What do you think?
Rate this book
Lake With No Name : A True Story of Love and Conflict in Modern China
Beijing University, 1986. The Communists were in power, but the Harvard of China was a hotbed of intellectual and cultural activity, with political debates and "English Corners" where students eagerly practiced the language among themselves. Nineteen-year-old Wei had known the oppressive days of the Cultural Revolution, having grown up with her parents in a work camp in a remote region of China. Now, as a student, she was allowed to immerse herself in study and spend her free hours writing poetry -- that bastion of bourgeois intellectualism -- beside the Lake with No Name at the center of campus. It was there that Wei met Dong Yi.
Although Wei's love was first subsumed by the deep friendship that developed between them, it smoldered into a passionate longing. Ties to other lovers from their pasts stood always between them as the years passed and Wei moved through her studies, from undergraduate to graduate. Yet her relationship with Dong Yi continued to deepen as each season gave way to the next.
Amid the would-be lovers' private drama, the winds in China were changing, and the specter of government repression loomed once again. By the spring of 1989, everything had student demands for freedom and transparency met with ominous official warnings of the repercussions they would face. The tide of student action for democracy -- led by young men and women around the university, including Dong Yi -- inexorably pushed the rigid wall of opposition, culminating in the international trauma at Tiananmen Square.
On June 4, 1989, tanks rolled into the square and blood flowed on the ancient city streets. It was a day that would see the end of lives, dreams -- and a tortuous romance between two idealistic spirits. Lake with No Name is Diane Wei Liang's remembrance of this time, of her own role in the democratic movement and of the friends and lovers who stood beside her and made history on that terrible day.
Although Wei's love was first subsumed by the deep friendship that developed between them, it smoldered into a passionate longing. Ties to other lovers from their pasts stood always between them as the years passed and Wei moved through her studies, from undergraduate to graduate. Yet her relationship with Dong Yi continued to deepen as each season gave way to the next.
Amid the would-be lovers' private drama, the winds in China were changing, and the specter of government repression loomed once again. By the spring of 1989, everything had student demands for freedom and transparency met with ominous official warnings of the repercussions they would face. The tide of student action for democracy -- led by young men and women around the university, including Dong Yi -- inexorably pushed the rigid wall of opposition, culminating in the international trauma at Tiananmen Square.
On June 4, 1989, tanks rolled into the square and blood flowed on the ancient city streets. It was a day that would see the end of lives, dreams -- and a tortuous romance between two idealistic spirits. Lake with No Name is Diane Wei Liang's remembrance of this time, of her own role in the democratic movement and of the friends and lovers who stood beside her and made history on that terrible day.
- GenresNonfictionChinaMemoir
Paperback
First published July 5, 2004
13 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Diane Wei Liang
13 books29 followersDiane Wei Liang was born in Beijing. She spent part of her childhood with her parents in a labor camp in a remote region of China, and the other part in Beijing with her mother when her parents were forced to live and work in different cities. She studied psychology at Peking University. In 1989 she took part in the Student Democracy Movement and was in Tiananmen Square. Later that year, she left China for the U.S. Liang has a PhD in Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University and was a business professor in the U.S. and U.K. for over ten years. She lives in London with her family."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 18, 2019
A window in the brutal totalitarian world of Communist China which continues to this day. It is both a autobiography of a sensitivities, intelligent women and her experiences growing up and being a student in Communist China.
Wei Liang grew up in a labour camp that her parents were sent to during the horrors of The Cultural Revolution. she became a student at the prestigious Beijing University-the elite equivalent of Harvard and Yale in the USA or Oxford and Cambridge in Britain. There she became a keen reader of classic literature and a writer of poetry. There she also formed a deep romance with Dong Yi, a star crossed love that could not be.
It was also at Beijing University where she joined many other students in the struggle for freedom, democracy, human rights and a better life, which have not improved in China, despite its move to a capitalist economic system.
The rights the student demanded where nothing more than the basic freedoms everyone in western democracies take for granted.
