my preferred way of learning history is through literary fiction about girls coming of agearc diverse from-publisher-author ...more59 s1 comment Roman Clodia2,628 3,602

That single figure in front of the massiveness of those tanks; it was incongruous, seeing an iceberg float across the warm waters of Hawaii.
I can imagine this book being a commercial success as it's warm-hearted and accessible, it has an unambiguous 'villain' in the Chinese authoritarian state, and the protests in Tiananmen Square have taken on an iconic status with that image of the protestor in front of the tanks beamed around the world. But this book wasn't a good match to me as a reader as it's more family saga than political novel, with about 75% following our narrator from childhood to university student. The protests come late and are described in sweeping generalisations.

And I guess that's a comment I'd make about this book overall: it feels generic rather than specific. I didn't really get a sense of what it was growing up in China in the 1970s-1980s other than in the most superficial way. More time is spent on friendships, on family dynamics, than the insider view I wanted: there's barely any ideology here either before or after the protests, and I wanted to know how, for example, the CCP have a purchase on education given that the protagonist spends all her time in the book either at school or university. But that isn't really where the interests of the book lie.

When we finally get to Tiananmen Square there's a similar flattening and lack of complexity. We are told, always told, that the general population supported the students, that there was tension in the military who were not, en masse, supportive of Deng and the Party but we don't learn more about this wider rebellion or dissension in the army, or the government's response. I don't know, this feels a little YA, almost all those dystopian fantasies where a small band of friends get together to raise a rebellion to overthrow the wicked dictator - only here the revolution doesn't win: that's real life for you.

Rather than political analysis we get this sort of thing: 'I imagine Deng and his cronies, so accustomed to power, had been sent into a fit of apoplectic rage by this point' - well, maybe... but Nineteen Eighty-Four this isn't. Which is fine, it's a different, personal, 'caught in the maelstrom of history' book - but just not to my taste.

I ended the book with questions: how fictionalized is this? Was 'tank man' really a woman or is that novelization?. And the epilogue that equates Tiananmen Square with Black Lives Matter and other protests #MeToo and abortion rights is an indicator of the loose political thinking that underpins the book.

For all my reservations, this is good on the narrator's family and the complicated ways in which they have responded to Mao Zedong, the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath. There's a warmth in the writing which is not sophisticated in literary terms: look at the opening quotation and see how that iconic image is hampered and edged out by the clumsy and puzzlingly inappropriate simile: 'That single figure in front of the massiveness of those tanks; it was incongruous, seeing an iceberg float across the warm waters of Hawaii'.

So a mis-match between book and reader in this case - but I'm sure plenty of readers who prefer 'human interest' history to political and ideological analysis will enjoy this. 2.5-3 stars.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalleynetgalley21 s Christina193 68

I was excited to read this book. In 1989 I was a young adult and remember the news covering the protests. Lai Wen was around the same age as I was but experienced a starkly different upbringing. I wanted to learn all about her life and how she experienced the events. I was prepared to read a memoir but what I hadn’t expected was such a beautifully written one!

As I began reading the story of her life I was overcome with joy at the beauty of her descriptions of her feelings and observations. Lai Wen mentions early on that she wanted to write. At an early age she began filling empty notebooks and she definitely has a way with words! I was immersed. I could imagine her at dinner with her family. I could see her traipsing the streets with her neighborhood friends and drinking tea with the elderly bookstore owner. Her words were a brush painting pictures in my mind.

This is a coming of age story. I have never d those much but this, in my opinion, is a wonderful one. Lai begins with her quirkily beloved grandmother and then adds her very interesting family members. A tyrannical, jealous Mother an aloof unemotional Father and a doted-upon younger brother.

Lai’s life is peppered with a colorful cast of characters. What I noticed most about the women is how they are devalued. In school and at home. Most men are revered and respected.

I enjoyed her life memories that built up until the point of the protests. It was a little slow during the college days but by the end I understood why that was necessary. I felt she wanted to make sure we truly knew her characters. There were some college and teen activities that I could have done without but they seem true to that age group.

This story does not start as a political story. But Lai becomes political as she grows aware of the censorship in college. That’s when she decides to join her friends and make a stand.

I laughed and cried as I read. I especially cried at the end. It’s sad what happened to a lot of those students. And for Lai the losses were substantial.

I do not know if this is a true story but it claims to be so I will take it at face value. I will never look at the student protests the same way again and especially not “The Tank Man”

TW: profanity, sex and violence.

Many thanks to Lai Wen and Spiegel and Grau for the ARC via NetGalley.16 s4 comments Susanne10

“Being human is about remembering. We are the sum of all our memories. And yet, everyone forgets.”

Memoir or fiction? I would say memoir, written under a pseudonym to protect the author, and any family members remaining in China. This story is about growing up in Beijing in the 1970s and 80s. There is something so deeply touching, tender yet powerful in the writing.

We follow Lai on her journey as she leads us through her childhood and teenage years. She tells us of her fears, anxieties and insecurities which are so painful yet exquisitely written. Her voice is soft and sensitive. Lai introduces us to her friends, playful and innocent until an incident with the controlling regime’s police brutality forever changes her.

We get to know her family. The withdrawn father. The bitter angry mother. The rebellious, spirited grandmother whose strength grounds them all. Each character in their own way presents us with lingering aspects of the Cultural Revolution. Tiananmen Square viewed, for most of the book, from a distance, is the ever present reminder of this past. As the story develops we are witness to Lai’s awareness changing and her political activism developing while attending Peking University.

It is only there, near the end of the book, that the story brings us to the events of the student rebellion of 1989 in Tiananmen Square. Lai is our witness to the actions of the government, the military, and the consequences of her friend's involvement..

This coming of age story is compelling, haunting, emotive and written beautifully. By the end, it left me in tears. It is a book I will long remember.

Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the ARC.8 s Stephanie Fitzgerald877

This book was very different from what I expected, when I requested it on Netgalley. The author’s style of writing was difficult to follow and understand. At many points I was unsure whether the narrator was a young child or a teenager; she referred to herself as a young child even in passages where I knew she was 14 or 15. And, it was just a very strange novel to wrap my head around. That’s what I kept thinking as I pushed myself through it; that it was extremely weird. I finished it, but I did not enjoy it.reviewed-on-goodreads8 s Emily413 25

4.5
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