Loading...
17th out of 231 books
—
77 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Mao's Last Dancer
by
Li Cunxin
From a desperately poor village in northeast China, at age eleven, Li Cunxin was chosen by Madame Mao's cultural delegates to be taken from his rural home and brought to Beijing, where he would study ballet. In 1979, the young dancer arrived in Texas as part of a cultural exchange, only to fall in love with America-and with an American woman. Two years later, through a ser...more
Paperback, 480 pages
Published
March 1st 2005
by Berkley Trade
(first published October 30th 2003)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
5,949)
November book group choice. Loved the film. Vicky recommended the book.
Many reasons to really like this book. It's a remarkable story of an admirable life in unusual circumstances. There is a continuity of influences, the foundation of his parents and family as well as influential teachers and friends, the Chinese fables that encouraged him in very hard times--the mango and the well. Many keeper scenes/quotes.
“Mango is the most wonderful fruit with the most unique taste…...more
Many reasons to really like this book. It's a remarkable story of an admirable life in unusual circumstances. There is a continuity of influences, the foundation of his parents and family as well as influential teachers and friends, the Chinese fables that encouraged him in very hard times--the mango and the well. Many keeper scenes/quotes.
“Mango is the most wonderful fruit with the most unique taste…...more
view 1 comment
This is not the type of book I normally pick up, but after reading the first through chapters through my email book club, I requested it from the library. Tim thought it was an unusual choice for me so he picked it up and started reading the middle of the book, as he is wont to do. He told me I would like it and find it fascinating. I already suspected that! This book was pretty hard to put down, and I could only think of two pages that were boring (and they were summarizing what happened ov...more
Li Cunxin was the 6th of 7 sons born to a poor family in rural China. When Chairman and Madame Mao started their "cultural revolution" and decided to revive the Peking Dance Academy, they sent representatives throughout the country to find promising musical and artistic talent specifically from the children of peasants, workers, and soldiers. Li was chosen at age 11, taken from his family, and sent to the "big city" for rigorous training and indoctrination. He overcomes homes...more
Finished Mao's Last Dancer today. I saw the movie first and I found the book just as fascinating. The dept of poverty that Li came from and his luck to be chosen and became a dancer meant the stars were lined up for his success in the world. I now see how the Chinese are the best in gymnastics and other events they train for. The dedication that Li gave to dancing when he realized it was his way out of poverty, and the continued level of training he gave to dance after his defection to the s...more
This is the autobiography of Li Cunxin, who as a young boy was chosen from his very poor peasant village in China to attend Madame Mao's Dance Academy in Beijing. This occurred during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960's and 70's, and Li details the brutality of growing up in the very rigid and oppressive environment of Communist China. Yet he also addresses the strengths of family, virtue and culture that lived on despite the harsh realities of the peasant life.
I suppose if I knew anyt...more
I suppose if I knew anyt...more
A Goodreads friend had seen the film and recommended it so I watched the DVD first and highly recommend it both for the dramatic story and the beautiful dancing (Li Cunxin is played in the movie by a dancer) I liked it so much I went to the library and got book. I am a ballet fan and I am embarrassed to say that I had not heard of Li Cunxin, although he performed with the Houston Ballet for 16 years and made guest appearances with most of the major ballet companies. There are more elegantly writ...more
I really wanted to like this book. The story of a peasant in Maoist China gets scooped up and trained to be a kick ass dancer to make a propaganda point by Madame Mao? An eyewitness witness to the culture revolution? A man who saw good teachers purged for being gay? The story of that dancer’s defection to the US that ended up involving George Bush I, Deng Xiaoping, and some truly heroic, apparently pro bono work by a lawyer who only met him a couple of times? The vague sense of fascinating ...more
Jerjonji
rated it
"You're going to know more about Mao than most experts," commented my husband after seeing this book on the table.