The narrative moves painstakingly and slowly towards the horrific Tienanmen square massacre of June, 1989, when three thousand students, workers and others were murdered in a bloody crackdown in response to a peaceful protest for basic freedoms-an even all but brushed aside today by the western left, media and academia.
The author describes the pain and terror of these events , in which the youngest victim was a nine year old girl and the oldest a grandmother in her 70s. After the massacre the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army for weeks patrolled the streets of Beijing gunning down in cold blood students and other citizens.
After the massacre, Wei would soon leave China but would return for a time seven years later, to seek out Dong Yi. The author finishes the account by telling us where the main players in the real life drama=her friends and associates are today.
Wei Liang grew up in a labour camp that her parents were sent to during the horrors of The Cultural Revolution. she became a student at the prestigious Beijing University-the elite equivalent of Harvard and Yale in the USA or Oxford and Cambridge in Britain. There she became a keen reader of classic literature and a writer of poetry. There she also formed a deep romance with Dong Yi, a star crossed love that could not be.
It was also at Beijing University where she joined many other students in the struggle for freedom, democracy, human rights and a better life, which have not improved in China, despite its move to a capitalist economic system.
The rights the student demanded where nothing more than the basic freedoms everyone in western democracies take for granted.
The narrative moves painstakingly and slowly towards the horrific Tienanmen square massacre of June, 1989, when three thousand students, workers and others were murdered in a bloody crackdown in response to a peaceful protest for basic freedoms-an even all but brushed aside today by the western left, media and academia.
The author describes the pain and terror of these events , in which the youngest victim was a nine year old girl and the oldest a grandmother in her 70s. After the massacre the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army for weeks patrolled the streets of Beijing gunning down in cold blood students and other citizens.
After the massacre, Wei would soon leave China but would return for a time seven years later, to seek out Dong Yi. The author finishes the account by telling us where the main players in the real life drama=her friends and associates are today.
July 9, 2025
Titulo: El lago sin nombre
Autor: Diane Wei Liang
Motivo de lectura: #buzzwordathon2025
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Físico / Electrónico: Electrónico
Mi edición: —
Puntuación: 4/5
Estas son las memorias de Diane Wei Liang, su experiencia como estudiante universitaria en China durante las protestas en la plaza de Tiananmén (1989).
Un texto muy personal, doloroso, con un estilo "el amor en tiempos de la resistencia".
Por momentos esperanzador, pero el precio emocional pagado por un porvenir positivo, por un futuro prospero da la sensación de ser un precio muy alto (aunque comprensible).
Como testimonio en primera persona es una lectura muy rica en detalles.
La prosa de Liang es simple y efectiva, la autora se centra en contar su historia de forma tal que el mensaje llegue, y es esta simpleza la que se agradece cada vez que se aborda una lectura de índole testimonial.
Autor: Diane Wei Liang
Motivo de lectura: #buzzwordathon2025
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Físico / Electrónico: Electrónico
Mi edición: —
Puntuación: 4/5
Estas son las memorias de Diane Wei Liang, su experiencia como estudiante universitaria en China durante las protestas en la plaza de Tiananmén (1989).
Un texto muy personal, doloroso, con un estilo "el amor en tiempos de la resistencia".
Por momentos esperanzador, pero el precio emocional pagado por un porvenir positivo, por un futuro prospero da la sensación de ser un precio muy alto (aunque comprensible).
Como testimonio en primera persona es una lectura muy rica en detalles.
La prosa de Liang es simple y efectiva, la autora se centra en contar su historia de forma tal que el mensaje llegue, y es esta simpleza la que se agradece cada vez que se aborda una lectura de índole testimonial.
July 28, 2011
There are two parallel stories in this memoir. One is author Wei Liang's love affair with a fellow Beijing university student during the heady days of the 1989 student protest movement in China. The other is a first-person account of the author's involvement in the protest movement that ended in the Tiananmen Square massacre on the night of June 4, 1989.
