Wild Swans

Sep 20, 2012 Lubna ALajarmah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: موجود-في-مكتبتي, favorites, صالون_الجمعة, سير-ذاتية-نسائية

الكتاب الوحيد الذي خطفني لعالمه ورفض رفضاً قاطعاً أن يشاركه أحد غيره بي .. عبثاً حاولت أن اقرأ كتاب آخر بنفس الوقت .. كلما هممت أجد كتاب البجعات ينظر إلي بحنين يعتصر قلبي فأعود مشتاقة إليه .. مستغربة من نفسي ومن صبري على 600 صفحة قرأتها على مهل في تسعة أيام دون ليالي .. كنت أترك الليل للتفكير بما أقرأه بالنهار وأتصور حجم المأساة التي يمكن لإنسان طبيعي أن يتحملها .. وأكاد أجزم أن الصينيين ليسوا طبيعيين ليتحملوا ألماً جسدياً ونفسياً وفكرياً بهذا الحجم وبهذه البشاعة ..

لن أتحدث عن تفاصيل الرواية .....more description

الكتاب الوحيد الذي خطفني لعالمه ورفض رفضاً قاطعاً أن يشاركه أحد غيره بي .. عبثاً حاولت أن اقرأ كتاب آخر بنفس الوقت .. كلما هممت أجد كتاب البجعات ينظر إلي بحنين يعتصر قلبي فأعود مشتاقة إليه .. مستغربة من نفسي ومن صبري على 600 صفحة قرأتها على مهل في تسعة أيام دون ليالي .. كنت أترك الليل للتفكير بما أقرأه بالنهار وأتصور حجم المأساة التي يمكن لإنسان طبيعي أن يتحملها .. وأكاد أجزم أن الصينيين ليسوا طبيعيين ليتحملوا ألماً جسدياً ونفسياً وفكرياً بهذا الحجم وبهذه البشاعة ..

لن أتحدث عن تفاصيل الرواية .. لن أتحدث عن العادات الصينية القديمة المتخلّفة "كربط الأقدام" ولا عن الكوارث والمجاعات التي عانى منها الشعب بسبب الحكم الشيوعي للبلاد .. ولا عن الحجج غير المقنعة التي تذرع بها هذا الـ ماو والتي كان يدين بها أشخاصاّ بهدف التخلص منهم .. ولا عن سحقه للقديمات الأربعة : ( الأفكار القديمة والثقافة القديمة والأعراف القديمة والعادات القديمة) .. ولا عن الثورة الثقافية التي لا تمت للثقافة بصلة .. والتي في كل مرحلة من مراحلها الأربعة كان ماو يطلق أفكاراً تهدم الأفكار السابقة وكان الشعب كقطيع غنم يطبق دون أن يفهم .. سواء في فترة الحراس الحمر المراهقين، أو فترة المتمردين حين هجموا على أنصار الطريق الرأسمالي، أو فترة حروب الأجنحة بين المتمردين، أو عند إشاعة الإرهاب ووقف صراع الأجنحة وهي آخر مرحلة من مراحل الثورة الثقافية ..
"الثورة الثقافية" وحّشت العلاقات الإنسانية، وتسببت بتغريب عوائل لا تحصى. صـ527

لا أريد الحديث أكثر .. يجب أن يقرأها كل عربي مفتون بالصناعة الشرق آسيوية .. يجب أن يعرف أن النجاح أتى من رحم المعاناة .. وصعد على جثث أناس ضحايا وأبرياء .. ولن يجد صعوبة في القراءة لأنها كُتبت على يد فتاة عاشت الفترة لحظة بلحظة .. تحدثت ابتداءاً من حياة جدتها ثم استفاضت بالحديث عن المرحلة التي عاشت فيها أمها وكان لها نصيب الأسد .. وبالأخير تحدثت عن حياتها ومعاناتها أيام الثورة الثقافية بأسلوب سهل وبسيط وغير متكلّف ومشوّق .. والترجمة خدمت النص كثيراً

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أعترف بأني بكيت كثيراً في أيامي الأخيرة مع البجعات .. ثلث دموعي بسببها وثلثيه لأسباب أخرى صادفت حدوثها أثناء قرائتي لهذا الكتاب المختلف نوعاً وأسلوباً عن قراءاتي السابقة .. شكراً لكل من ساهم بتشجيعي على قراءة الكتاب إبتداءاً من البائع في دار الساقي وانتهاءاً بصديقات وأصدقاء القراءة الذين تشاركت وإياهم قراءة هذا الكتاب في صالون الجمعة ..(less)

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Nov 22, 2012 Lona rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

ربما كانت مظاهر اللا منطق والظلم المنتشرة حولنا، والعنف والموت الذي أصبح عنواناً رئيسياً لكل نشرة أخبار نشاهدها كل ذلك جعل مشاعري نوعاً ما تتبلَّد وأصبح عدد الضحايا عندما يتم وصفهم برقم منفرد يكاد لا يعني شيئاً فما بالك عندما يقترن الرقم بصفر يرفع من قيمته.. يا إلهي أصبح الرقم عشرة أو مئة وأحياناً ألف تمر مرور الكرام علي، فعلاً التعود على رؤية الموت على ذلك الصندوق أو المُسطح عصف وأصاب حس الإدراك عندي بالعطب .. فموت شخص (1) يعني فقد حياة كاملة تعني لغيري الكثير وقد تتغير حياة من حوله 180 درجة فم...more ربما كانت مظاهر اللا منطق والظلم المنتشرة حولنا، والعنف والموت الذي أصبح عنواناً رئيسياً لكل نشرة أخبار نشاهدها كل ذلك جعل مشاعري نوعاً ما تتبلَّد وأصبح عدد الضحايا عندما يتم وصفهم برقم منفرد يكاد لا يعني شيئاً فما بالك عندما يقترن الرقم بصفر يرفع من قيمته.. يا إلهي أصبح الرقم عشرة أو مئة وأحياناً ألف تمر مرور الكرام علي، فعلاً التعود على رؤية الموت على ذلك الصندوق أو المُسطح عصف وأصاب حس الإدراك عندي بالعطب .. فموت شخص (1) يعني فقد حياة كاملة تعني لغيري الكثير وقد تتغير حياة من حوله 180 درجة فما بالك ب(2) أو (20) أو (200) أو أكثر، وهذا الشيء أصبحت لا أدركه بكم الموت المتفشي هذه الأيام

