I found it interesting for the first half of the book but then it became redundant and tedious.

Wild Swans is an amazing, eye-opening look at China's past and reveals much about why China is the country it is today. I spend about 6 weeks in China (in manufacturing) per year, yet never began to understand what some of the people I work with with have been thru until I read this book. People my parents age being tortured, being starved, seeing arbitrary violence and murder of their children, their families, entire villages. Compared to Mao, Hitler was a nice guy. So few people seem to know or care about the needless starvation, violence & sadistic political game-playing that was inflicted on China by it's own government resulting in deaths of millions of people. I couldn't put this book down. Jung interweaves her family's history with the history of the country in a matter of fact way, documenting China as I have never seen it before. This is a must read.

I've had this book on my shelf since published in 1991 and decided this week to read it. I am sorry I waited so long. Beautifully written and an invaluable insight into the Chinese mind. In my opinion it goes a very long way toward explaining the historical distrust between Chinese and Western peoples. Chinese people could not/were trained not to express their thoughts (and in many instances were encouraged to not even have thoughts) and this lack of ability to communicate directly is perceived as untrustworthy by Westerners. I did have to laugh when I read that Chinese told their children to be grateful for their food as children in the capitalist West were starving! (Being of an age where when I said "yuck" I was told children in China were starving and I should be glad I wasn't.) But many did starve and many more were starved of spirit and individual thought. An outstanding and extremely readable history of a period of relatively recent political events and the results therefrom. Alas, the philosophy and practices of Mao have permeated many other parts of the world.

Spanning three generations of Chinese women, this 508 page tour de force is breathtaking in its scope. Each of the characters in this book is fully developed. The reader learns about life in communist China. It is almost too much to bear reading about the severe hardships endured by these brave women. My only criticism, and a minor one at that, is that as the Cultural Revolution squeezed out all of the old, beautiful and the traditional from society, it also made it difficult, if not impossible, for the author to convey the truly raw emotion that must have been experienced by members of her family and their friends as they suffered through the years of Mao. Nevertheless, as China continues to evolve and play a larger role on the world stage, this book helps us to understand how far the Chinese have come.

Stephen Ira Tamber

I won this great book when I was 18 years old. Until today, after almost two decades, I can still remember the story very well. Every page in this book is so alive with senses! I could really see the transitional period from one generation to the next; from the warlord era to the cultural revolution. It's simply amazing. At one point, I cried reading the hardship of the Chinese people. I also felt bravery in them. The unity of the people as well. Although it's not a history book, it gives an insight, a quick one, into the history of China.

I have mixed feelings about the book Wild Swans. It certainly was not a page turner, rather it was a book I could lay down at any time, and even walk away from for a couple of days, which I did a number of times. It didn't read like a novel, as some memoir/biographies do, rather it was as though the author, Jung Chang was narrating to me the history of her family, beginning with her grandmother. The narration is well written, but long, and ends when she is 26. A short epilogue at the end then updates you as to what she has done with her life in the 10 years following the writing of the book. So if you are looking for a wildly entertaining book you can hardly put down, this is not a book for you.

Having said this, I do not consider reading the book was time wasted. If you are at all interested in the history of China, especially what it was like under Mao's years in power, you would find many fascinating passages in the book. Of course most of us know that Mao was not good for the people of China, but I was truly surprised at what all went on under Mao and his wife. Some of it was so strange, that it seemed down right bizarre to me, such as when Mao determined that grass and beautiful things should be removed from the cities. People all over China were pulling up flowers and grass. Students even spent school time out in the yard pulling up the grass. Reading the book was a learning experience about a time that it turned out I really knew very little about.

This book is amazingly moving and well written. Anyone who is even remotely curious about the life of ordinary Chinese women throughout the 20th century should read this work. It not only describes the stories of three generations of Chinese women, but it transports the reader to world that the author is describing. I definitely recommend this book. Often I will sell biographies after reading them, but this book is a keeper.

A wonderful narrative of the pre-1949 and cultural revolution China told through three generations.

Though Jung is anti-Mao, her book does a great job of providing a relatively unbiased personal account of this pivotal period in Chinese history.