The love affair isn't all that interesting except to reveal to non-Chinese just how deep goes the sense of responsibility to familial obligations that is so common in the Chinese. The love affair is unrequited, of course, because of those familial expectations and sense of obligation for Wei Liang's lover to marry another.
The author's involvement in the student protest movement is much more compelling and useful to those interested in this period of modern Chinese history. Wei didn't seem have a very deep political consciousness about what was going on around her. She was definitely a follower, not a leader. Even so, it's fascinating to read about how events unfolded and about her minor role. She also writes about her childhood with her parents in a labor camp during the Cultural Revolution. Her parents were intellectuals and so like so many of that class, they were banished for a while to the countryside. This earlier part of the memoir is less satisfying, probably just because Wei was a child at the time and was less capable of understanding or recounting events. There are other books out there that are more comprehensive and insightful about life during the Cultural Revolution.
I read Wei Liang's first novel before I read the memoir and was rather surprised and disappointed to see that the novel closely follows this memoir. If she intends to develop as a writer, she will need to be able to draw on more than her own life for material.
The love affair isn't all that interesting except to reveal to non-Chinese just how deep goes the sense of responsibility to familial obligations that is so common in the Chinese. The love affair is unrequited, of course, because of those familial expectations and sense of obligation for Wei Liang's lover to marry another.
The author's involvement in the student protest movement is much more compelling and useful to those interested in this period of modern Chinese history. Wei didn't seem have a very deep political consciousness about what was going on around her. She was definitely a follower, not a leader. Even so, it's fascinating to read about how events unfolded and about her minor role. She also writes about her childhood with her parents in a labor camp during the Cultural Revolution. Her parents were intellectuals and so like so many of that class, they were banished for a while to the countryside. This earlier part of the memoir is less satisfying, probably just because Wei was a child at the time and was less capable of understanding or recounting events. There are other books out there that are more comprehensive and insightful about life during the Cultural Revolution.
I read Wei Liang's first novel before I read the memoir and was rather surprised and disappointed to see that the novel closely follows this memoir. If she intends to develop as a writer, she will need to be able to draw on more than her own life for material.
March 18, 2020
I’m not really one who likes to read books, so I can’t lie— this took me a while to read. The beginning is a bit slow and is about her childhood in labor camps with her family. But the more I read, the more I found myself hungry to continue. It’s called “a story of love and conflict” and that is exactly what you get with this book. You get details about the experience that the author had during the Tiananmen Massacre and you get plenty names of prevalent figures such as student leaders and close friends of hers. I found myself very interested in how the telling of June 4th mixed in with stories of her friendships and romantic relationships. Everything she spoke about was interesting, and the best part— it’s all true! I got emotional a few times reading this book and I was extremely satisfied at the end of it. I’ve seen mixed reviews about this book, but I couldn’t think of rating it anything other than 5 stars. Liang is a great writer and her story of her past is a beautiful one. I would definitely recommend this to anybody interested in the history of the Massacre who doesn’t mind side plots of romance and family. Trust me: you’ll enjoy this.
June 14, 2009
For those that know little about life in Beijing, China during the eighties, this book has much to offer. Diane Wei Liang beautifully writes about the land and passion of its people. A major element of the novel are the events that lead up to the Tiananmen Square tragedy. In May/June of 1989, students lead a movement for reform of the government to China. On June 4th, 1989, the China's army opened fired on peaceful demonstrations. thousands of students and innocent citizens of China died and Liang gives the reader an idea of what exactly happened as she took part in the movement.
January 12, 2011
This first-hand account of the Tiananmen Square uprising was interesting, but could have done without the love story as a framing device. I'd like to read some other memoirs on Tiananmen, because this author's democratic ideas and goals seem to have been pretty unfocused; I'd be interested to find out if this was generally the case, or if it was just her. The writing style is very Chinese - flowery and pensive in a way that seems affected in English. Better editing could have helped. Also, almost every pinyin romanization of a Chinese word in this book is misspelled.
December 6, 2021
“No one deserved to die like that. No one deserved to die at all. But on dark night, so many sons and daughters, too young to even know about death, perished, on both sides. How many mothers and fathers had to go on living with only the memories of their children?
