The Last Emperor
by EDWARD BEHR | History | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0553344749 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0553344749 Global Overview for this book
Registered by 
haahaahaa98
of Watertown, Massachusetts USA on 5/27/2017
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
haahaahaa98 of Watertown, Massachusetts USA on 5/27/2017 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
To be released!
Journal Entry 2 by haahaahaa98 at Panera Bread, 299 Harvard St. in Brookline, Massachusetts USA on Saturday, May 27, 2017
haahaahaa98 at Panera Bread, 299 Harvard St. in Brookline, Massachusetts USA on Saturday, May 27, 2017
Released 6 yrs ago (5/27/2017 UTC) at Panera Bread, 299 Harvard St. in Brookline, Massachusetts USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Live meeting release!
I claimed this book at today's meetup; many thanks! It's a biography of Pu Yi, last emperor of China, and was proposed as a tie-in to the 1987 film, which was based on Pu Yi's own autobiography. Behr opted to write a serious biography rather than a simple "book of the film".
Later: Interesting contrast between Pu Yi and other royal heads of state, begging the question of how the rulership of China might have changed (or not) if it hadn't been for the revolution. The book opens at the end of his life, as a cosseted patient in hospital, whose favored status is threatened by the Cultural Revolution - and whose peace of mind is challenged by visits from people he named and defamed in his own memoirs. It's difficult to be completely sympathetic to him - he did some awful things - but his early life was so very bizarre that it's amazing to me that he grew up remotely sane...
The author of this biography goes to some trouble to explain the reasons behind some of Pu Yi's choices in his own autobiography, possibly slanted to make him less threatening to the new powers. The book also highlights many of the more dramatic and appalling aspects of the various revolutions - and of the old class systems they replaced.
Not what I'd call a fun read, but informative and thought-provoking.
[There's a TV Tropes page on the film.]
Later: Interesting contrast between Pu Yi and other royal heads of state, begging the question of how the rulership of China might have changed (or not) if it hadn't been for the revolution. The book opens at the end of his life, as a cosseted patient in hospital, whose favored status is threatened by the Cultural Revolution - and whose peace of mind is challenged by visits from people he named and defamed in his own memoirs. It's difficult to be completely sympathetic to him - he did some awful things - but his early life was so very bizarre that it's amazing to me that he grew up remotely sane...
The author of this biography goes to some trouble to explain the reasons behind some of Pu Yi's choices in his own autobiography, possibly slanted to make him less threatening to the new powers. The book also highlights many of the more dramatic and appalling aspects of the various revolutions - and of the old class systems they replaced.
Not what I'd call a fun read, but informative and thought-provoking.
[There's a TV Tropes page on the film.]
Journal Entry 4 by 
GoryDetails
at Little Free Library, Buckthorn St. in Londonderry, New Hampshire USA on Tuesday, May 30, 2017
GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Buckthorn St. in Londonderry, New Hampshire USA on Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Released 6 yrs ago (5/30/2017 UTC) at Little Free Library, Buckthorn St. in Londonderry, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in the Little Free Library at aruond 4; hope the finder enjoys it![See other recent releases in NH here.]
*** Released for the 2017 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2017 Movie release challenge. ***