Jung's colorful family history gives her fodder for intriguing anecdotes and the reader a perspective into the life of a "well-to-do"/politically active Chinese family.

Before leaving for my 2004-05 sojourn in China, I naturally sought to acquaint myself with the culture in which I was about to live and work. Of the various books I read (which ranged from Chinese history to essays from American expats to descriptions of "the Asian mind" as applied to Western business people), it turned out that this book was BY FAR the most helpful in my day-to-day interactions -- both social and business -- with my Chinese associates.

Spanning the early 20th Century when author Chang's grandmother was given as a concubine to a warlord general, through mid-century when Chang's parents joyously risked their lives in the Communist takeover, to 1978 when Chang herself left China, WILD SWANS paints a vivid picture of the China of today. I found that the information in this book, told in first-person story form, gave me far more understanding of my Mainland Chinese colleagues than any journalistic writings ever did, or could have.

Since China is already a major force in western economies (especially America's), and will only become more central to the global economy, I consider it useful to share the observation of my personal experience: Understanding the RECENT LIFE EXPERIENCES of a nation's citizens is even important than understanding its customs. The good news is that history--told well--is a fascinating read! And Jung Chang's story is hard to top.

Doni Tamblyn is author of Laugh and Learn: 95 Ways to Use Humor for More Effective Teaching and Training and The Big Book of Humorous Training Games (Big Book of Business Games Series)

Before leaving for my 10-month sojourn (2004-05) in China, I naturally sought to acquaint myself with the culture in which I was about to live and work. Of the various books I read (which ranged from Chinese history to essays from American expats to descriptions of "the Asian mind" as applied to Western business people), it turned out that this book was BY FAR the most helpful in my day-to-day interactions -- both social and business -- with my Chinese associates.

Spanning the early 20th Century when author Chang's grandmother was given as a concubine to a warlord general, through mid-century when Chang's parents joyously risked their lives in the Communist takeover, to 1978 when Chang herself left China, WILD SWANS paints a vivid picture of the China of today. I found that the information in this book, told in first-person story form, gave me far more understanding of my Mainland Chinese colleagues than any journalistic writings ever did, or could have.

Since China is already a major force in western economies (especially America's), and will only become more central to the global economy, I consider it useful to share the observation of my personal experience: Understanding the RECENT LIFE EXPERIENCES of a nation's citizens is even important than understanding its customs. The good news is that history--told well--is a fascinating read! And Jung Chang's story is hard to top.

Nice review of History of China since world War II. Intersting way of telling story.

The story of this family is not usual. The grandmother was the mistress of a warlord, the mother was a communist revolutionist, and her daughter, the author of the book has escaped form China as a young girl. The thing I respect the most, that the author has only used personal experiences, and only written about things she has seen with her own eyes, or things which has happened with her family, and never used unchecked stories in her descriptions. She never tells a word in her story against the regime, even when she writes about the most shocking events in her family, but leave the reader to create his or her own opinion.

Some books are to be savored slowly and take me months to finish. Other books, like this one, are a delicious overindulgence of reading, the narrative sweep so compelling that I gobbled up all 505 in almost one fell swoop. Subtitled "Three Daughters of China", this 1991 autobiography is the story of 20th Century China itself. Here we meet three women, the grandmother and mother of the narrator, and the narrator Jung Chang herself, each experiencing the reality of China unique to her particular generation.

Born in 1909, the grandmother lived with the physical pain of her childhood footbinding, was forced to become a concubine to a warlord, and suffered all the indignities shared by women of her generation. The mother was born in 1931, lived through the Japanese occupation of her Manchurian town and the war between Nationalist and Communist China. She became a true believer in Communism, and she and her husband often put the needs of the Communist party above their own. She bore five children, one of whom is the author of this book, who grew up watching her parents become victims of the Cultural Revolution and undergoing torture and imprisonment as the politics of the nation changed. Through hard work and luck and more changes in China, Jung Chang was one of the lucky ones and was able to go to a University in England in 1978.

