In preparation for my upcoming trip to China, I am trying to do some reading that gives me a flavor of what this most populous and ancient nation is all about. I read Hua's book "To Live" and I have seen the movie adaptation starring Gong Li, so I came to the book knowing something about the author. He is not a man to mince words. He has grown up in Mao's China and he continues to live in Beijing, so he offers an unflinching and intelligent account of how his country has changed over the past 40 plus years,a s well as an approach for a foreigner about how to try to attain cultural competence.
The ten words are as follows:
- People
- Leader
- Reading
- Writing
- Lu Xun
- Revolution
- Disparity
- Grassroots
- Copycat
- Bamboozle
It is a fascinating blend of memoir and insight. The chapter on revolution is personal, and very much like other accounts of what childhood during Ma's regime was like ('The Girl with the Red Scarf' is my favorite version). Reading and writing are also personal, but illustrative. I knew nothing about Lu Xun, and the ubiquity of his writing and no one else's during the Cultural Revolution, so very enlightening. The chapters on people, leaders, and grassroots are wonderful, but the very best chapters are copycat, bamboozle and disparity. I have new eyes on China.
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