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10 Works 3,148 Membros 131 Críticas 3 Favorited

About the Author

Xinran was born in 1958. After a career in the army, she became a journalist in the late 1980's, working as a radio broadcaster. A professor of psychology, Xinran is now living in England. She will be at the WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival in 2015.

Obras por Xinran

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Críticas

I had this slotted into March as a nonfiction read, only to discover after finishing it, that it's fiction. Weirdly, some sources on the internet still note it as NF, which is what it was originally published as, I think? Weirdness.

It's an interesting story, beautifully written in parts, about a Chinese woman who travels to Tibet in the 1950s to search for her husband, a doctor with the Chinese army. She ends up spending decades in Tibet, and the best part of the book, for me, was learning about the history and culture of the area. As a novel, it doesn't quite work because there are so many gaps in the narrative and Shu Wen is not fully developed as a character. But as a meditation on love, loyalty, and the essence of what makes us connected to others despite so many differences, it is a nice read.

3.5 stars
… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
katiekrug | 50 outras críticas | Mar 16, 2024 |
Doing an alphabetically inspired reading list can be considered restrictive but it can also lead you to read books that may not necessarily be high on the tbr pile. ‘The Good Women of China’ was not only my alphabetical X, but as it turns out, also a gem that has been hidden on my shelves for quite a while.

Without a hint of hyperbole or pretension, this is the saddest book I have ever read. This book should be required reading by every adult human being everywhere so that humanity learns what it is to suffer at the hands of power; learns that such suffering exists and that it is inherently wrong - a deep scar on our legacy and something our collective conscience should feel deeply unsettled by. The book’s title could have substituted the word good for several other adjectives: The poor/overlooked/long suffering/oppressed Women of China for example.

Xinran was a Chinese reporter with a radio phone-in show for women, which exposed her to their tragic stories from across the country which she shares here. One after the other, each story breaks your heart a little more than the last as we hear the brutal experiences of their female narrators. The theme: the weight of a regime, culture and hierarchy crushing and breaking the gender that gives them life and love.

I can’t fathom how important Xinran’s show must have been to the oppressed women nor how important this book being published is to a future hope of a better world - for by no means is China the only country where such oppression exists. I urge you to read this book, it is admittedly tough to read but I consider this small recompense for the pain these women have suffered. Hopefully a lot of people read it and the veil of China’s past treatment of women is lifted, understood and never seen again.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Dzaowan | 30 outras críticas | Feb 15, 2024 |
Received as a Christmas present from my bookgroup.

The story starts in 2001, and tells of three sisters (Three, Five and Six), who travel from the countryside to make their way in the big city of Nanjing. Since their parents never had boys - despite flaunting the "one child" rule - the girls have brought shame on their family, and they only warrant being given their birth order as names. The first two children have either committed suicide or been married off, and Four is deaf and dumb, so it is Three, Five and Six who go to the city. Each girl ends up getting a job that turns out to be suited to her skills - Three works in a restaurant, Five in a spa and Six in a tea house. Each learn a level of independence, as well as gaining self respect from being in the city and earning their own way.

rest of review at
https://nordie.wordpress.com/2015/07/04/book-review-miss-chopsticks-by-xinran-tr...
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
nordie | 23 outras críticas | Oct 14, 2023 |
Bookbox - ABC VBB; Sky Burial refers to a way the Tibetians bury their dead, but you don't get that until the very end. It's labeled as fiction but reads like a biography. Shu Wen became a physician & married another doctor in the People's Liberation Army that was sent to Tibet. When she got word that he was lost in action, she went to Tibet to find him, only Tibet was not like China at all - she was taken in by a nomadic family and spent 30 years there searching for her husband. In the end she found that he had died and been given a Sky Burial, but before he died, he saved a Tibet man and given his journals to him to give to his wife. Very lyrical and beautiful. Looking up information online, Tibet has never been recognized as its own country, but is considered part of China.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
nancynova | 50 outras críticas | Oct 14, 2023 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
10
Membros
3,148
Popularidade
#8,113
Avaliação
3.9
Críticas
131
ISBN
147
Línguas
17
Marcado como favorito
3

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