This book is more than the sum total of its parts however. It is the story of three women against the backdrop of history. I identified with each of them and was saddened and horrified at the details of their lives. In a funny way, while I was reading the book, I felt I was, myself, right there with them, going though the glories and misfortunes of China as it erupted in its dramatic changes. There was joy, there was pain, and there was avid patriotism. Especially though, there was a sense of family and honor that is very uniquely the Chinese. Sometimes I smiled but mostly I was saddened. And the fact that these stories were true made a tremendous impression upon me.

I've read other books about China. If they were fiction, I could get a sense of China, but I only have a limited emotional attachment for fictional characters. I've also read books about travel, mostly written by westerners, and these books were interesting inasmuch as I could see myself as the traveler, the observer. I've also read non-fiction about footbinding which made me grit my teeth a bit but the practices didn't relate to any specific person. All of these books were good, I reviewed them and gave them good ratings, but, frankly, Wild Swans was different. Here were real people against a backdrop of history. The writing was excellent and filled with facts which gave a context to their lives. I was sorry the book ended and I wanted to read more. I wanted to know what happened to Jung Chang after 1978. Of course I went to the internet where I discovered that she has stayed in England, is married to a Brit, and has recently wrote a book with him entitled "Mao.". This is a perfect topic for her. She and her family lived through Mao's greatest glory and his greatest excesses. I even found a webcast in which she talks about the book. She's middle aged now and she has a British accent and I am ordering "Mao" from Amazon today.

Read Wild Swans! You will come away with an understanding of China in a way not possible through the news stories. It's also impossible to put down. I give it one of my very highest recommendations

Irony, hypocrisy, suffering, famine, a multitude of tragedy, and a touch of insanity. No, it's not Desperate Housewives re-runs--it's Jung Chang's Wild Swans. The only thing missing is sex, and the reason why is of course a story in itself. If you're looking to kick-off your China reading experience with an essential novel, Wild Swans is for you. First published in Britain in 1991, the novel provides an eye-opening look at China's cultural history between 1900 and 1990 so truthful and thorough that censors have not yet approved it for publication in its original form in mainland China. That alone should make you want to pick up a copy.

In seeking to ameliorate the past and to make sense of her life, Chang delves into her family history, providing a brutally honest portrait of three generations of women. What is truly amazing about Chang's family chronicles are the wealth of hardships Chinese women have had to endure.

The book begins in the early 1900s, with her grandmother's (Yu Fang's) marriage at age 15 to a warlord general. She battled bound feet, loneliness, and the challenges of managing her reputation against conniving servants while isolated in a gilded prison awaiting a husband who might show up for only a few days or a week, once in six years. Once she was required to reside with the general's wife and other concubines, her and her daughter's--Bao Qin's--fates were in the hands of the first wife. Yu Fang had to struggle through the pecking order of the household's women. The details of the customs and rituals of well-to-do lives are quite interesting. Her second marriage was as the second wife of a well-regarded Manchu doctor. He re-names Bao Qin as De Hong, meaning wild swan of virtue.

De Hong, Chang's mother, grew up during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, during the 1930s and 1940s. She refused to marry a man she did not love and could not respect, so she left home to study at a teacher's college, where she developed communist sympathies. In stark contrast to the pomp and circumstance of her mother's arranged marriage, De Hong had to apply to the party for approval to marry a fellow communist in a binding that didn't even include a real ceremony and had minimal refreshments. They had no honeymoon, but returned to work. De Hong endured terrible emotional and sometimes cruel physical hardship as a result of her husband's party ideals and ambitions. Though she eventually had four children, she was tragically required to give all her time and attention to the party, which persecuted her despite her loyalty. Becoming a communist, she noted, was an "agonizing process." De Hong had little choice but to suffer in silence, as leaving the party would cause her family terrible problems and complaining would bring its own share of woe. Eventually her husband was unfairly and illogically destroyed and betrayed by the system he worked so hard to help create.

