a great book about the Cultural Revolution.
Review: The White Haired Girl is about a young Chinese girl who had to grow up during the Cultural Revolution during the mid 1960's. She had to overcome the many difficulties such as having her mother taken from her in order for her mother to perform labor duties for the country of China during this time. The girl was faced with being sent away to school to learn and serve the "great" Chairman Mao. After reading this book, I think it's a great portrayal of this young Chinese girl during this difficult time for the Chinese. I like this book because it was great in detail with also a lot of hardships that this girl went through. At some parts of the book, it got boring. However it always seemed to bring itself back up to many high points of the factors of the Cultural Revolution. I recommend this book to people that are interested in different stories of the Chinese and the Cultural Revolution
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Summary: Beautifully written, on growing up in Revolutionary China.
Review: This book held me captive until I finished it. Jaia, and her husband Douglas, have created a wonderful picture of growing up during the Cultural Revolution. I felt as if I had been transported to China during those days and was right there, living out the same experiences as Jaia. This book is a must for anyone even slightly interested in China, its people, its culture and its history.
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Summary: China as a place and a state of mind.
Review: We take a distressing amount of our freedom -- not just social, but psychological, personal freedom: the freedom to disagree, to conjure, to scheme, to fabricate a place for ourselves in the world from scratch. Revolutionary China, if this memoir serves as an accurate depictor, was a place where such luxuries were brutally denied. And, from the look of it, that's the first step towards impoverishing humanity as a whole. The book summons up that China as a PLACE, not simply a news report, where even the simplest forms of self-assertion become openly painful. If the book has a flaw, it's in that it ends slightly too soon -- I wanted to hear more about Jaia's flight from China and life in the USA, but maybe she's saving that for her next book?
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Summary: Review for this book
Review: While reading this book, I could see similarities between stories that my parents told me about their experiences. This book accurately depicts the grueling life they went through during the Cultual Revolution, and the everyday fears of survival. The fear of not being able to trust your next door neighbor for fear of betrayal. The fear of not being able to trust even your best friend. Accurate, moving, and told it a concise narrative style, this book is a must read account of life in China.
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