أعتذر عن هذه المقدمة فلربما هي السبب في عدم الإحساس بكم البؤس في النصف الأول للرواية التي أصابتني قراءته بالجفاف الشديد التي كدت أن أتشقق بسببه، وكدت أن أتوقف عن قراءتها لولا ثقتي بآراء الأصدقاء الذين سبقوني بقراءتها وعدم اعتمادي على إحساس الجفاف الذي أصابني كمؤشر للتوقف عن قراءتها، بكون ما قرأت شيء عادي ولا يدعو للأسى فما يحدث الآن أشد بؤساً منه !!! وصممت على المواصلة

نقطة الانقلاب في هذه الرواية حدث في منتصف الرواية .. "عبثية ماو" ما هذه العبثية؟!! و المصيبة الكبرى أن يكون للعبثية عنوان عريض "الثورة الثقافية" .. من هنا تغير كل شيء وتحولت الرواية من عبء لمتعة .. المتعة بالطبع لفظ عريض في قاموسي يتحمل الكثير ويعني أحياناً عكس ما تعنيه الكلمة "ظاهرياً" فالمتعة في القراءة لا تعني الضحك والمرح والفرح، بل أن يشدني النص،يبهجني، يطربني ولو كان المحتوى مؤلم ومُبكي، والمقياس الأهم أن يعبث بالوقت التي يتحول لمفهوم نسبي، من قراءة للنصف الأول منها (قرابة 300 صفحة) في اثنا عشر يوم إلى قراءة النصف الثاني (قرابة 300 صفحة) في ثلاثة أيام لشخص بطيء في القراءة مثلي ويقرأ أكثر من كتاب في نفس الوقت .. .. لكم أعشق هذا "العبث" ولا أقصد بالتأكيد "عبثية ماو"!!!

أعترف أن الجفاف الذي أصابني في بدايتها قد ارتوى بدموعي في النصف الثاني منها، فكم البؤس،الألم، الظلم، واللا منطق أدهشني وخصوصاً ما أنتجته فلسفة ماو العبثية "شعب ديكتاتوري مبتلى بالمرض البدني أو النفسي أو كلاهما" فعلاً لقد تفنن أشباه ماو من حُكام حكموا شعوبهم تحت مسميات مختلفة في العتو في الأرض فساداً (فليست الشيوعية هي النظام الوحيد الظالم في العالم)، ولكن تبقى إرادة الإنسان والرغبة في البقاء خير أمل لنا في هذه الحياة

لو كان التقييم يقتصر على النصف الثاني من الرواية بالتأكيد خمسة نجوم لا تكفي الرواية
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Mar 30, 2012 Asma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 52-2012

"Wild Swans" (1991) has very helpful introductory notes. Because of the Chinese names, I was glad to know how to pronounce Jung=Yung, X=sh, Q=ch. The 2003 Introduction is added, in which she aims to write about "how the Chinese really felt" during the twentieth century through experiences of her grandmother, her mother, and herself. Especially interesting are the changing lives of women across three generations, which depict notions of beauty, concubinage, and foot-binding then community activis...more

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Jul 25, 2008 Martine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: asian, biography, dystopia, family-drama, favourites, history, memoirs, non-fiction, social-history

Wild Swans may well be the most depressing book I've ever read. Don't let that keep you from giving it a try, though, for by some strange mechanism, it also ranks among the most uplifting books I've read, chronicling as it does a courage, resilience and will to survive which are nothing short of riveting. I could sum the book up by saying it's the greatest ode to courage and resilience ever written, or that it's one of those rare books which make you despair of humanity and then go a long way to...more Wild Swans may well be the most depressing book I've ever read. Don't let that keep you from giving it a try, though, for by some strange mechanism, it also ranks among the most uplifting books I've read, chronicling as it does a courage, resilience and will to survive which are nothing short of riveting. I could sum the book up by saying it's the greatest ode to courage and resilience ever written, or that it's one of those rare books which make you despair of humanity and then go a long way towards restoring your faith in it, but no, I'm not going to leave it at that. I'm going to do this book justice, because damn it, it deserves it.