- Lake with no name by Diane Wei Liang.
.
.
I swear this book reminded me of “Watch me by Anjela huston” memoir. Instead of telling her story in the book, she decided to wrote “jack nicholson this, jack nicholson that” in its entirety. The same things went down with this memoir, instead of focusing the Tiananmen Square Student Protests - she decided put a spotlight on her love life more than what when down with the student-led demonstrations (which is the first reason i bought this book). This is the time i wished i have read the review before i bought this book. For example, in the chapter highlighting that students were currently on a hunger strikes, this is what she wrote : “I felt so lonely surrounded by the crowd and at the same time guilty that my mind was preoccupied with my own unhappiness while a much more serious crisis was taking place in Tiananmen Square. I could not help but think about Dong Yi and Lan”. (serious face palm mode) - i swear that this book will be only 150 pages max if the author did not insert her love life in the book. NGL, i felt cheated because i dont want to know about Dong Yi, i just wanted to read more about student demonstration and uprising that led to Tiananmen Square Massacre. Unfortunately, the book went different route and decided to put a spotlight in her feelings pining over Dong Yi. What i find more disturbing is despite knowing that Dong Yi has a girlfriend and eventually him married the girlfriend but the fact that the author relentlessly pursued him and still wanting to be with him is just despicable. I know that when we are in your 20s, we are figuring things out and we all did stupid things somehow along the way but i just cant get on with this. I have no issue reading about her growing up, after all this is a memoir and i got different perspective from her especially she is the daughter of intellectuals and not a peasant unlike other memoir i have read before. They are majorly despised due to China cultural revolution. She was bullied due to her status and was implied that her blood is not red enough to be part of China envisioned by Mao Zedong. Along the way, when Mao Zedong died and China find herself shifted again. This time, the pursuit of knowledge is encouraged and we saw that young people started to realize that maybe Democracy can be part of China despite the idea of it was known as a western idea. At that point of time, the author acknowledged so many young people left China to see the world , further their studies and even got an employment abroad. Some were hopeful the change will come, some were defiant and felt it will never happen. Eventually, at least i still got what i wanted - a glimpses of the June Fourth Incident in China, how it went down ( from the hunger strike, the labelling of the student movement as illegal and anarchy in nature, the military intervention, the blockade of foreign journalists and up to the what has been described by the author as the blood and tears flowing down to the ground. The aftermath of the protests led to a massive search for those who are involved in it and were being shot and punished due to their participation. Some were hunt down, some remain fugitives and some managed to escape the country. The author did mentioned few of her friends that involved in it managed to escape the authority and migrated to USA. So much stories about Dong Yi, the ending was still concluded with Dong Yi and her reminiscing their good old days. Dong Yi still with his wife, Lang and the author got divorced with Eimin and remarried with an European. If you wanted to read about Tiananmen Massacre, this is not the book for you. You can find other books that provide more details in a way that the obsession towards one guy in the book will not interfere with the main subject of a memoir.
- Lake with no name by Diane Wei Liang.
.
.