While I may not have learned a lot about Mao, Li Cunxin did an incredible job sharing his experiences as a peasant child growing up under Mao's heavy hand. Written with a sense of love for his time spent with his family, he made the hardships seem real, but not unbearable with the presence of his family to share the misery. His early years at Madame Mao's School ...more
While I may not have learned a lot about Mao, Li Cunxin did an incredible job sharing his experiences as a peasant child growing up under Mao's heavy hand. Written with a sense of love for his time spent with his family, he made the hardships seem real, but not unbearable with the presence of his family to share the misery. His early years at Madame Mao's School ...more
This biography of Li Cunxin's remarkable life in communist China is definitely worth reading. Growing up in a very poor family and then miraculously being chosen to be a dance student in Madam Mao's dance school in Bejing takes this young boy from destitute poverty to a whole new world of opportunities, opportunities that require physical as well emotional pain from a very little boy. He is pushed up against the almost terrifying ironies of China's new form of government and sees the fallible ...more
A simple and yet beautiful memoir of a ballet dancer, who was taken from his peasant classed family as a young 11 year old boy in Qingdao, and brought to Beijing, to attend a dance school that received the patronage of Madam Mao Tze Dong.
Cunxin takes us through his childhood, growing up as one of 7 sons of poor peasant family during China's Cultural Revolution. They are all subjected to Mao's communist propaganda, believing China to be a glorious nation and that despite the fact that...more
Cunxin takes us through his childhood, growing up as one of 7 sons of poor peasant family during China's Cultural Revolution. They are all subjected to Mao's communist propaganda, believing China to be a glorious nation and that despite the fact that...more
Immen
added it
I read this about a month ago; really, really enjoyed it. It's being made into a movie, which looks distressingly like it's going to hamfistedly push a political agenda, let's not speak of it.
The book, on the other hand has a startling authenticity to it. If it were fictional, I would say it's consummate world-building, but it's actually an autobiography. His impoverished village, the insanity of cutural revolutionary Beijing, the immediacy yet, through his eyes, utter foreignness of ...more
The book, on the other hand has a startling authenticity to it. If it were fictional, I would say it's consummate world-building, but it's actually an autobiography. His impoverished village, the insanity of cutural revolutionary Beijing, the immediacy yet, through his eyes, utter foreignness of ...more
J’ai été un peu sceptique au début du livre. L’enfance misérable d’un petit chinois au sein d’une famille nombreuse qui se débattait pour sa survie et son unité. De trop bons sentiments servis par des mots trop simples. Ca sentait le mélo facile.
Et puis, un jour, par un hasard total, notre gentil pouilleux est choisi très aléatoirement pour partir à Beijing étudier le ballet. Le quoi ? Le ballet. Lui n’en a jamais entendu parler. On est aussi étonné que lui de la tournure inattendue que pr...more
Et puis, un jour, par un hasard total, notre gentil pouilleux est choisi très aléatoirement pour partir à Beijing étudier le ballet. Le quoi ? Le ballet. Lui n’en a jamais entendu parler. On est aussi étonné que lui de la tournure inattendue que pr...more
AUDIO BOOK REVIEW: Amazing story -especially considering it all happened during my lifetime. We take so much for granted in this country. When I was a little girl, mothers would exhort us to finish everything on our plate "because there were children starving in China". This true story of a young man's childhood in Mao's China really brings home just what "starving" means. (Though how our eating everything on our plate would help them, I still don't get) Cunxin Lee grew u...more
As a member of the committee that chooses the Davis Reads community reading selection every year, I received a copy of Mao’s Last Dancer in the mail about six weeks ago. It had been suggested by another member of the committee, and we were asked to read it and bring our comments to the first meeting of the school year. I was, however, hesitant to start reading this 445-page book because not only was it an autobiography (i.e., not exciting) of a person who began life as a peasant in the utter p...more
Hooks you right in with the description of his parent's traditional wedding in China. This is a true story of a real person who is still alive and riveted me because he was growing up when I was and living this amazingly different life over there in China. That's the China of "Finish your dinner! Think of all the starving children in China." So it was really insightful for me to listen to a true account of what it was like for this starving child of China. The way Cunxin uses driv...more
Amazing story -especially considering it all happened during my lifetime. We take so much for granted in this country. When I was a little girl, mothers would exhort us to finish everything on our plate "because there were children starving in China". This true story of a young man's childhood in Mao's China really brings home just what "starving" means. (Though how our eating everything on our plate would help them, I still don't get)Cunxin Lee grew up in a truly impoveris...more
Jay
rated it
I'm not quite sure why it took me so long to read this book. It's very easy to read- the writing is surprisingly simplistic. It may be because my copy (which isn't on Goodreads) is quite tall. But I won't linger on that.