For those of you who missed the hype back in the early 1990s, Wild Swans is the true history of three generations of women living through the horrible nightmare that is modern Chinese history. One is the author herself, now a naturalised British citizen. The second is her mother, an earnest Communist who raised a large family at a time which was extremely bad for family life. The third is her grandmother, who was married off as a concubine to a warlord as a girl and lived to see her family suffer for this unfortunate connection again and again. Using these three extraordinary lives as her main focus, Jung Chang tells the history of China's even more extraordinary twentieth century, from the late Qing Dynasty in the first decade of the century to the relatively free 1980s, a period comprising the Republican era, the battle between the Kwomintang and the Communists, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. It's gripping stuff even for those who know their Chinese history, and it blew me away when I first read it halfway through my Chinese degree, making me wonder (for the first time but not the last) whether I really wanted to devote the rest of my life to China. It took me two more years to decide that I did not, but this book, whose memory has always stayed with me, played a large part in that decision. To this day, I vividly remember the horror I experienced when I read the long section about the Cultural Revolution. It brought alive the terror of that particular episode of Chinese history better than any other book I'd read, and it shocked me to my core.

While Wild Swans is largely about the three women mentioned above, the most interesting person in the book (I hesitate to call him a character as he was obviously a very real person) is the author's father, a high-ranking cadre who genuinely believed in the Communist ideals and strove all his life to implement them in daily life. At first, he is infuriating in his refusal to grant his wife and children the privileges to which they are entitled as his relatives (on the grounds that to do so would amount to nepotism and corruption, which is precisely what the Communists are supposed to be trying to eradicate), but as the story progresses, you realise that there is something quite heroic about Mr Chang -- that he is, in his daughter's words, 'a moral man living in a land that [is] a moral void'. By the time the Cultural Revolution rolls around the corner, you feel such admiration for him that you'd personally drag him away from the humiliations and beatings he receives for sticking to his guns if you could, to prevent him having to experience that loss of faith and dreams which is bound to follow. His is a tragedy with a capital T, and it's harrowing -- one of the most painful things I've read, and then some.

Yet for all the personal struggles described in the book (and there are many of them), the main struggling character of Wild Swans is China itself. Chang does a great job chronicling what J.G. Ballard called 'the brain-death of a nation', sharing historical facts in a way non-sinologists will understand and showing the cruelty and mercilessness inherent in the Chinese -- or should that be humanity in general? She does a marvellous job describing the panic and unpredictability of the early Cultural Revolution, when absolutely everybody could be denounced at the drop of a hat, and when pettiness and lust for power reigned. Along the road, she provides fascinating insights into Mao Zedong's selfishness and megalomania, and into the hypocrisy and incongruity of the movements he set in motion, which brutalised human relationships like nothing else ever has. And all these atrocities she juxtaposes with the integrity and courage of her parents and grandmother, who get through it all with some hope and optimism left intact. It's a riveting story, and Chang tells it well.

If I have any complaints about Wild Swans, they concern the first few chapters and the romanisation of names. The early parts of the book, which deal with events the author did not witness herself, feel a bit aloof and lifeless. (It gets better once Chang starts telling about her parents, and once she reaches the part of the story to which she herself was privy (the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution), the book becomes quite unputdownable.) As for the romanisation, I wish the publisher had hired an editor skilled in Pinyin, as Chang's spelling of Chinese names is all over the place (something non-sinologists won't notice, but which is an eyesore to me). These are minor flaws, though, which hardly detract from the overall quality of the book. Wild Swans is an intensely compelling read -- moving, unsettling and unforgettable. It should be compulsory reading for everyone remotely interested in China, or in history in general. (less)

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C. What you say about Jung Chang is pretty much in direct contradiction with everything I've been told! I don't know who to believe... I'll try to keep b...more
Feb 02, 2009 01:47pm

Martine Believe whoever you will, Choupette. I'm not saying my opinion on Wild Swans is the ultimate truth. I'm not saying the book is faultless, either. I'm...more
Feb 03, 2009 12:51am

Oct 01, 2011 Zaki rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read once that the test of a really good book is that it can change, by the tiniest degree, the way the reader subsequently looks at the world. And Chang paints a picture of China under Mao's rule as a debilitating nightmare that totalitarianism is. I don't really know what I'm talking about.

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Mar 06, 2013 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Shelves: 2013-around-the-world, biography, memoir, history, ultimate-reading-list, non-fiction

Wild Swans is the story of the author's family, the "three daughters" of the subtitle representing three generations. The first, Chang's grandmother, Yu-fang, was born in 1909 into a traditional Imperial China on the brink of great changes. Two years after her birth the centuries old Manchu dynasty came to an end and China became a republic. As a toddler, she was among the last women to endure the practice of crippling footbinding and as a young teen was virtually sold by her father to become a...more Wild Swans is the story of the author's family, the "three daughters" of the subtitle representing three generations. The first, Chang's grandmother, Yu-fang, was born in 1909 into a traditional Imperial China on the brink of great changes. Two years after her birth the centuries old Manchu dynasty came to an end and China became a republic. As a toddler, she was among the last women to endure the practice of crippling footbinding and as a young teen was virtually sold by her father to become a warlord's concubine. Her daughter, De-hong, in her teens worked for the Red Army resisting the Japanese occupation. She married an idealistic, uncorruptible communist who'd become a high-ranking official in Mao's People's Republic. That was the world Jung Chang was born into in 1951. One where a privileged life would largely isolate her from the effects of the man-made famine caused by the "Great Leap Forward" that took tens of millions of lives--but then came the Cultural Revolution. Her account is both farcical and heart-breaking. Mao, as she put it, was a man with a "metaphysical disregard for reality" and a "deep-seated contempt for human life." The consequences for the country, that was taught to regard him as an Emperor-God, was catastrophic.