Jung, born in 1952, grew up with the privileges of party officers' children. But these privileges brought with them contradictions, confusion, and emotional challenges. Jung attempts to survive, fulfill her dreams, and make sense of the destruction of the topsy-turvy world of the Cultural Revolution and still emerge with something to live for.
When the schools are closed in 1966, Jung is sent into the countryside to learn how to be a peasant. While there, she is assigned work as a doctor and later an electrician--without any training, she was expected to learn by doing. Her first love is destroyed by revolutionary ideals. Despite her lack of formal education, Jung is accepted into university in 1973 to study the English language. Oddly, after university, students were not given degrees and were supposed to return to whatever jobs they had previously held! Her mother's guanxi helps Jung to secure a job for which she was far better suited--a teacher. As time goes on, she grows more disillusioned with the government and its leader and begins to question all that she has been taught to think all her life. After Mao's death, she enters an academic competition for which the prize is funding to study in the West. In 1978, she goes to London to get a Ph.D., where she remains teaching and writing to this day. A "wild" life, indeed.

Having completed making peace with family history by writing Wild Swans, Chang's next project was of course her myth-busting biography of Mao, published in 2005.

Seller is obviously a middleman who orders a book from a 3rd party when a book is ordered from seller. My book is definitely not "nearly new". Buyer gets an email excusing delivery time of up to 21 days in mail with request to not post a negative review. Seller won't provide tracking. I will look elsewhere next time.

I was impressed by Jung Chang's biography of Mao. Wild Swans puts that work into perspective showing what life was like, especially for women, in the waning days of the Chinese Republic and under the communists. The most striking thing is that all the "brilliant" young State Department officers who saw Mao as an agrarian reformer trying to modernize China were WRONG!!! This work shows on a personal level how that megalomaniacal, bloody-handed dictator actually ruled his kingdom. It also puts into context the American Left's "war against individualism" (Ted Kennedy) and what it could lead to if they ever got power.

All peoples of the world have the so-called baggage of history, not the least China which has seen more misery and suffering in the late 19th century through the 20th than in previous centuries. Jung Chang's book encapsulates that period through the lives of her family. It is a moving narrative and especially the period of the Cultural Revolution is as riveting as Nien Cheng's account of her travails. After reading this you will begin to understand why Chinese are so hell-bent on making up for lost time. Indeed, while the rest of Asia was experiencing economic boom China was mired in the Cultural Revolution. These self-inflicted wounds together with those from ruthless invaders are gradually being tempered by the hopes of better lives and economic development. Let us hope that the short time starting from the 1980's will herald a long period of peace for the country and the region.

For some reason I have always been attracted to China's history. From all the books I've read regarding the subject, I have found out that the best ones are the autobiographical ones. If your really want to know more about China's modern history, you have to read what people have experienced in flesh. This book is the account of the lives of three generations of women in China. It's well written. It's hard to read at times, but it's worth reading it. I simply loved it.

My Husband and I traveled to Beijing, Xian, Shanghai and a cruise up the Yangtze River in September 2005. Before leaving, I read Wild Swans and could not put it down. This is an exceptional personal account of a family's history in China which excompasses the actual political and cultural history of China during the life of the writer's grandmother, mother and herself. Very well written and when I met some of our Chinese guides and they told their stories (as they can and do now within the "new China"), I felt a familiarity to this book which, by the way, was banned in China at the time of our trip. I have ordered the writer's new book, MAO:THE UNTOLD STORY, and look forward to enjoying this book as well.

My husband and I are adopting an infant girl from China in roughly a year's time. Therefor, I have been reading literature on China non-stop to try to educated myself on my future child's homeland. This book is phenomenal and is written from the first hand perspective of three generations of Chinese women. From the grandmother's era of bound feet and concubines, to the mother's era of working for the Communist party and an obsession with Mao, to the daughter's plight to find herself in a new China and the foreign land of Britain. Beautifully written and very, very moving. I absolutely loved this book and it is one of my absolute favorite books about the history and culture of China.
Nina Little

Before I read this book I had limited knowledge of china's history, specifically when Mao was in power. This book does a very thorough job of explaining this period of history in china when Communism took root. It is a heartbreaking story of a family of women and the tragedies they suffered.
Some parts of this book where details of every little battle and riot could have been left out if you asked me. Overall it is a good education of China's history and the level of brainwashing that was "forced" upon a group of people whose aim was to create a better country.

