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Summary: SUPERBLY WRITTEN - COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN
Review: An excellent example of one who was able to overcome extreme adversity as a child. The resilience evident shows that there's always hope. Hopefully all cultures can see where parental guidance provided in the correct manner can allow children to blossom to their fullest potential. It is so unfortunate that Adeline Yen Mah was pushed to her potential through negative reinforcement. Her success makes me wonder what would have been her outcome had she had positive reinforcement. BRAVA, BRAVA, BRAVAI hope that a director, of the caliber of Amy Tan, will make this book into a book on the same level as Joy Luck Club..... Stick to the book, add nothing, be true to Adeline's plight. No Hollywood gloss, just human spirit.
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Summary: Response from readers has exceeded my wildest dreams
Review: For the first fourteen years of my life, I don't recall having opened my mouth once to volunteer a single spontaneous remark during any of the meal times I shared with my parents. Everything I repressed and dared not say as a child growing up in Shanghai is in Falling Leaves. I wrote it on behalf of all unwanted children in the hope that they will persist to do their best in the face of hopelessness, to believe that in the end their spirit will prevail, to transcend their abuse and transform it into a source of courage, creativity and compassion.
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Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book is so captivating, I was unable to put it down once I started reading it. It is well written and so easy to follow that even my 14 year old daughter (who shys away from recreational reading) completed the book in one day. Adeline Yen Mah has a great future ahead of her as an author. Amy Tan, watch out!
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Summary: Evil knows no bounds! Fascinating look a Chinese family.
Review: Who needs Grimm's Grimmest when the real thing is so much worse? The main focus is truly a wicked stepmother who lacks any human compassion, but her hold over the family she destroys is awesome. The narrator, despite suffering the cruelest of families, doesn't venture into self-pity but admits that she herself fed into some of her own tortures. All that and a fascinating look into Chinese values, Shanghai life, and modern China. Very easy reading, and well worth it!
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Summary: A woman warrior and real Mulan
Review: She kept going no matter what. First of all, she was a bad-luck baby because her mother died as she was born. Then her father, a wealthy Chinese businessman, remarries the beautiful but cold stepmother. Like Daisy and Tom Buchanan of The Great Gatsby, Adeline Yen Mah's parents are "careless people." They seem to have little feeling for any of their children. The new Eurasian mother gives her "Adeline" in place of her Chinese name. She is "put away" with the other unwanted children and relatives on the second floor of the house. Her father even tests his dog's attack skills on her only pet, a duck. Regardless of the events befalling the young girl, however, the writing never becomes maudlin. Yes, she was lonely. At boarding school she hoped for just one letter. But this special student from a wealthy family was forbidden visitors, not allowed home for holidays, and not even provided the necessary clothing. Her saving grace is her discovery of books and the "awesome power and responsibility of the pen." Like Maxine Hong Kingston's Woman Warrior, this Mulan uses the power of words well. And she has empathy for others. Another plus for the reader is the ebb and flow of modern Chinese history in and out of the personal story. Most of all, however, here is a case of falling leaves returning to their roots with compassion and forgiveness. Readers might find this memoir a good comparison to Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes.
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Summary: It was interesting but parts of it did not ring true.
Review: At first, it was interesting and unbelievable....after awhile I began to question if the whole story could be true. It seemed inconsistent and she returned to her family again and again for continued abuse of one kind or another. Also, her family gave her so many mixed messages or else she failed to comprhend what was really being said to her by her sister, brothers and step mother. While I could understand her need to be loved and wanted, she achieved that with her husband and children. Her step sister, Susan appeared to be far more well adjusted and came to accept her parents and siblings for what they were. Adeline, however, went back again and again and expected acceptance. I don't beleive her parents and siblings could have constantly changed in their treatment of her... As I said, after awhile I felt there was another side or sides to this story. What does anyone else think?
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Summary: A MUST READ!!
Review: This book was great! Of all the books about China this one of the best!!
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Summary: Poignant, plaintive picture of the heart's desire to belong.
Review: Kierkegaard writes of one imprisoned by a tyrant in a brazen bull and slowly tortured over a steady fire. The cries of the victim could not be heard so as to strike terror into the victim's heart. When the cries of the one imprisoned finally do reach the tyrant's ears, they sounded like sweet music. As men crowd around they say to the prisoner, "Sing for us soon again." This prisoner Kierkegaard calls the poet. The sweet music of Falling Leaves comes from such a tortured heart. Mah is a lyrical poet, singing of cruelty, bitterness, revenge, and finally the triumph of the heart's longing to belong. If you do not weep when you read this account of suffering, make an appointment with your mortician.
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Summary: A pleasant surprise!
Review: I was somewhat wary about another version of the 'Cinderella' story. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was instantly captured by the storytelling and the easy-to-read style. I could not believe that someone actually lived through such a horrific, soap-opera-like life! The cultural and historic perspectives of the story added a whole new dimension. I commend Adeline Mah for her courage.
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Summary: One of the most powerful narratives of the decade. A must!!
Review: The power of Adeline Yen Mah's story is hard to contain in the pages of the "hard Cover"text. This is a story that should be required reading by anybody interested in China, in family relationships ,in life....
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