I think, when it's done well--and this is done very well--that there's probably no better way to really absorb and become engrossed in history than through biography. It's one thing to be told the bare facts and statistics--or even told isolated stories about people. It's another to learn enough about a family that they become real people in your mind, then learn the details about how such events as the Japanese Occupation, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the Great Famine and Cultural Revolution affected them. What happened to her father was particularly heart-breaking. But when I was moved to tears, it wasn't the suffering that undid me--but the later happiness given all that had come before. Through the story of Chang's family she's able to tell, vividly, movingly, engrossingly, the story of China in the 20th century.(less)

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Jan 20, 2013 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: china, memoirs, family-saga, 4-stars, nonfiction

This is a good choice for those interested in 20th century Chinese history. It does not read like a novel, and I'm a little surprised at its popularity, but I'm glad I read it.

Wild Swans is a memoir/family history/popular history all rolled into one. It starts in 1924 with the life of the author's grandmother, and ends when the author leaves China in 1978. Besides the lives of the family (focusing mostly on the author and her mother and grandmother--and to a lesser extent, her father), there's a...more This is a good choice for those interested in 20th century Chinese history. It does not read like a novel, and I'm a little surprised at its popularity, but I'm glad I read it.

Wild Swans is a memoir/family history/popular history all rolled into one. It starts in 1924 with the life of the author's grandmother, and ends when the author leaves China in 1978. Besides the lives of the family (focusing mostly on the author and her mother and grandmother--and to a lesser extent, her father), there's also a fair bit of historical information.

I found the first 100 pages (the grandmother's story, and the early part of the mother's) a dry and tedious slog. Whether because there's a lot of historical information with little emotion, or because this information comes second- and third-hand, or because many years are often covered in a single chapter, or simply because Chang's rather flat, academic writing style takes some getting used to, it was rough going and I nearly abandoned the book early on. But after that, the book improves. Chang's story, and her mother's story once she reaches adulthood, are fascinating; they lived through dramatic times and suffered quite a lot. And while it was tough going, the grandmother's story too plays a crucial role, in showing what China was like before Communism.

The odd thing about this book, from the perspective of someone who generally reads fiction, is that Chang does not stand out either as a wordsmith or as a storyteller; while the story is often enthralling, that says more about its inherent drama than the writing itself. If many people of Chang's generation had also written memoirs in English, Wild Swans might not have achieved such popularity. Which isn't to say it's badly written--it isn't--just that the content rather than the writing is what makes it shine. The scope is impressive, and it touches on the lives on many people beyond Chang's immediate family (who themselves have varied and dramatic lives), and provides a real picture of China during most of the 20th century. It's often brutal, sometimes bizarre, but informative throughout. I don't know of any other book about China that is nearly so comprehensive and detailed, as well as interesting and (except perhaps for those first 100 pages) readable.

Of course, since this is nonfiction, there's been some discussion of the author's honesty. And she does tend to portray her family as innocent victims. For the most part, while other versions of the story could almost certainly be told, she seems credible; she certainly doesn't portray herself as flawless, and despite her love for her father, doesn't shy away from his high-handed and unpleasant behavior as a young man. But there are moments when the reader can't help but suspect that we may not be getting the whole story. For instance, the family moves from Yibin to Chengdu, we're told, because her father refused the sexual advances of a powerful and vengeful woman. Or at least, that's the story we get from his daughter, by way of her mother, who got it from him. But in the end, a memoir is always one person's version of the truth, and I accept it for what it is.

So, I'm glad Chang told her story, and glad to have read it. I would recommend Wild Swans, provided you want to read a cross between a history book and a memoir, and aren't looking for a novel in disguise. For those who are interested in China, it's certainly worth a read.(less)

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Feb 19, 2008 Trina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone--particularly someone planning a visit to China

Recommended to Trina by: My sister who was living in Beijing

We bought this book before a trip to Beijing in 2005, but Amazon was particularly slow with their delivery and it arrived just a couple of days before our departure. My husband began reading the book on the plane (and even though the book is banned in China, our bags weren't searched so our copy made it into the country without any problem), but didn't finish it until well after we'd returned home. At that point, my interest had waned a bit. In addition, I just don't like to read "sad" books, an...more We bought this book before a trip to Beijing in 2005, but Amazon was particularly slow with their delivery and it arrived just a couple of days before our departure. My husband began reading the book on the plane (and even though the book is banned in China, our bags weren't searched so our copy made it into the country without any problem), but didn't finish it until well after we'd returned home. At that point, my interest had waned a bit. In addition, I just don't like to read "sad" books, and my husband had told me some of the more tragic events in the book, so I chose not to read it.

When Wild Swans was chosen as our book group book (by a woman who is somewhat of a Chinese history scholar), I began reading with reluctance. The first half of the book took me a very long time to read, but the second half, I had a hard time putting down. I wondered if I had become hardened to all of the sorrow and suffering, but I think the second half was more compelling because it was when the author began telling her story, from her point of view, and it was easier to put myself into the story (and thus, more heartbreaking).

The writing is first-rate, and I appreciate the epilogue and the introduction to the 2003 edition (which I recommend reading AFTER you've read the book) which chronicle some of the author's difficulties in initally facing her past in China. It is a courageous book, with honest and emotional portrayals of a time in history that is still so little understood by the Western world. I, for one, am grateful to Jung Chang for sharing her family's stories.

I love the pictures of the author and her family that are included in the 2003 edition. I spent the first part of the book frustrated that the edition didn't include a map of China, only to discover that there is a great map in the BACK of the book. These extras, along with the timeline and family tree, help the non-Chinese reader keep track of names and places.