Exquisitely written. Though this book was highly recommended to me, I was somewhat intimidated by its historical range, difficulty in pronouncing and remembering names and places (Tolstoy comes to mind), and the painful period it covers. Chang writes so clearly and deliberately (again Tolstoy comes to mind) that none of the above mattered. I raced through it. I had read a lot about the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath as it was happening but nothing in depth. I have since purchased Mao: The Unknown Story.

I read "Wild Swans" along with several other fiction and nonfiction books before I went to live in China for a 2-year assignment with a multinational corporation. No book better prepared me to understand the Chinese people and the history they have seen in their recent past. China is a country that is changing faster than we can comprehend in the West. But this change is only a continuation of the enornous changes that have occurred in the last century. "Wild Swans" takes us into the lives of 3 women of very different times and allows us to see and understand their day-to-day lives in the context of the times in which they lived.
The book helped me to be able to look at the Chinese of all ages and know the history and living conditions that they have experienced in their lives. To understand one's frame of mind is a gift of understanding that helped me in my social life and business dealings in this fascinating country. My 2-year assignment ended too soon and I opted to return for 3 more years later.
I recommend "Wild Swans" to anyone who wants a better understanding of China. I have not found another book to equal it in insight into the Chinese mind.

I read this book back in 1994 and it is still one of my most favorite writings. It is one of the few that I loan out and WANT back. It has a permanent place on my bookshelves. As I read it,I had to keep reminding myself that this is NON-fiction. How could I have grown up (born 1951) and not know what a different life was being experienced elsewhere!

This was the first of many books I have read on China, some fiction some non-fiction and it has had a lasting impression on me.

AN INCREDIBLE STORY!

Great historical overview but a tended to be a bit too much information and too long.

I just finished reading this book which is the riveting story of three-generations of women in one Chinese family. This book opened my eyes to a time in history that (embarassingly enough) I really knew nothing about. While the story of these women's lives are heart-wrenching, it is also a story of three very couragious women. I doubt many women of today would be able to put up with the mental, physical, and emotional pain that these women, and really all people in China at that time, had to. Wild Swans should be required reading in high school and college because there is so much to be learned about not only history, but human nature, from this book.

I read this book in preparation for a trip to China. The book follows the lives of 3 women (daughter, mother, grandmother) in China. Chang does an outstanding job teaching the reader about China's history and politics while at the same time giving us the women's stories. You will learn a lot about China during WWII, Japanese occupation, Communist revolution, Mao's great leap forward and the cultural revolution.

On the downside, the author does not do a particularly nice job in helping the reader understand the characters. You don't get into their brains. This is a minor criticism and I still highly recommend this book if you are at all interested in learning about China in the last 100 years. You will learn a lot without having to read a boring textbook.

It is incredible to read this true story about 20th century China. So little is really known about China to those of us in the West. It is hard to believe that so many "intellectuals" here in the West used to, and even still, have so much admiration for Mao when there is truly only evil behind this man. There is a lot of history in this book but really it is the personal story of the author and her family. A must read for us all!

"Mrs Shau slapped my father hard. The crowd barked at him indignantly, although a few tried to hide their giggles. Then they pulled out his books and threw them into huge jute sacks they had brought with them.

"When all the bags were full, they carried them downstairs, telling my father they were going to burn them... the next day after a denunciation meetings against him. They ordered him to watch the bonfire 'to be taught a lesson.' In the meantime, they said, he must burn the rest of his collection.

"When I came home that afternoon, I found my father in the kitchen. He had lit a fire in the big cement sink, and was hurling his books into the flames.

"This was the first time in my life I had seen him weeping. It was agonized, broken, and wild, the weeping of a man who was not used to shedding tears. Every now and then, in fits of violent sobs, he stamped his feet on the floor and banged his head against the wall.

"My father had spent every spare penny on his books. They were his life. After the bonfire, I could tell that something had happened to his mind."

(Wild Swans, Jung Chang, p.439)

Me, I might've lost mine completely.

After being near-perfectly obedient to a Party whose values you put above your family, to be accused of anti-Party-ism, judged for the very tasks you were instructed to unquestioningly and unconditionally, publicly humiliated and beaten (even made to kneel on glass) and forced to burn the very items you've spent a lifetime collecting and loving...why, I would've been long-gone crazy.