I loved the movie, and had wanted to read the book for a while. Li's biography covers each time of his life- from his time in the commune, to Beijing, to the US and finally while he travels the world with his dance company to finally settling in Australia. The prime ...more
I loved the movie, and had wanted to read the book for a while. Li's biography covers each time of his life- from his time in the commune, to Beijing, to the US and finally while he travels the world with his dance company to finally settling in Australia. The prime ...more
3.5ish. Loved the info...but there were honestly some boring parts.
Under the crushing poverty prevailing throughout China during Mao's communist reign, Li Cunxin's life began. He was one of seven boys born to peasant parents in a commune called Quingdao. With newspaper to cover the walls, tickets to purchase water, scant amounts of food, and no plumbing, Cunxin grew up in a very loving family. At eleven years old, communist leaders came to his school and chose him to begin ...more
Under the crushing poverty prevailing throughout China during Mao's communist reign, Li Cunxin's life began. He was one of seven boys born to peasant parents in a commune called Quingdao. With newspaper to cover the walls, tickets to purchase water, scant amounts of food, and no plumbing, Cunxin grew up in a very loving family. At eleven years old, communist leaders came to his school and chose him to begin ...more
I debated between three and four stars but had to go with four since this book tells such an amazing tale so straightforwardly. Li Cunxin grew up on an impoverished Chinese commune during the worst of the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward's hardships. At age 11 he was more or less randomly selected to attend Madame Mao's ballet academy in far-away Beijing. Against all odds, he becomes a leading dancer, chosen to study in the US. He realizes that his communist indoctrination was full...more
This was my book club's third China book in a row. (I got through about 10 pages of Country Driving and was totally bored. I got a little further with Chinese Cinderella, but have no buring desire to finish it.) I almost didn't download this one, but I'm glad I did. Although it was a little slow getting going, and the writing is repetitious and overall so-so, the story is unbelievably interesting. I learned so much about the political machinations in communist China. Although I take all with a g...more
When I lived in Houston I loved going to see their world-class ballet company perform, and Li Cunxin was one of my favorite dancers, so I was eager to read his autobiograghy. The book that I received from Amazon was the "Young Reader's Edition" and obviously simplified and shortened by about half from the original 480 pages. But it held my interest throughout, and I would love to read the adult version.
Fact: I'm actually North Korean. My parents lived most of their lives in the South, but both of them originally hail from the North.
When we were kids, my dad would occasionally gather us all 'round the table and tell us tales of North Korea. He would tell us about how his family struggled to survive during the war, and how Communism had ruined the country so that everyone was poor. Families only got a small ration of beef every year, that they would boil over and over again in order ...more
When we were kids, my dad would occasionally gather us all 'round the table and tell us tales of North Korea. He would tell us about how his family struggled to survive during the war, and how Communism had ruined the country so that everyone was poor. Families only got a small ration of beef every year, that they would boil over and over again in order ...more
This book will teach you what it was like to grow up in Communist China under Mao. Li Cunxin is growing up in extreme poverty in rural China. One of seven boys he is miraculously selected at the age of 11 to be brought to Beijing to be trained in dance by the Ballet of China.
Like many of the Chinese youth, Li Cunxin is devoted to Mao and is a member of the red youth corps. Arriving in Beijing Li Cunxin is struck by the affluence and waste. Here he has been on the brink of starvation fo...more
Like many of the Chinese youth, Li Cunxin is devoted to Mao and is a member of the red youth corps. Arriving in Beijing Li Cunxin is struck by the affluence and waste. Here he has been on the brink of starvation fo...more
Beautifully written true story about a peasant boy chosen to learn ballet. China fascinates me and while much of the politics and the Cultural Revolution is brushed over in this book, the basic story was very interesting and uplifting. I loved how much Cunxin's family meant to him, poor as they were. The love and admiration he had for both of his parents reminded me how important those roles are.