I wish I had been able to read the book before going to China. I think it would have given me a more acurate lense through which to see people and places. But, late is better than never, and I'm so glad to have read the book now.(less)

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Jan 18, 2013 Paul marked it as i-bet-i-never-finish-these · review of another edition

I ground to a halt on this one, it's good and all that, but it's such a misery memoir & not only that a Chinese Communist misery memoir. Only one thing worse would be an Irish Chinese Communist misery memoir. But seriously, I must plug on.

On a personal note : I live with a person who regularly visits China and, given the grisly state of capitalism and our own English domestic troubles (Google "MP's expenses" and also "Gordon Brown's a loser la-la-la-la") thinks democracy is overrated and we...more

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Nov 26, 2012 ︹︺︷︶ Job︸︹︺ツ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-books

أجمل رواية قراتها واستفدت منها على الإطلاق لدرجة أني قمت بمراجعة تقيماتي للروايات التي قرئتها سابقا حتى أجعل تقييم هذه الرواية هي الأعلى.

مما زاد من إستمتاعي في قرائتها هو مطالعتي لمناقشات صالون الجمعة في قرائتهم الجماعية للرواية

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

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Dec 17, 2012 Kinda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

اعتقد أن ما يميز الرواية أن الكاتبة من خلال قصتها الشخصية قصة الجدة و البنت و الحفيدة عرفتنا على أحداث عديدة مرت على الصين بتقلباتها السياسية و الاجتماعية و الاقتصادية و أثرها على شعبها .
و روت لنا قصة الآمال و الآلام و الانكسارات قصة العيش بين الوهم و الحقيقة قصة الجوع و الخوف .
صورة ماو في ذهني صورة مبهمة فلم أعرف عن هذه الشخصية الكثير كما لم أعرف عن تلك البقعة من العالم
لكن ماذا لو أصبح الجمال عقوبة و الألوان تهمة ؟؟
وأصبحت الأزهار و الأعشاب ترف برجوازي يجب اقتلاعه؟؟ .
ماذا لو جرد الإنسان من إ...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Cecily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biog-and-autobiog, oriental

A fascinating description of one family's experiences of China's political upheavals during the 20th century. Although Jung Chang's family are fairly privileged much of the time, they still experience great hardships: being an official and Party member was no guarantee of immunity from persecution and even torture.

HARD TO CATEGORISE - BUT DON'T BE DAUNTED
It's part biography/autobiography and part a historical/political/psychological exposition of how Communist China came into being and to how it...more

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May 20, 2008 Jeff rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone, Sinophiles

Recommended to Jeff by: College professor

Shelves: memoir

I started this book because I had to, not because I wanted to. But before I was half-way through it, I was reading it and recommending it because I loved it, and felt very close to the three women chronicled in it.

It's been a long time since I was a political science undergraduate studying constitutional formation in transitional totalitarian societies, so a lot of the detail about this book escape me. Nevertheless, there's a lot that still stands out and makes me mention this book to anyone and...more I started this book because I had to, not because I wanted to. But before I was half-way through it, I was reading it and recommending it because I loved it, and felt very close to the three women chronicled in it.

It's been a long time since I was a political science undergraduate studying constitutional formation in transitional totalitarian societies, so a lot of the detail about this book escape me. Nevertheless, there's a lot that still stands out and makes me mention this book to anyone and everyone I meet with the least bit of interest in China.

"Wild Swans" is the story of three women, the author (a naturalized American citizen whose whose life is the last one chronicled in the book), he mother (a Maoist revolutionary whose life is the the second chronicled in the book), and the author's grandmother (born before the Chinese Revolution, and raised to be a foot-bound concubine of any Imperial aristocrat who would take her).

If these women and the lives they lived sound exotic, and even a bit erotic by Western standards, its because they are. If one were to imagine their life and the lives of one's parents and grandparents juxtaposed against an historical tapestry of revolution, invasion, civil war, and Bob Jones/David Koresh-style cults dictating everything from styles of dress to national policy for generations at a time, then you'll begin to understand and appreciate the women in this book and the incredible lives that they lived.

I haven't read "Wild Swans" in fifteen years, so I'm not going to attempt to describe the highs and lows that these women experienced in detail. Instead, I will offer a bullet-list of things that I can still recall from the book, along with a hearty encouragement for anyone who is interested in surviving what is sure to the the "Chinese Century" to read the book!

* Although it involves a lot of pain, dead skin, and odor, 19th and early-20th Century Chinese men thought foot-binding was sexy.
* Despite claims to the contrary, the Revolution was still run by a bunch of chauvinist assholes.
* Mao wasn't gay, but any port in a storm would do.
* "Landscape paintings" aren't things you hang in your living room; they're what you do to political enemies with a straight razor!
* Muslims and Republicans don't have a monopoly on chauvinism; try living in a country where parents either murder their female offspring or raise them to be whores!
* In Maoist China, grass was "bourgeois."
* During the "Great Leap Forward," China destroyed much of its industrial capacity in the name of building it!
* It doesn't matter if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice!
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Mar 30, 2008 Corinne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-nook-book-club

One of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Not only do I feel I got an honest history of communist China, its story plays out like a novel - I never wanted to put it down. Chang excels at pulling it together for you - showing you the differences between her Grandmother's life, her mother's life and her own, moving chronologically in a manner that makes such good sense. I completely followed it despite my absolute dearth of knowledge on the subject of China. I wept with her and felt an a...more

