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feeling
sorry over the events in her life that most of us would
consider unthinkable and the resources which her family
lacked that we take for granted on a daily basis. And
her situation reflects that of China. It was a time of
turmoil and instability. Born during the Great Famine
and with her adolescent years coincided with the
Revolution and then finally Tian'anmen Square.
It
would be very hard to appreciate this book if Hong
Ying's achievements as a writer were not noted. The raw
emotion of hopelessness brought upon by the slums in
which she grew up in would have forced me to put down
her book. But I have to find the passages which
described her plight which redeemed her from China's
miserable underbelly.
Here
are some of the comments that we received about this
book:
"I
really enjoy reading memoirs, and _daughter of the
river_ is excellent. unfortunately, the author is often
repetitive, restating what was already said in the
previous sentence in a different manner. if one can
ignore that, it is a good read."
- Lan Nguyen
"It
is a pure book. It only about her life as described in
her memoir and untainted with any strong political
notions. It is very different from her other works
because it is raw and amateurish. I like the way she
displayed life of the common people at that time."
- Reina Web
"I
give praise to this book not only as an autobiography,
but as a historical literature as well. Her life is the
same life that China was living."
-Andy Han
_________________________________________
For
our next issue we will be featuring Gail Tsukiyama's
The
Language of Threads
If
you have read this book then we would like to hear your
comments. |