But then these Chinese Communists are dedicated to their work and politics (independently of the cash factor, which wasn't much in Mao's China in the 1950s' to 60s') in a manner quite unheard of today.

I mean, how many of us believe our local politicians are in it primarily because of their "commitment to the unity, harmony and welfare of the country" (to ask is to scoff). Not for Jung Chang's dad, one of the many victims of the Cultural Revolution.

Chang is kinda like Josephus, who escaped a burning Jerusalem (whilst she a 'burning' China) to become a historical-political writer.

Josephus' authorial intentions were of course far more motivated by their allegiance to his benefactor, Vesapian. His was a history of the Jews, but also a thinly veiled exaltation of Rome. Chang's agenda, on the other hand, is an outright expose of the delusions, the cruelty, the very insanity of life and government in China from the start of the 20th century.

From foot-binding to scheming mistresses to escaping third-wives(!); from miscarriages due to long treks (because wives are discouraged to ride in their husbands' vehicles lest 'bourgeosie privilege' is suspected) to the terror of city sieges; from communal self-delusion about a glut (which was really a famine!) to hungry peasants kidnapping babies for food; from profiting from the black-market in banned books (supposedly to be burnt but conveniently set aside for secret trade, especially the erotic ones like Stendhal's Le Rouge et Le Noir) to the Little Red Book 'loyalty dance' (how? Gyrate, wave the book, sing Mao's quotes) - Chang spills everything one would want (and maybe not want) to know about life before and under Mao, structured and timelined by the lives of her grandmother, mother and her own.

The language is simple and clear and not at all 'profound', twisty or avant-garde-ish. Not unlike something you might read in an exercise book from a good Asian secondary school.

Therefore, you sorta know it's the content alone that won Wild Swans the 1992 NCR Book Award and the 1993 British Book of the Year Award. The book is proof you don't need kewl-sounding language to make a serious impact on the literary stage.

Read 'em and (you will) weep.

Well written memoir that reviews the history of China immediately before, during and after the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists, and also the early days of the Communist government. The good and the bad of Mao's rule is vividly portrayed.

It took me over a year to finish reading for it is a large, amazing book and I wanted to make sure that I was very alert when reading. Ms. Chang has a terrific writing style that makes you feel you are right there. Each chapter contributed to my knowledge of China as viewed through three women's eyes. It is the type of book you can finish a chapter and then go back to later for she has organized chapters to complete a period in time. Kathy Condon

I am finding this book both educational and entertaining and I can't think of anything better to read. The author has a very dry style but you find what she has to say defies belief and you cannot put it down. I can see her mother telling her life story and a daughter sitting mouth agape at what her family has been through busily writing it down to share with the rest of the world.

This book gives a clear semi-deep picture of the communist beliefs and policies through the life of the writer and her family. I liked it a lot especially because the writer's parents had positions within the party which gave me a better understanding of how the political life her parents lived reflected on their family life.

Having lived and done business in China for several years I was shocked when I read this book and finally was able to understand possible 'why's for the behaviour and belief systems of staff, friends and clients. This opened my eyes and my heart and I find myself reacting differently to those around me.

This is by far one of the best books I ever read! I never really knew much, or cared to know about China or Communism (I'm embarrased to say-) This has changed my mind! Ms Chang has recalled an unbelievably sad personal history growing up in China, before and after Communism. Beginning w/ her concubine grandmother in early 1900's, describing the horrific ritual of binding her feet at 3 years old, to her own mother and father who blindly gave their lives for the communism cause, being away from their children for months on end, being told by the government how they had to wear their hair and what clothes were acceptable. Then there's Chairman Mao and his wife, the tyrannical self absorbed monsters, starving their own people, making them work in the fields just to sell their food to other countries, leaving the helpless Chinese peasants to starve. I learned SO MUCH from this superbly written book...I just started reading "The Private Life of Chairman Mao" written by his personal physician to learn his side of the story, he was just as fearful of Mao as everyone else. I buy and sell lots of books on Amazon, but will Never sell this one!