I found it also interesting just how much evil and corruption he expected when he firs...more
I found it also interesting just how much evil and corruption he expected when he firs...more
This is an autobiography by ballet dancer Li Cunxin (pronounced "Lee Schwin-Sing"), who grew up during China's cultural revolution and eventually defected to the West to continue his dancing in a less politically oppressed environment. I've long been fascinated by this era and Cunxin's story provides a helpful personal window.
He shares the facts of his upbringing--and the feelings evoked--and yet he accomplishes this without an overabundance of sentiment. For those of us w...more
He shares the facts of his upbringing--and the feelings evoked--and yet he accomplishes this without an overabundance of sentiment. For those of us w...more
It is amazing to find out what it was like in the old times in China. They lived in such harsh conditions and especially the mother of the family had to work so hard for not much rewards. Every aspect of their life was hard for the whole family.
They had extremely cold winters. Each family was apportioned a small amount of black coal but if was only used to ignite the half-burnt coal that they used otherwise. The half-burnt coal had already been burnt once by a factory or powerstation...more
They had extremely cold winters. Each family was apportioned a small amount of black coal but if was only used to ignite the half-burnt coal that they used otherwise. The half-burnt coal had already been burnt once by a factory or powerstation...more
How do you make something of yourself when you are the 6th of 7 brothers and born into poverty? Cunxin spent his first 11 years as a dirt poor son of peasants in China. Then, quite by chance, he was chosen to be taken to Bejiing and the Madame Mao Dance Academy. With no experience of ballet let alone living in a city, Cunxin bravely endured the hardships of loneliness and the rigors of dance.
I was surprised at how involved I became in the life of Cunxin. The book is written very plainly...more
I was surprised at how involved I became in the life of Cunxin. The book is written very plainly...more
This memoir maintained my interest consistently although I would describe the writing itself as pedestrian and somewhat repetitious. Li Cunxin spent his childhood in rural China, the sixth of seven sons in a peasant family. They lived in poverty, but his uneducated parents were hard-working and loving. They also enjoyed the closeness of extended family living in the same commune. At the age of eight Cunxin began to attend the local school where he was taught to love Mao and Communism. As part of...more
Oh I cried!! I cried so much!! I laughed and was blown away by his honesty and by the fact that he made fun of his own culture. I read the extended version and am amazed even that Cunxin cares enough about his readers to continue his story past that which he had originally intended.
On completion of this book I felt connected to Li and felt as if I could have been the reader who travelled to China and asked his Mum to cook for him. Cheeky buggar!
For someone who's first l...more
On completion of this book I felt connected to Li and felt as if I could have been the reader who travelled to China and asked his Mum to cook for him. Cheeky buggar!
For someone who's first l...more
The sixth of seven boys, Li is born into a poor yet proud Chinese peasant family. At 11 he is selected by Madam Mao's men searching the countryside for children who can be developed into ballet dancers. Knowing nothing of the arts, Li leaves his small village and moves to the Beijing Dance Academy where he spends the next seven years perfecting his art. On a scholarship to Houston Li defects, greatly angering the Chinese government. Battling heartache, loneliness and guilt, Li rises to eventuall...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Li Cunxin (pronounced “Lee Schwin Sing”) is a remarkable man borne of a remarkable story. He has published a remarkable book about his extraordinary life. In his runaway best selling autobiography, Mao' s Last Dancer, Li recounts his determination, perseverance, vision, courage and hard work, and in particular, the sacred family values and integrity that he learned in poverty-stricken China, which...more
More about Li Cunxin...
![Jungle Drums/The Peasant Prince [With Earbuds] (Playaway Children)](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267281008m/7150264.jpg "Jungle Drums/The Peasant Prince [With Earbuds] (Playaway Children)")
Share This Book
1 trivia question
1 quiz
More quizzes & trivia...
1 quiz
