Rating: 
Summary: Life and Death in Shanghai
Review: Stared at with a plethora of glowering eyes, while being publicly humiliated in front of the very people that once supported her: this is the story of Nien Cheng, a Chinese woman that felt the backlash of the Cultural Revolution. While reading this book I was taken through the author's experiences and inner emotions as she was oppressed and incarcerated by the Chinese government. At certain points the reading slowed down and I was overcome with boredom and tedium, which was mainly due to the repetition of events that seemed to draw out in a never-ending cycle of interrogation. For the most part, however, the book went by rather quickly as I could almost feel the torment Nien Cheng had experienced at that time. While reading this book I was also presented with the political situation in China in the 1960's and the dilemma the accused capitalists, as well as their children, had to face. Although I learned a great deal about life in China during the Cultural Revolution, I was unable to make a generalization from Nien Cheng's experience, since her case was not an example of the life of an average Chinese citizen, but rather an extremity. She expressed more courage and will power than anyone I have ever known, and continually refused to give a false confession even after experiencing solitary confinement and excruciating physical torture. She hides nothing, revealing the truth behind the red curtain of Mao's reign in a comprehensive, well-written autobiography.
Rating:
Summary: Arrogant Views and Sympathy from a "CounterRevolutionary"
Review: Though tedious at times, Nien Cheng's memoirs of her life in communist China, Life and Death in Shanghai, excels at creating empathy for the author, as well as in giving a detailed account of the situation and politics in the world in which Cheng was trapped. In her memoirs, Nien Cheng is able to extract compassion and sympathy from her readers. Rather than have readers in the scene, the book runs like a movie, with the reader looking on. In that perspective, the author used powerful descriptive language and basic emotions to have the reader relate to her situation. This draws the reader into both the tragic events that Cheng is going through and into her political views. This is a good addition because it is necessary for the success of political evolution throughout the book. Without the comprehension of politics in China that Cheng provides, a reader could easily get lost.
One of the pitfalls of Life and Death in Shanghai is the repetition of several scenarios. Perhaps the most overused in the book was Cheng's visits to prison hospitals. Though those events helped to add to Cheng's descriptions of living conditions, they seem to be unnecessary after a time. One other negative side to her book is that Cheng seems to take somewhat of an arrogant position towards the Communists. This seemed a bit presumptuous, because it seems like she sometimes got by because she was either lucky or naïve.
Overall, Life and Death in Shanghai is an incredible book. Though it has a few flaws, they can be overlooked by the powerful message that the books sends, the persistent viewpoint it represents, and the deep impact it leaves upon any reader.
Rating:
Summary: Serious, Startling (4.3 on a scale of 1 to 5)
Review: "Life and Death in Shanghai" is a serious and sobering piece of work. It provides a personal account of the Cultural Revolution in China that is both horrifying and inspirational.Nien Cheng had lived a privileged life in Shanghai. The widow of the former General Manager of Shell, she too had worked there after his death until they left the mainland in the mid 1960's. Soon after, she became a target of harassment for the authorities. She was brought in for questioning, her home was ransacked, she was under observation. Then she was put into solitary detention for six and a half years. Her description of her time in prison and of her ability to stand up to the authorities again and again is amazing. This book put a human face on the cultural war and on suffering its citizens went through at this time. She almost dies several times in the book; the reader feels as if he or she is dying along with her. I would recommend this book to those individuals who enjoy memoirs and historical biographies. You certainly feel as if you are a personal witness to history through Cheng's eyes.
Rating:
Summary: Documenting a Strong but Overproud Personality
Review: I read this book to prepare for my final presentation in a class on conscience and political struggle. As Nien Cheng describes her experiences during China's Cultural Revolution, the reader cannot help but feel for her. What distinguishes this tale is the fact that Ms. Cheng does not need flowery prose to illustrate her story. Instead, the language is straightforward, telling nothing but the facts. Those facts speak for themselves. Bare, raw details of her daily struggles with torture (both physical and mental), disease, and discomfort over her six and a half years in solitary confinement provide all the illumination the reader needs. Stanley Karnow,of Washington Post Book World, calls the book a "chronicle of her courage, fortitude, and...stubborn integrity." As an autobiography, the story does draw much of its success from the subject's character. For the most part, I agree with Mr. Karnow about Ms. Cheng's personality. However strong the story, one aspect of it bothered me. When Ms. Cheng finally is released (no, that is not a giveaway- she writes her memoirs in the past tense, so you know from the start that she gets out and publishes this document), she states (and shows) that she is hardly changed by her experience. The Communists locked her up on charges of being a capitalist and an elitist, a member of the bourgeois. While I do not agree with their treatment of her, their assessment of her character may not be far off. Ms. Cheng is issued an apartment upon her release, but she soon considers agitating for a whole house to herself. In the meantime, the street in front of her apartment complex is lined with makeshift shacks, home to Chinese peasants unable to afford housing. The whole time, she considers them a nuisance, trespassing on her private property. Though she could not possibly help them all, Ms. Cheng does not even display sympathy for their plight. Perhaps the author had some particular reason for this apparent lack of feeling. If she did, it is not addressed. Thus, though I appreciated her vitality and strong spirit in enduring hardship, I left the book believing that she did in fact feel she was above her fellow citizens.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful, moving and leaves you speechless
Review: I first read this novel when I was 16. I was mesmerized by it. TIME Magazine had printed an excerpt of the novel and after reading the excerpt, I bought the book. It's been almost 14 years later and I can still remember the content of this powerful novel. I think it is amazingly well written, very detailed, historically correct and extremely moving. The insights you gain about life during the Cultural Revolution give you a light into that dark age of chaos and pain. Today, when I watch movies, read books or hear about other people's stories, I still find myself reflecting back to Nien Cheng's novel. Nien Cheng is extremely courageous and is built of the fiber of the "old" Chinese ways. There is a lot of sadness on her tale as well about how a nation tried to denounce itself and forget about its past. This book is a MUST READ if you have any ounce of interest in Chinese people, their history or their culture. It's also a MUST READ if you are a Chinese for it'd allow you an insight into yourself and your land of origin, China. Be prepared to realize that after you've read this book, you're going to be a different person.