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Jun 24, 2008 Lesleylarson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A book about three generations of women in China, written by a woman who was in her early twenties when Mao died. The perspective she shares on life during Imperial China, and then Mao's communist China kept me riveted, hardly noticing the book was 500 pages of pure history. This is worth-while exposure to facts about an entire century that have only recently seen daylight in the West, and perhaps still haven't in parts of modern China. I think I finally understand why someone would accept (and...more

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Mar 14, 2007 Alisha rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book just felt like anti-China propaganda. While what the author presents may be true and may have actually happened, all it does is paint China in a very negative light. I just feel like there is so much being published these days that says that China is a bad place and has been for years, and I can't entirely agree with that. I guess I should have known better than to actually give someone money for this book. But it was in Shanghai and I was desperate for English books written after Shak...more

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Jul 03, 2008 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My heart ached every time I picked up this book to read. It rang page after page of unspeakable acts delivered to and through the everyday lives of the people of China under the rule of Mao. The only real hope conveyed in the book was Chang's beautiful depiction of the places where she, her mother and her grandmother had lived. She captures the smallest detail and creates a clear picture for her reader. I believe this book grants us a view of what it is like to live in a Godless society.

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May 01, 2013 Lynne King rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: china, to-re-read, already-own

I see that I read this hardback in 1993. I will, when I get the time, reread it just to see how I now view it.

It's the story of three Chinese woman and it is a memoir of Jung Chang, her mother and her grandmother.

There are wonderful photos portraying China's history, although not necessarily pleasant memories.

The author "grew up in Manchuria under Japanese and then Russian occupation".

Yes, looking briefly again at the book, I highly recommend it.

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Mar 04, 2009 Cheryl S. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: all women

Shelves: 2009, cultural-info, historical-info, memoir, china

Incredible! I am overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy when comparing my life with Jung Chang and can only marvel at the strength of this woman and her family. For the first time I may have some small understanding of what it was really like to live under the rule of Mao. I never cease to be amazed at how a megalomaniac can gain control of a country and no matter how ridiculous or insane his policies are manage to control a vast population by the use of fear.

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Feb 10, 2013 Grace Best-Page rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, history

Wow! Although reading Son of the Revolution was illuminating (though I sometimes wanted more information and a more detailed timeline), Wild Swans surpassed it. Chang not only explains what happened, but also why. She puts everything into context - culturally and historically (both Chinese history and what was concurrently going on outside China). I now know more about China than I ever learned in school.

I find myself wondering about the adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely." It occurs to...more

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Jul 06, 2008 Martha Taysom rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Although I sometimes teach World Civilization, I don't know very much about lives of the people in China during the communist years under Chairman Mao. This book provides a lot of those answers. It's tough to read, but it is very informative and inspiring.

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Jun 13, 2012 Deeme rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: challenge-2012, novels

بجعات برية.. الرواية الوثيقة الرواية الملحمة, رواية ليست من طراز الروايات التي نقرأ
رواية تصوّر واقع البؤس الفظيع في العهد الماوّي في الصين , رواية ستطرد النوم من أعينكم واصفة أحداث البؤس والذل والجوع والحرمان و روح الانسان الرخيصة لشعب هائل يمثّل ربع سكان الأرض .. حيث أٌعلنت الثورة الثقافية التي ترأسها ماو ,, بدأت كثورة ضد الفساد والاقطاعية والظلم لكن سرعان ما انقلبت إلى تقديس ماو وحرسه الأحمر و قرارته لتصبح دين وشريعة حياة و كل كلمة ينطقها ماو هي الحقيقة الإلهية, وكل كتاب وكل قصيدة وجريدة و حتى...more بجعات برية.. الرواية الوثيقة الرواية الملحمة, رواية ليست من طراز الروايات التي نقرأ
رواية تصوّر واقع البؤس الفظيع في العهد الماوّي في الصين , رواية ستطرد النوم من أعينكم واصفة أحداث البؤس والذل والجوع والحرمان و روح الانسان الرخيصة لشعب هائل يمثّل ربع سكان الأرض .. حيث أٌعلنت الثورة الثقافية التي ترأسها ماو ,, بدأت كثورة ضد الفساد والاقطاعية والظلم لكن سرعان ما انقلبت إلى تقديس ماو وحرسه الأحمر و قرارته لتصبح دين وشريعة حياة و كل كلمة ينطقها ماو هي الحقيقة الإلهية, وكل كتاب وكل قصيدة وجريدة و حتى أنشودة لطفل يجب أن تكون مدحاٌ في ماو وفلسفته وإلا كان المصير الموت بدم بارد!
رأى ماو أن اقتناء الكتب و تجميل المنازل بالزهور و شراء التحف والجلوس لشرب القهوة و القراءة(أساليب برجوازية) لا تعبر عن ثورته,ونتيجة لرأيه انطلقت مجموعات هائلة من البشر لحرق كل مكتبة منزلية وحرق كل الأزهار و اطلاق النار على كل المقاهي وتدمير كل شيء في المنازل عدا مايفي بالحاجات الأساسية,, و إذا ما تجرأ أحد فقط للتساؤل فإن مصيره النفي بين الجبال الوعرةوكتلة من الأعمال الشاقة, وقد تم نفي عشرة مليون انسان إلى الجبال كأعظم عملية نفي في تاريخ البشرية., أعطى ماو الطلاب الحق في معاقبة الأساتذة والدكاترة إن تجرأو للحديث عن التقدّم أو وحقوق الانسان وتعذيبهم بأبشع الأساليب ثم اشغالهم في جمع القمامة !
تتدرج الرواية لتحكي حياة ثلاث نساء هنّ الكاتبة يونغ تشانغ و أمها و جدتها في مسار متمازج رائع يبدأ من حياة الجدة ومعاناة الفتيات في أيامها حيث علامة الجمال الأقدام الصغيرة جداً فتُلوى أصابع أرجلهن وتربط بقسوة حتى تتجرح وتتعفن ثم تنكمش و تصغر بغية إرضاء الرجل الصيني الذي يعشق الأقدام الصغيرة!ومن كانت ذات أقدام كبيرة فلتفقد الأمل في الزواج واستقرار الحياةوتبدأ مشوارها في اضطهاد الأهل ونظرة الاستهزاء من المجتمع !
حياة الأم و قصة زواجها و انضمامها للحزب الشيوعي وهي لاتزال مراهقه و حكايات المسير بين الجبال وقصة الاجهاض والضرب مراراً حد الاغماء .. ثم ترقيتها لعضو رئيسي في الحزب ولقاءها بوالدها وحياتهم كأسرة ينقصها الكثير ثم حياةالسجن والنفي والمزيد من الألم ..
حياة الكاتبة ونشأتها في مجتمع مضطهد حيث كانت الرقة والأنوثة أسلوب برجوازي يجرّمه الإله ماو, انضمامها للحرس الأحمر وعذاب الضمير و حكايا الحب الأول, ثم دراستها للغة الانجليزية وممارستها مع البحّارةالأجانب التي أدينت بها فيما بعد , والفرصة العجيبة للسفر لبريطانيا حيث أتيح لها بعضاً من صفاء الذهن فقررت توثيق مسار طويل من البؤس والألم في بجعات بريّة..