I swear this book reminded me of “Watch me by Anjela huston” memoir. Instead of telling her story in the book, she decided to wrote “jack nicholson this, jack nicholson that” in its entirety. The same things went down with this memoir, instead of focusing the Tiananmen Square Student Protests - she decided put a spotlight on her love life more than what when down with the student-led demonstrations (which is the first reason i bought this book). This is the time i wished i have read the review before i bought this book. For example, in the chapter highlighting that students were currently on a hunger strikes, this is what she wrote : “I felt so lonely surrounded by the crowd and at the same time guilty that my mind was preoccupied with my own unhappiness while a much more serious crisis was taking place in Tiananmen Square. I could not help but think about Dong Yi and Lan”. (serious face palm mode) - i swear that this book will be only 150 pages max if the author did not insert her love life in the book. NGL, i felt cheated because i dont want to know about Dong Yi, i just wanted to read more about student demonstration and uprising that led to Tiananmen Square Massacre. Unfortunately, the book went different route and decided to put a spotlight in her feelings pining over Dong Yi. What i find more disturbing is despite knowing that Dong Yi has a girlfriend and eventually him married the girlfriend but the fact that the author relentlessly pursued him and still wanting to be with him is just despicable. I know that when we are in your 20s, we are figuring things out and we all did stupid things somehow along the way but i just cant get on with this. I have no issue reading about her growing up, after all this is a memoir and i got different perspective from her especially she is the daughter of intellectuals and not a peasant unlike other memoir i have read before. They are majorly despised due to China cultural revolution. She was bullied due to her status and was implied that her blood is not red enough to be part of China envisioned by Mao Zedong. Along the way, when Mao Zedong died and China find herself shifted again. This time, the pursuit of knowledge is encouraged and we saw that young people started to realize that maybe Democracy can be part of China despite the idea of it was known as a western idea. At that point of time, the author acknowledged so many young people left China to see the world , further their studies and even got an employment abroad. Some were hopeful the change will come, some were defiant and felt it will never happen. Eventually, at least i still got what i wanted - a glimpses of the June Fourth Incident in China, how it went down ( from the hunger strike, the labelling of the student movement as illegal and anarchy in nature, the military intervention, the blockade of foreign journalists and up to the what has been described by the author as the blood and tears flowing down to the ground. The aftermath of the protests led to a massive search for those who are involved in it and were being shot and punished due to their participation. Some were hunt down, some remain fugitives and some managed to escape the country. The author did mentioned few of her friends that involved in it managed to escape the authority and migrated to USA. So much stories about Dong Yi, the ending was still concluded with Dong Yi and her reminiscing their good old days. Dong Yi still with his wife, Lang and the author got divorced with Eimin and remarried with an European. If you wanted to read about Tiananmen Massacre, this is not the book for you. You can find other books that provide more details in a way that the obsession towards one guy in the book will not interfere with the main subject of a memoir.
July 6, 2009
Interesting story from a young woman at Tianammen Square at the time of the student rebellion. I remember being there years later. I'd been walking through the acres of the Forbidden City. Had tired, sore feet and was perched on a flower planter across from the boulevard running perpendicular to the Boulevard of Eternal Peace and was approached by a local soft-spoken man. He shook my hand and asked me why I did not want to tour the square. Without thinking, I said that it made me very, very sad. He bowed and touched his heart and said, "me too" and walked off. She took me back to the day I sat glued to the TV, watching that tank and the student who faced it square on. It reads quickly. Highly recommended.
July 21, 2012
This biography/historical novel has opened my eyes toward China. I have to admit that lately I have been rather closed-minded whenever China was concerned, especially due to the horrific treatment they give to the environment. However, this novel has taught to look beyond my own beliefs and see what the country is really like, understand the suffering of the people living under a communist dictatorship, and wonder if, and how, they will ever go through this period.
I wish well to the people of this country, but would also appreciate if they stopped eating shark fin soup and making medecine with tiger bones and human fetuses.
I wish well to the people of this country, but would also appreciate if they stopped eating shark fin soup and making medecine with tiger bones and human fetuses.
April 8, 2010
Begins in China during the Cultural Revolution, later years around 1972ish and (will) end with Tiananmen Square.
July 31, 2010
wonderful memoir, couldn't put it down. Great perspective on growing up in China inthe 70s and 80s. Perfect read for my trip to china.
May 11, 2025
can’t help but keep coming back to this one
May 11, 2020
Tras leerme la trilogía de Pekín de Diane Wei Liang, me embarqué en este libro, que fue el primero que publicó, y es autobiográfico.
Terminé la trilogía a finales del año pasado, y tenía este libro pendiente y a la espera. Y menos mal que lo he cogido, porque no me ha defraudado, y de hecho se ha convertido en mi favorito de la autora.
Me encanta su forma de escribir, con ese toque melancólico, poético y nostálgico, pero simple.