This is one of the best books I have ever read, and reread, for that matter. It should be studied as political history, and read for being a compelling family saga.

The story of three generations of a Chinese family goes into the suffering of both this family and China as a whole, and how Mao led China out of a difficult time only to bring down even worse horror. Chang's parents were betrayed by an idealogy they believed in.

This is better than Chang's other book, a biography of Mao, which is good, but very biased. Nevertheless, the bias does not invalidate the research and message of Mao's evil.

I've been censored by Amazon, had my rating taken away, and can no longer make comments. I don't know why I can still write reviews, but we'll see how long that lasts. The reason for the censorship, when I asked Amazon, was not addressed, and thus I can only assume it is because of my stand on Mao's evil, and my criticism of those who defended Mao. I don't care about my rating, but not being able to debate with comments is annoying.

Amazon, along with Google, Intel, Yahoo, and who knows how many other companies, according to a Frontline documentary, have bent and conformed to the Chinese government wishes in order to do business in China. Check out Chang's biography of Mao, and how every positive review gets flooded with negative votes, something mighty fishy is going on.

I am grateful for Mrs. Chang who took the time to write this book. After reading this book, I feel I more understand the history of China in the last century and a half. I am currently living in China and so to understand these beautiful people's history is invaluable. Many things have changed, obviously, but some mindsets have remained and this book has helped me to make China my home as a foreigner. If you are traveling to China for any period, or are interested in global affairs and reprecussions, this books is for you. It won't dissapoint. I'm currently reading it for the second time and it won't be my last, I'm sure.

Beautifully written and amazingly referenced.
The referencing in this book rivals any educational text.
Following 3 generations of chinese women from Imperial China through to the cultural revolution and Communist China.
An absolute must read.

Jung Chang tells the story of her family surviving the Mao years in China. An unexpected development - to me - was her father's character. While he was always moral and steadfast, I began by not liking him at all, and ended up venerating him for those very qualities. He exemplifies how a single human can maintain his dignity and standards in spite of the most horrific treatment. All his youthful ideals about the Communist party were trashed under Mao - as was his own reputation- yet Jung's father maintains his dignity and idealistic belief in what he perceived to be the humanistic goals of the Communist party until his very sad and unnecessary death. Jung's mother, who while under horrible treatment, was so kind to other people that she was called "Kuan Yin" or Goddess of Mercy. A true triumph of the human spirit.

Ms. Chang writes very dryly and dispassionately about her family's torment and trouble, I suspect because it is impossible for her to deal on an emotional level with the remembrance of such things as her mother's being made to kneel on broken glass. To write in a dry, these-are-the-facts style only enhances the horror of the treatment meted out not only to her family, but to many innocent people in China.

Yes, it IS history, and ought to be read as such, but it is also an affirmation of the survival of love, family, and the human spirit in incredibly tough times. It is not a romantic novel, nor a political polemic.

Read it if you want to know more about China and why she is how she is today, but also read it if you want to know the depths and heights to which human nature can plunge or soar.

Jung Chang tells the story of her family surviving the Mao years in China. An unexpected development - to me - was her father's character. While he was always moral and steadfast, I began by not liking him at all, and ended up venerating him for those very qualities. He exemplifies how a single human can maintain his dignity and standards in spite of the most horrific treatment. All his youthful ideals about the Communist party were trashed under Mao - as was his own reputation- yet Jung's father maintains his dignity and idealistic belief in what he perceived to be the humanistic goals of the Communist party until his very sad and unnecessary death. Jung's mother, who while under horrible treatment, was so kind to other people that she was called "Kuan Yin" or Goddess of Mercy. A true triumph of the human spirit.

Ms. Chang writes very dryly and dispassionately about her family's torment and trouble, I suspect because it is impossible for her to deal on an emotional level with the remembrance of such things as her mother's being made to kneel on broken glass. To write in a dry, these-are-the-facts style only enhances the horror of the treatment meted out not only to her family, but to many innocent people in China.

Yes, it IS history, and ought to be read as such, but it is also an affirmation of the survival of love, family, and the human spirit in incredibly tough times. It is not a romantic novel, nor a political polemic.

