From the back:

"During China's Cultural Revolution, Nien Cheng, a fluent English-speaker who worked for Shell in Shanghai, was accused of being a British spy and locked up in solitary confinement for 6,5 years. When she was finally released - to face years of further harassment and intimidation - she learned that her daughter had been beaten to death by over-zealous Red Guards. This extraordinary book is the story of her struggle to survive against all the odds, defying her brutal interrogators and steadfastly maintaining her innocence."

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One of many books passed on to me by my aunt.

This was quite a book! What a life Nien Cheng had. It's hard to imagine how she survived those six and a half years in prison. One can't help but admire her strength, determination, resourcefulness and bravery. I loved how she managed to sail through her interrogations with the use of her quick wit. A wise woman. The book itself might have benefited from some more editing though. At times the narrative was a bit too detailed to my liking - but interesting nevertheless.


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Now this book is off to jumpingin in Canada, who picked it from ApoloniaX's Asian VBB. Enjoy!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Enjoy!

The book has arrived safely--and not just the book. Tea, chocolate, bookmarks, a postcard and a key chain, oh my! I was so surprised and thrilled. Thanks, Annimanni!

This was an extremely detailed look at Nien Cheng's life during and after the Cultural Revolution. I agree with Annimanni that it could have been shortened. But at the same time, I think the length and the amount of detail--with the same kinds of struggles and suffering happening again and again--somehow reinforced what life was like at that time.

Although it was long, it was very interesting. Once again, humans' ability to make other humans suffer was shocking and unsettling.

This book will be travelling to ApoloniaX very soon.

Sent to ApoloniaX by surface mail today.

I just received it - along with another VBB book and some lovely HGG goodies. Thanks a lot, jumpingin!

This is a gripping, remarkable autobiography of a Chinese woman who spent years in prison as a “capitalist-roader” – basically because Premier Chou En-lai’s adversaries were looking for proof that his decision to let in foreign firms was wrong. Nien Cheng was one of the many, many victims of power struggle between high-ranking members of the Communist Party. She would have been released much earlier if she had given in and lied, but she kept on denying everything she was wrongly accused of, kept her integrity and didn’t join the mad witch-hunt of self-criticism, silly accusations and denouncement of others. It’s impressive how calm and analytic she remained during interrogations even after years in prison, even during times of torture. She describes her life there without self-pity and shows amazing will-power, spirit and high self-awareness. This is not just her own story, but at the same time a good documentation of the paranoia and craziness of the Cultural Revolution and the years afterwards. It’s no easy read, but absolutely worthwhile.

RABCK for 727!

Thank you, ApoloniaX fir this RABCK - I'm always curious to read something Asian themed or by Asian authors.