Este libro me ha parecido una tremenda historia sobre la sociedad china contemporánea, su cultura y sobre todo ese movimiento estudiantil y los eventos de Tiananmen de 1989. La narrativa me ha tenido con el corazón en un puño, imaginando esas escenas de las protestas estudiantiles, y con rabia de ver cómo funciona a veces la sociedad y algunos gobiernos.
Me parece un libro fantástico si te gusta e interesa la cultura china y sus eventos políticos, pero es que vale igualmente como libro dramático... Y encima es autobiográfico.
Me ha encantado, ojalá Diane Wei se decida a escribir más novelas en el futuro.
Hasta entonces, mil gracias.
Terminé la trilogía a finales del año pasado, y tenía este libro pendiente y a la espera. Y menos mal que lo he cogido, porque no me ha defraudado, y de hecho se ha convertido en mi favorito de la autora.
Me encanta su forma de escribir, con ese toque melancólico, poético y nostálgico, pero simple.
Este libro me ha parecido una tremenda historia sobre la sociedad china contemporánea, su cultura y sobre todo ese movimiento estudiantil y los eventos de Tiananmen de 1989. La narrativa me ha tenido con el corazón en un puño, imaginando esas escenas de las protestas estudiantiles, y con rabia de ver cómo funciona a veces la sociedad y algunos gobiernos.
Me parece un libro fantástico si te gusta e interesa la cultura china y sus eventos políticos, pero es que vale igualmente como libro dramático... Y encima es autobiográfico.
Me ha encantado, ojalá Diane Wei se decida a escribir más novelas en el futuro.
Hasta entonces, mil gracias.
July 4, 2020
A great testimony indeed; however what a pity the author writes so much about her (rather lame) sentimental life. This does not makes her very likable for me... I must say I did enjoy the other book from her I red so far (The eye of jade).
July 4, 2023
Great read.
March 5, 2019
Un libro lealmente increible que te traslada a la china pasada que realmente te trasmite los sentimientos de los estudiantes en huelga que estuvieron en la plaza.Lei este libro de casualidad y es uno de los mejores libros que he leido.
August 27, 2009
A startling and surprising first-hand account of life in China from the beginning of the Cultural Revolution through the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1986. Diane Wei Liang provides a shocking insight into a culture that struggled between revolution, tradition, and Western ideals. Her shocking stories from living in a forced labor camp for intellectuals as a child set up a solid background for the events of 1986, as the young educated generation of college students clashed with the Communist government of the dangerous ideas of freedom and democracy.
Having spent several months studying in southwestern China in 2005, I'm always interested in learning more about the Cultural Revolution, and how is shaped modern Chinese society. Diane Wei Liang's personal stories of growing up in China show the conflicting nature of a culture that first shunned their own traditions as well as Western ideals, only to have their childrens' generation seek to learn from and embrace them.
I loved this book, and learned a great deal more about both the Cultural Revolution, and the events that lead up to the Tiananmen Square massacre. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in sociology and Asian history, or to someone simply looking for an insightful and gripping book.
Having spent several months studying in southwestern China in 2005, I'm always interested in learning more about the Cultural Revolution, and how is shaped modern Chinese society. Diane Wei Liang's personal stories of growing up in China show the conflicting nature of a culture that first shunned their own traditions as well as Western ideals, only to have their childrens' generation seek to learn from and embrace them.
I loved this book, and learned a great deal more about both the Cultural Revolution, and the events that lead up to the Tiananmen Square massacre. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in sociology and Asian history, or to someone simply looking for an insightful and gripping book.
January 19, 2016
I learned so much from reading this book. I am horrified by what happened to the students in Tiananmen Square and the thousands who were out to support them. I have read historical books on China before so some of what I read in this book didn't surprise me, but it did upset me. Unlike many of the people here who reviewed this book I enjoyed reading about Wei's love interest. It was heartbreaking at times and it showed what these young folk had to deal with. Many of them felt so trapped, and yet they were hopeful. Wei herself was figuring things out amidst turmoil and confusion and so sometimes it seemed as if she wasn't quite sure where she stood. But this was understandable and I just went with it. I will be recommending this book.
