Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng
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Book Reviews of Life and Death in Shanghai
Book Review: Chinese Hardball
Summary: 5 Stars
A philosopher suggested that anyone wanting to understand the American people should first learn the game of baseball. Similarly, it might be said that to begin to fathom the inscrutable Chinese, one would do well to first learn Go. Whereas, baseball requires strength, speed, agility, and quick thinking, to excel in the board game Go, only superior intelligence and great patience are required. In Go, power and speed, be they mental or physical, are of little import. There are no home runs in Go. In Life and Death in Shanghai, our real life heroine relies on her intelligence and patience in a seven year battle against tyranny. Amazingly, her story is told unemotionally. Bit by bit, as if placing Go stones, she explains her situation. Stripped of her belongings. Accused of spying. Separated from her daughter. Jailed. Tortured. Ill. Interrogated. Hemorrhaging. Losing teeth. Isolated. Released. Watched.
For every harrowing event she always seems to have an appropriate studied response. As vicarious observers, the esthetic of her performance is on a par with hearing Yehudi Menuhin in his prime. Whether its DiMag in the outfield, Dr. J. to the hoop, or Cheng in a "struggle" meeting, there are few experiences that can match the thrill of seeing a truly great artist perform at the top of their game.
Book Review: Outstanding Narrative
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a powerful narrative about courage in the face of wrongful imprisonment in Maoist China. Author Nien Cheng was an obvious target during the Cultural Revolution in 1966. She'd lived outside China, spoke English fluently, and she worked for a British trading firm in Shanghai. Cheng describes being harassed by Red Guards, then arrested and locked in isolation except for prison interrogations. Cheng possessed a remarkable inner toughness, which along with her determined refusal to confess to false charges, probably helped her survive the lengthy ordeal. Cheng also faced illness and even torture - plus growing suspicion that her only daughter had been killed in the mayhem. Once released, Cheng had to deal with spying neighbors and government plants that tried to trick her into criticizing the regime. Only after the infamous Gang of Four was arrested in 1976 (following Mao's death) could she hope for rehabilitation.
Despite her suffering, Cheng writes with compassion and gentle warmth. While visiting China I saw tourists reading this book - one might suppose it is banned there. Readers should enjoy this moving narrative, and might also consider two additional superb narratives, Red China Blues (by Jan Wong) and Wild Swans (by Jang Chung).
Book Review: The veneer of civilization, as they say, is very thin
Summary: 5 Stars
Nien Cheng is an eyewitness to (and victim of) the Cultural Revolution in China, the purpose of which was to eliminate the "four olds" - old culture, old customs, old habits, and old ways of thinking.
The Cultural Revolution was part of the cult of the new and modern, leading inevitably to uncontrolled savagery. It established a totally arbitrary system of law, in which there was no truth independent of party policy. Officially, 10,000 Shanghai citizens died, "unnaturally" as they say, under the Cultural Revolution. Many times that number were imprisoned for incorrect thinking, or because denouncing others could lead to one's own early release from prison. That's in one city alone.
Remember the song "Dirty Old Town" by David Byrne? I just kept thinking about that song reading this book. "Keep your head down and keep your nose clean/People who are scared do dangerous things"
Nien Cheng, herself, is witty and creative, and mentally spry despite her sufferings. She writes an amazing account of what happens when "wishful thinking" becomes a political requirement and a policy of "personal utility" makes the helpless or inconvenient people... expendable.
Book Review: living the unimaginalbe
Summary: 5 Stars
A friend of mine gave this book to me after he read it. Not because I am a Chinese so I want to know the past in my nation, also because I know what happened to my parents and what life they have lived have profound influence to their children. It's the learning of the humanity of family and communinity that motivated me to read. I just finished the first two chapter and each page lays out people's lives in front of me. I can see my Mom in each page and my Dad. I can see how they carried it with them in US, a new place. I can see some of the pain never been healed and they want to burry away. I can see how it affect me growing up and the values I learn from them about myself. This is one of the most difficult book for me to read. I adore the author's ability to redisplay the past, its difficult to go into it, because I don't want to judge those has no compassion. I felt I am watching in a distant feeling all that I am feeling but not to judge because I can't do what they has done in the past. There are lessons, and that's one of them. so, if you ask me how I like this book. I say it teaches me what's life and what' is love, what we are here to learn and what each of one of us will find at the end.Book Review: Insightful, moving and leaves you speechless
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1986, when I first read this novel, 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. Today, in 2000, 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.