Read it if you want to know more about China and why she is how she is today, but also read it if you want to know the depths and heights to which human nature can plunge or soar.

I read this book for my book club. I enjoyed the book, it was interesting to read about the lives of these three generations of women in China & how constricted their lives were. I learned a lot about communism in China that I did not know. The time line of the story was sometimes a little hard to follow. If you are not interested in history or politics at all this book is not for you. The character development was lost to the political story. I do wish I knew how the author met her husband & her life was in the US after she left china, I felt that was lacking.

I just finished this book and found it amazing - I was totally engrossed in it while reading it, finding the story and events to be fascinating. I feel like it taught me a tremendous amount about 20th century Chinese history in a form far far superior to a textbook - many of the events are described from first hand experience of them. Others are told as the author heard them from friends and family. Overall, the book is superb.

The gripes some (a small percentage of people) will have are probably the following: 1) the writing style is either too dry or to the point, 2) the book weaves in and out of too many stories and recollections and should have stayed more focussed, and 3) possibly that the book is too "negative", as one reviewer here put it. In response to these possible complaints. 1) I would say that the reader should be prepared for a frank and direct record of events surrounding the author - I actually liked this about the book, as it made it more convincing. 2) On getting sidetracked, I would agree that for a little bit during the last 75 pages of the book or so, there was a lull as the author described events happening around various family members and friends. It could have stayed a bit more focussed and been slightly shorter, but this complaint will probably be voiced mostly by those who can't handle reading a 500 page boook... 3) On being "negative" or grubby, I strongly disagree and believe readers simply need to see how uplifting the book really is. There is nothing negative and there is no winning in the book in my opinion, although there is a strong political message surrounding Mao that develops in the latter half of the book. This message is not a complaint though, and from my view the author is, as I am, struck by Mao and what he was capable of in China during his reign.

I am the kind of person who cannot stand sustained negativity, so I never finished reading this book. I really think the author is a talented and smart person, and from what I hear from my parents I also think what she is telling is mostly true. But I feel sorry for her for what she must have suffered from her selfishness and her own negative view of everything around her. I used to be like that many many years ago and I know how it hurts. Anything has both good side and bad side. I think it's more healthy to remember what good things happened rather than how terrible things were which nobody can do anything about.
This book could be much better if the author had more sense of humor and described everything in a lighter tone.

Outstanding!! While reading I was transported into another time and place. Jung Chang is a contemporary of mine and as the story moved along I tried to think back to where I was at a particular time and compare my life expierences with hers. No comparison, what hardship's she and her family faced. Brave lady!! I also purchased "Mao" and can't wait for her next book

This is a memoir about three generations of women: The author who left China in 1978, her mother who married one of Mao's soldiers, and her grandmother, a concubine to a warlord. Beautifully written with honesty and courage about three amazing women who lived during the tumultuous times of the 20th Century in China. Only criticism is the need for editorial reduction of unnecessary descriptions throughout the book.

I was recommended this book by a physician I was seeing. I told him I was going to Beijing and he said his parents had been and really recommended reading this book before going to China. I received it and I am so grateful for the recommendation. The book is facinating, brutal, wonderfully written and gave me knowledge that I otherwise would not have received. I understood many of the things I saw with a new and more enhanced understanding. I loved visiting Beijing and I loved it even more because of this book.

This is one of the most moving books I have ever read. It is historically enlightening, personally moving, and tragic. To have lived and survived under Mao took ingenuity, guts and luck. You will never look at the Chinese in the same way after reading Wild Swans.

In addition to being entertaining, this book is extreemly informative as it provides an inside look at life under Mao, the Chinese Communist Party and the historical development of China.

This is a very comprehensive account of one family's endurance of Communist China as told from the perspective of one member of the family. At times, I think it's a little unbelievable in the detail that she knows about family members who were no longer alive when she wrote the book. However, the writing is easy and her descriptions emotionally charged. This would be an especially good book to read in preparation for a trip to China.

This book is an excellent story of a family through the reign of Mao. It is an excellent book to read after reading Mao. It gives you an example of how Mao's actions affected the lives of a family of his loyal followers.