في النهاية تساءلت:هل كانت هذه هي نفسهاالصين بكل قوتها في العالم؟

أدعوكم بشدّةلقراءتها :)
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Jun 04, 2010 Ed rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone interested in recent Chinese history.

Recommended to Ed by: Sharon Cutcliffe

Shelves: history, memoir, reviewed, non-fiction

What an incredible memoir, covering three generations: the Grandmother, mother and the author herself. Beginning in 1924 and continuing to 1978, it included the Japanese invasion, the Communist victory in 1949 and the Cultural Revolution and its immediate aftermath.

It is almost impossible to comprehend what these people went through and still managed to survive. What is even more astounding is that in many ways they were better off than their compatriots. In U.S. terms they were almost upper mid...more What an incredible memoir, covering three generations: the Grandmother, mother and the author herself. Beginning in 1924 and continuing to 1978, it included the Japanese invasion, the Communist victory in 1949 and the Cultural Revolution and its immediate aftermath.

It is almost impossible to comprehend what these people went through and still managed to survive. What is even more astounding is that in many ways they were better off than their compatriots. In U.S. terms they were almost upper middle-class with professionals and Communist Party Officials in the family.

I have lived in Hong Kong the last 18 years and traveled to Asia for 12 years prior to relocating out here. In the process I have spent a great deal of time in China and had the enviable task of interviewing a number of survivors of the Cultural Revolution. I also have read extensively about modern China (post the 1911 revolution) and this book is perhaps better than any in allowing the reader to experience second-hand what living in China was like during the tumultuous times the story spans.

I think the author does an excellent job of allowing the reader to get a glimpse of the big picture while never losing her personal perspective on events.

While I have never been an admirer of Mao Tse Tung, I always made allowances in my mind for some of his excesses. After reading this book, I am convinced that in many ways he was perhaps the worst dictator in Modern History including Hitler and Stalin.

One of Jung's insights which sort of blew my mind was her comment that China did not need a secret police apparatus because many, if not most, of the people provided all the control that a deified Mao needed. If anyone stepped out of line, they were immediately denounced, punished and often killed either quickly or slowly through starvation and disease.

Not that the Kuomintang of Chiang Kai Shek was any better, just less efficient and more corrupt. The Japanese occupation of Manchuria is also described so that the reader can appreciate the horror of Japanese domination.

This is not an easy book to work your way through. At times it is unremittingly depressing but it also contains tales of generosity and goodness illustrating that even under the most trying circumstances people can behave in wonderful ways.

The book certainly helped put the good fortune I've enjoyed in my life in perspective. I will find it harder to complain about the petty annoyances I endure after reading what these people went through.

If you have any curiosity about Modern China, reading this book would be an excellent place to start.(less)

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Dec 17, 2008 Endah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Negeri Cina, sebagai sebuah bangsa, memiliki sejarah yang panjang. Negeri luas meliputi daratan yang membentang di tengah-tengah benua Asia ini adalah salah satu raksasa Asia dengan jumlah penduduk lebih dari satu milyar jiwa. Sebelum menjadi republik seperti sekarang, dahulunya Cina adalah kerajaan yang dipimpin oleh seorang kaisar dengan kekuasaan yang nyaris mutlak. Pada tahun 1911, Pu Yi sebagai kaisar terakhir yang waktu itu masih berumur 5 tahun, digulingkan dan sebuah republik didirikan d...more

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Feb 17, 2008 Queen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I absolutely love this book. My emotions reading this ran the gamut. I would like to think that if I had to grow up during that time that I would be just as courageous and just as much a fighter as these women.

My favorite quote from the book is on page 14:
"It was at York that one night the thought of writing a book about my past life came to me. I was invited to talk by a professor who had just been in China. He showed some slides of a school he had visited, where the pupils were having lessons...more I absolutely love this book. My emotions reading this ran the gamut. I would like to think that if I had to grow up during that time that I would be just as courageous and just as much a fighter as these women.

