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Summary: I really recommend this book.
Review: This book is for someone who wants to broaden their knowledge of women in China. In general, it can also broaden one's perspectives on life. The writing style is average, not too good, but not bad. The content is what makes it a good book. The true stories of these women can be overwhelming and will stay with you and affect the way you see the world. If you have a weak heart, this book might be too much for you, because it is really really sad. Overall, it is a book well worth reading.
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Summary: AN ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE SOCIETY OF FEMALES
Review: This book should be included in "Ripley's Believe It or Not." The true stories are so different and interesting that you will not put this book down! I don't know about the Chinese women being born today..in July 2003, bu the generations earlier had life made so difficult for her that, at times, you could not call females human beings...or human beings that were flawed due to mens' callousness. Some of the chapter titles shed some light on what you can expect as a reader: "The Girl Who Kept a Fly as a Pet," and "The Woman Who Waited Forty-five Years," and "The Woman Whose Father Does Not Know Her." You will thank your lucky stars you live in the West and if you are a female, will give double thanks. This is a rare reading experience that you will never forget. In fact one of the individuals who reviewed in this venue thought the stories were too far fetched to be believed; in other words much exaggerated. What do you think?
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Summary: Page Turner Alert!!!!!!!!
Review: This book was written so beautifully. It was very sad but depicted the strength of not only Chinese women but the Human spirit in general.
I have an adopted daughter from China and I will give her this book when she is old enough to understand it.
Rating:
Summary: Page Turner Alert!!!!!!!!
Review: This book was written so beautifully. It was very sad but depicted the strength of not only Chinese women but the Human spirit in general.
I have an adopted daughter from China and I will give her this book when she is old enough to understand it.
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Summary: Thank you for sharing these stories
Review: This is one of those rare books that I know I will never forget. It takes you on a journey to China during the Cultural Revolution, as experienced by some incredible women. Women who, for no fault of their own, had their lives tragically destroyed by the forces that the revolution unleashed. It moved me deeply and I will recommend it to anyone with a mind and heart.
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Summary: "Modern" China
Review: This startling collection of stories offers a remarkable insight into the lives of women in the country that threatens to become the most powerful in the world in the 21st century. Communism promised equality for all in China, but like all political systems it is no match for traditions and customs that have lasted for thousands of years. These stories painfully explore what happens when the modern and the traditional collide, crushing women in the middle. Living in a culture where revealing the most personal aspects of our lives on TV is a daily occurance, it is hard to envision how revolutionary Xinran's radio show "Words on the Night Breeze" was in China. For the first time, women had an anonymous way to tell their stories to the world, and what spilled out was heartbreaking. There were stories of true disaster, like the mothers who suffered through a devastating earthquake and watched their families swallowed up whole. But these things happen in every country. Much more disturbing to me were the stories of arranged marriages by party officials--in this nation of "comrades," a woman still has no choice but to stay with a husband who is lord and master, and treats her much as her female ancestors must have been treated long ago. Or the story of the young girl who is abused for years by her father--when her mother finds out about it she is told to put up with it to avoid angering him! Stories about the massive cruelties of the Cultural Revolution abound--I never cease being surprised and shocked at the pain this country visited on itself during the rule of Mao in the 1960's. Surely things are changing, one asks. But after reading about the university student I wasn't so sure. Women in university are the cream of the crop. But Xinran is shocked to learn that many choose what sounds like a new twist on an ancient tradition--they become "personal secretaries" to high powered businessmen, some foreigners, who need help navigating the Chinese system. They are totally cynical and businesslike, and view these relationships as a way to earn money and security. Woe to the woman who falls in love with her boss, however--she is cut off as cleanly as a concubine might have been abandoned in ancient times. This is a painful, sobering book. Progress and freedom are elusive concepts, and again and again after reading of other parts of the world, I realize how lucky Americans are that we got to "start fresh" a mere 200+ years ago. This is a wonderfully written book, well deserving of 5 stars.
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Summary: Heartbreaking stories very well told.
Review: What struck me the most with The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices is the unpretentious way the stories are presented. No where does Xinran leave me with the impression that she is 'milking' the stories for all they are worth in order to gather sympathy from the reader. Instead she leaves me with the impression that she is almost reluctant and embarrassed to tell the stories she presents. Stories that each have in common that they are equally heartbreaking.
Speaking for myself I can only say that every one of those stories touched the fibbers of my heart..
Undoubtedly no one in the Western World is unaware of the suffering that comes with being a woman on most continents, yet it is a whole different story to be confronted with actual reports of the fate that befell a number of woman simply because they possessed a number of xx chromosomes; a reminder that to this day having a set of xy chromosomes makes you into an instant winner and a set of xx chromosomes into an instant victim on most continents.
To me these stories made me realize how privileged men are in not only China but in most parts of the world, and as such made me realise the long way we have to go before women are treated as equals.
It is because of the unpretentious presentation of the stories and the content of those stories, which I found to be without flaw, that I rate The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices with five stars. And warmly recommend it to those interested in hearing what being a woman in China can get you in some very unfortunate but not rare cases.
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Summary: Beautiful but questionable
Review: Xinran's collection of stories about Chinese women presents the reader with darkness and beauty simultaneously. Each chapter unveils an individual's secret experience of love, pain, fear or joy. I was glad to have been offered a glimpse of the hard reality of China's mid-twentieth century, and I feel changed by it. However, details of each story were clearly exaggerated for dramatic and moral effect. The tales would have been far more moving had they been written honestly, but instead they are so riddled with preposterous coincidences and movie-ish scenes that they lose some value. Xinran presents the book as an account of real women's lives--and I could have done without her little flourishes.
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Summary: Not one you'll forget
Review: Xinran's telling of the stories of Chinese women make their lives very real, even for this far away country and culture that is far removed from our lives in the West. It is a haunting yet moving account that you will not soon forget.
Rating:
Summary: Not one you'll forget
Review: Xinran's telling of the stories of Chinese women make their lives very real, even for this far away country and culture that is far removed from our lives in the West. It is a haunting yet moving account that you will not soon forget.
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