August 3, 2009
There are two facets of this book that occur simultaneously: one is the story of Wei's love life, the other is her experience attending Beijing University during the student demonstrations of 1989. While the latter facet was eye-opening and, I think, a required reading for everyone, the former facet was quite frustrating to read. Even though I did not like the love life portion of the book, her eyewitness accounts of an important part of modern world history are critical for us to not forget and I am appreciative she wrote down her experiences. If you want to know what the Tiananmen Square incident was all about, read this book. Also read Red China Blues.
April 26, 2016
Muy interesante. No sólo por el testimonio del Movimiento estudiantil del 89, sino por las descripciones de la autora del miedo de los ciudadanos chinos; miedo a que alguien te delate, a que la gran maquinaria burocrática del gobierno destroce tus planes de futuro, a ser considerado contrarrevolucionario. El Miedo como forma de vida.
Otra cosa positiva, aparte de conocer la vida personal y académica de la autora, es el repaso a la Historia de China del s. XX; me ha hecho profundizar en sucesos que conocía únicamente de oídas como la hambruna producida por el desastre del Gran Salto Adelante, la Guardia Roja, etc. He aprendido y disfrutado mucho leyéndolo, la verdad.
Otra cosa positiva, aparte de conocer la vida personal y académica de la autora, es el repaso a la Historia de China del s. XX; me ha hecho profundizar en sucesos que conocía únicamente de oídas como la hambruna producida por el desastre del Gran Salto Adelante, la Guardia Roja, etc. He aprendido y disfrutado mucho leyéndolo, la verdad.
December 20, 2017
The love life stuff is a real distraction. It does affect her thinking, but not about the more important issues of the political events. That aspect of this book could easily have been reduced to a quarter or less of what is in this book, and that would have been a good improvement.
The political story is covered as a memoir, without a lot of depth about the issues. Wei relates interactions with multiple major players on the university side, but more as an aquaintance or friend than as a major participant herself.
The political story is covered as a memoir, without a lot of depth about the issues. Wei relates interactions with multiple major players on the university side, but more as an aquaintance or friend than as a major participant herself.
September 17, 2009
This is an interesting story from a young woman at Tianammen Square during the time of the student rebellion. I remember reading about the protests years ago but I loved the personal storyline behind the conflict and politcal uprising. I find it fascintaing that all this was going on in China during my lifetime and the complete contrast of life styles of the young people in China and then their lives when they come to the US.
August 3, 2016
This memoir blends a star-crossed love story with the (equally star crossed?) student democracy movement in Spring 1989. In addition to the glimpses into life at Beijing University, the author shows the conflict her parents and anyone else who had lived through the Cultural Revolution felt about the student movement.
November 9, 2009
This book was beautifully written, sometimes I felt as if it was fiction. The information about what happened in China during that time was at times too much for me. I had no idea what really was going on. What an unbelievable time in history, I am so grateful of what I have here.
January 28, 2010
I really wanted to like this one but I couldn't get over the writing. The love story was drawn out and boring; she was such a periphery player in the events that I find more information online than through her account. Wouldn't read again or recommend.
March 11, 2012
Not my fave book about China. Though it gives a lot of information, I wasn't expecting a sum up of the facts and dates. To me, this was not the tale of a lovelife (as suggested on the Dutch cover) but just a biography of someone who lived in Beijing during the revolution.
April 1, 2009
Comes across as a very honest and matter-of-fact view of a student's life in China leading up to the Tiannenmen Square protests.
October 20, 2009
Lake with No Name provides real insight into impact of the Tienanmen crackdown on Chinese youth. It is a real-life 1984
February 14, 2010
Learned some about China at the time but most interested in the love story--very romantic.
June 9, 2017
Ms Diane Wei has written a stunning account of the June Fourth Incident. She writes with such intimacy. It has to be one of the best personal accounts of the protests.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews