Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng
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Book Reviews of Life and Death in Shanghai
Book Review: Triumph in the Midst of Adversity
Summary: 5 Stars
This book tells an extraordinary story that would only take shape in our imaginations with superheroes. Life and Death in Shanghai is not about Batman, Superman, or Spiderman, but it is the riveting life story of Nien Cheng. It was truly amazing to see how an individual could possibly live through such an ordeal and put it on paper for the world to read.Life and Death in Shanghai is not only a factual account of Nien Cheng¡¯s life, but it is also a source of historical information from the time of Mao Zedong¡¯s rule in China. The trials and tribulations that Cheng endured all added to the historical information that is presented in this book. Cheng is very meticulous in that she writes her personal story relevant to the historical events that are taking place around her. The use of such detailed historical evidence helps bring the story of her life to reality. What was quite appealing to my enjoyment also turned out to be a great historical lesson to me that all should be able to learn.
At times throughout the book, there are some scenes that appear to be long and tedious, but despite that factor the book moves along in a smooth fashion. Cheng intertwines her human emotions with all the things horrible things that are occurring. Every moment that Cheng spends in the detention center is told descriptively throughout the book. She tells the reader, in detail, the interrogations, the torture, the emotions, the uprisings, and to say it all in one word, everything. There is one portion of the book where Cheng is tortured in handcuffs. As one reads every word in that portion of the book, one cannot help but to look back and forth to her picture on the cover. Questions begin to fill the mind of the reader, especially those that question one¡¯s character and integrity. These questions progressively cause the reader to put himself or herself in Cheng¡¯s position at the time. As a reader, one is able to empathize with Cheng and at the same time learn the intricate history of China. Although there are no superheroes that have magic capes in this book, Nien Cheng comes close to a character with a lot of courage, strength, and ambition to overcome the impossible.
Book Review: Essential reading . . .along with others
Summary: 5 Stars
Nien Cheng's admirable book, with its lucid and objective account of her dreadful ordeal during the Cultural Revolution, deserves to be widely read. This brutal and destructive period of Chinese history began more than forty years ago, but many of its tormenters and their victims are still alive; people like the "militant female guard," who makes Cheng's life so miserable, must be senior citizens today, watching, or even participating in, the victory of the "capitalist-roaders." Other readers have already bestowed every form of praise on "Life and Death in Shanghai," so I'll merely offer this additional insight. To more fully understand the scope of the Cultural Revolution, I think it's useful to read other accounts of it as well. Cheng's account is from the perspective of a well-born, highly educated, affluent woman, one who chose, with her husband, to return to Shanghai in 1949 because they felt that the Communists had the capacity to reform and restructure Chinese society. In short, they were patriots. An interesting and very different perspective is presented in Anchee Min's "Red Azalea," as it is the account of a young woman whose family has little money and no connections. As a result, she is buffeted by forces she often cannot control, and she grasps at opportunities for release from the collective farm and for an education as if she were being swept down a powerful river, occasionally grasping at a branch that pulls her out of the current. Then there is Jung Chang's "Wild Swans," which is also quite different. To my mind, the most interesting story in her memoir is that of her parents, true believers in the communist revolution. Their gradual fall and bitter disillusionment is the central story of "Wild Swans." Read "Life and Death in Shanghai," then read the others, and you'll gain a complex and complicated picture of life during the Cultural Revolution.
n.b. Nien Cheng died on November 2, 2009, at the age of 94. Not many people have the capacity to be as brave as she was.