My favorite quote from the book is on page 14:
"It was at York that one night the thought of writing a book about my past life came to me. I was invited to talk by a professor who had just been in China. He showed some slides of a school he had visited, where the pupils were having lessons on an obviously freezing winter day, in classrooms with no heating but roundly broken windows. "Are they not cold?" the kindly professor had asked. "No, they are not," the school had answered.

After the slide show there was a reception, and one woman, perhaps struggling to find something to say to me, began: "You must feel very hot here." This innocent remark hurt me so badly that I left the room abruptly and had my first cry since I came to Britain. It was not so much a feeling of being insulted, but an overwhelming pain for the people of my native land. We were not treated by our own government as proper human beings, and consequently some outsiders did not regard us as the same kind of human s as themselves. I thought of the old observation that Chinese lives were cheap, and one Englishman's amazement that his Chinese servant should find a toothache unbearable. I was infuriated once again by the many admiring comments of Westerners who had visited Mao's China that the Chinese were extraordinary people who seemed to enjoy being criticized, denounced, "reformed" in labor camps -- all things that would seem sheer misery to Westerners."

...I grew up with my parents telling me how the Chinese people were Ke lian... "sad"... that after achieving so much as a culture... it was their own people, after the all the battles from outside... it was their own people that wreaked havoc.

Being an ABC (american born chinese) it's sometimes hard to find your footing... it's difficult to figure out who you are. It's hard enough defining myself as a woman...let alone figuring out who I am as... a culture. Fascinating read.(less)

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Apr 23, 2008 Vanessa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people with an interest in China

Wild Swans is primarily an autobiographical account of her life in Communist China until shortly after the death of Mao. Jung Chang also tells her mother's story, which gives you an understanding of China during WWII and the early days of the Communist Revolution, as well as her grandmother's life story, which gives you a taste of China before WWII. It's a very interesting read, and you learn a lot about how people suffered under Mao. Although through the inclusion of her grandmother's story, yo...more

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Oct 22, 2008 Jenny rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone interested in Chinese history, oriental literature or wonderful stories!

Shelves: 1001-books, non-fiction, my-favourite-books, to-re-read, china, favourite-books

I've never felt so sad to reach the end of a book in all my life. This book is truely amazing and is well and truely the best book I've ever read! I even had the urge to start reading it all over again as soon as I'd finished.

Wild Swans follows the journey of three generations of women, from the same family, through the tragic history of twentieth century China.

I felt almost ashamed that I wasn't aware of hardly any of China's recent history. I picked the book up as I was doing a charity trek al...more

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Oct 17, 2010 Pipitta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Buku ini saya beli 8 Oktober 2006, dan entah kenapa sama sekali gak saya sentuh. Mungkin karena covernya yang gak banget yah, hihih.. abis apa menariknya buku tebal warna coklat tanah dengan cover perempuan pakai seragam tentara jadul begitu.. :P

Akhirnya karena kehabisan bahan bacaan, minggu lalu saya baru mulai baca bukunya dan... ternyata isinya sangat menarik! Memang sih, yang saya baca hasil terjemahan, tapi bahkan terjemahannya pun cukup bagus dan enak diikuti.

Berkat buku ini saya jadi leb...more

1 like · like · see review

Anggie Pit, memoir tentang kehidupan (perempuan) di China masa Revolusi Budaya (Cultural Revolution) memang segambreng-gambreng. You made a good choice, kare...more
Oct 14, 2010 07:50am

Pipitta Huihii.. sip.. sip.. ntar gw cari deh rekomendasi bukunya :D termasuk juga si buku gahar 1000 halaman ituh.. waaaaaa... tega banget tuh yang nyetak, m...more
Oct 14, 2010 08:33pm

Mar 05, 2008 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: china-non-fiction

A great book from the perspective of everday people in three generations of Chinese history. Wild Swans offers the reader a chance to really understand the sequence of events that led to Mao's rule starting with a Manchurian emperor followed by Japanese occupation, Chiang Kai-Shek, and finally Mao Zedong. Not only do you go through the entire period of Mao's rule through a first hand account, but you see how people welcomed Mao with the history of the author's mother and grandmother suffering th...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Eng.Khalid Ib rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: تاريخ-و-سيرة

عندما بدأت بقراءة هذه الرواية أو السيرة فكرت في اسمها "بجعات برية" وما
يرمز إليه وطرأ في بالي أنها ترمز إلى الحرية فأن تكون بجعة برية لك الحرية
في الطيران..التحليق..التنقل...لكن!!. ما أكبر وأبعد الفرق بين اسمها..وما كتب فيها وكأنني أقرأ أسطورة أو بمعنى أصح أساطير بكبر بمساحة الصين وعدد سكانها.
أما "الحاكم ماو"...لا أدري بماذا أصنفه أو أصفه...إلا ما قالته المؤلفة
"كان يريد السلطة المطلقة على الأرض وفي السماء معا"
فلا شيء مقدس عنده أو له حرمه سواء أكان بشرا..حيوانا..نباتا..آثارا..كتبا
مدارس...غابات أي...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
نادي فكر للقراءة: مناقشة كتاب : بجعات برية	17	74	Dec 14, 2012 07:23am
صالون الجمعة: بجعات برية \| 9-2012	460	315	Sep 30, 2012 01:26am
China's changing impact on its people	10	121	Sep 14, 2012 04:47am
The Imprinted Lif...: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China	131	30	Apr 18, 2012 01:05am
Around the World ...: The Wild Swans Group Read	97	71	Mar 26, 2012 11:25pm

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