Rating:
Summary: A vivid and meticulous account of Cultural Revolution
Review: I am a Chinese living in Hong Kong and I have relatives who have endured through the Cultural Revolution. The events that they told me were in a very great extent similar to those described by Cheng. As a result I think she did not exaggerate nor making up any stories of her own. Moreover, remember that what Cheng has gone through is just very "typical" among the tens of thousands of so-called "capitalists" during that period. Her detailed and sober description of what she had been experienced is breathtaking. You could not resist to read until the last page. There is just one thing I couldn't understand: How can the people of a whole country turn mad just overnight? After reading the last page, I took a deep breath and hope that after so many years and also after the reform, China will never experience such a turmoil again.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting Read
Review: "As I stood in the room looking at it for the last time, I felt again the cold metal of the handcuffs on my wrists and remembered the physical suffering and mental anguish I had endured while fighting with all the willpower and intellect God had given me for that rare and elusive thing in a Communist country called justice." (351) That dispirited note, expressed by the author and narrator of Life and Death in Shanghai, dominates a book which pulls the reader through a journey of anguished sorrows and undeserved tragedies. Nien Cheng recounts her life as a citizen in a politically transforming nation headed by Mao Zedong, a zealous proponent of communism. Upon the death of her husband, the author becomes the general manger within the Shell Oil Corporation. Government officials believe she became associated with certain enemies and was a foreign spy. She is consequently imprisoned for six and a half years and is forced to undergo many tortuous interrogations. Cheng incorporates vivid imagery and personal emotions as she tells her story, delivering a powerful and moving account. She successfully allows the reader to understand and begin to feel how life must have been while living throughout the Cultural Revolution with Red Guards violently ruling the streets and raiding homes. Although parts of the autobiography may seem repetitious such as the constant interrogation scenes, they only emphasize the tediousness and arduousness of the processes Cheng was forced to endure while being accused of crimes she did not even commit.
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Summary: life and death in shanghai is great!!!
Review: When I was first told about this book I knew that I had to read it even though I had never heard of the author, Nien Cheng. I was very interested by the way that the story was presented to me, as a reader, and some one that did not know much about the Communism in China. She is able to incorporate Chinese terms and other insider information in a way that allowed me to understand their meaning. The way that she portrays the Cultural Revolution in China was eye-opening and touching at the same time. She is daring enough to get the truth out about the way Chairman Mao treated the people of China under his rule.
From the time that I first picked up the book and started reading it, I could not put it down. Nien is very talented in recounting the harsh and cruel treatment that the Chinese put on her. Reading all of the different things that China tried to do gave me a very different perspective on their government. I now know the truth about what kind of people they actually were and I thank Nien for exposing me to that.
Nien is only one of thousands whose life is similar to this story but the others were either too afraid to tell it or theirs story was simply not published. Her story speaks on their behalf and gives us a different view of how the Chinese were actually treated. This is a good book to read to remind you of the will and intelligence of the human spirit.
Rating:
Summary: My favourites
Review: I read this books a many times for I love it so much. Although the author I never heard of, I am glad I bought this book.
A must read because of her survival skills, her courage, her determination and the inspiration.
Rating:
Summary: Serious, Startling (4.3 on a scale of 1 to 5)
Review: "Life and Death in Shanghai" is a serious and sobering piece of work. It provides a personal account of the Cultural Revolution in China that is both horrifying and inspirational. Nien Cheng had lived a privileged life in Shanghai. The widow of the former General Manager of Shell, she too had worked there after his death until they left the mainland in the mid 1960's. Soon after, she became a target of harassment for the authorities. She was brought in for questioning, her home was ransacked, she was under observation. Then she was put into solitary detention for six and a half years. Her description of her time in prison and of her ability to stand up to the authorities again and again is amazing. This book put a human face on the cultural war and on suffering its citizens went through at this time. She almost dies several times in the book; the reader feels as if he or she is dying along with her. I would recommend this book to those individuals who enjoy memoirs and historical biographies. You certainly feel as if you are a personal witness to history through Cheng's eyes.
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