Book Review: Nightmare of the Cultural Revolution
Summary: 5 Stars
Life and death in Shanghai is a terrific and very well written true story.Nien Cheng is truely one of the most courageous individuals I have ever read about.During China's cultural revolution when Mao Tze-tung was slowly losing his contral over the people his wife silently formed the red guards(made mostly of peasants and students)to prosecute Mao's enemies.Thousands of innocent people were imprisoned,tortured and murdered.As I read this book I found it hard to believe that so many people could be so violent and crazy.They were so brainwashed by the "cult of Mao"they couldn't think for themselves.Life and death in Shanghai starts with Nien Cheng being accused of being a British spy simply because she worked for Shell and her "background" was not in line with the Maoist.She was locked in solitary confinement for six and a half years.In jail she was beaten,humiliated,not given enough food and subject to a kind of torture that almost made her lose complete feeling in her hands.What makes this book stand out from other stories about the cultural revolution is that Nien Cheng never "confessed" her crime.When thousands of people of people were making false confessions under torure she refused.Even when it meant more suffering and jail time.The saddest thing about this book is when Nien is finally released from prison she learns her only daughter was beatened to death by red guards,because she would not denounce her mother.I felt like her struggle for justice was in vain,but as I read on I realized what a brave and extraordinary women she was. I recommend this book for to people who are interested in reading what it was like in prison during the cultural revolution.I also think readers who like books about ordinary women in terrible situations(like Betty Mahmoody's Not Without My Daughter)should read this book. I also recommend Jung Chang's Wild Swans which is more of an extended story of the cultural revolution and China.Book Review: Memoir of Communist China
Summary: 5 Stars
From 1966 to 1976, China was plagued by Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Although Mao's ideology was widely accepted throughout his reign, the revolution signified the beginning of a harsh and convoluted period, when the political and economic situation eventually became uncontrollable. In Nien Cheng's riveting account of her personal experiences in revolution-torn Communist China, she quickly understands the rationale of Mao's actions, but because of her capitalistic background, the government felt that Cheng was an ideal target for the activists of the revolution. While in prison, she endured constant torture, and her survival relied solely upon her unrelenting spirit and the nostalgia for a "normal" life.As a full-blooded Chinese, I commend Cheng for her devotion and willingness to put aside her emotions and to write her experiences in order to preserve an illustrious piece of Chinese history. This book was a pleasure to read and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a complete look at China during the era of the Cultural Revolution. This autobiography is also for those who are looking for a book concerning the strength o f the human spirit and the bonds between family and friends. Even though she was locked in a prison for six and a half years, her descriptions of the political situations are second to none and her descriptions of the revolutionaries are vivid and lucid. While this is indeed a well-written and beneficial piece of literature, one could question the integrity of her words. It seems as though Cheng has made a carbon copy of the past and is able to recite her past dialogue verbatim. However, even with these minor problems, this book is unique and enlightening, a literature gem that should be cherished by all generations alike.
Book Review: 544 Pages of Fixating Grandeur
Summary: 5 Stars
In a world revolving around quick fixes and immediate satisfaction, if this is the only five hundred page book you ever read I won't jugde you. This autobiography is a disturbingly real account of the victims behind the Chinese Cultual Revolution. The face on the cover is the face of endurance and of real struggle. When you think that you are having a bad day in your suburban life, and you are stuck in traffic in your SUV, think of Nien Cheng and her six and a half year stint in a Chinese prison created with the goal in mind of breaking down the human spirit. She embodies the real womyn role models that are thrown to the wayside in the wake of Brittany and Barbie. She tells her story with enough restaint to not leave the reader burdened but instead enlighted with the story behind the revolution. I was actually waiting at times for her to point more fingers and scream out through the pages to make sure her oppressors heard. Her life was turned over and shaken by its ankles for over six years. Her own neighbors condemed her and those around her were victimized as well simply because her government saw her as a security risk because of her ties with Brittan and America. Despite this she comes off with an air of closure. It is a fast read and you are not required to be an expert on the period to appreciate it. She provides all of the necessary elements of history to comprehend the circumstances. If you are interested in the psychological and social ingredients that lead people to enslave and torture one another you might what to pick up [different book]. This one the other hand is not a light read, but it is very interesting. I hope you enjoy Life and Death in Shanghai.