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Title details for Wild Swans by Jung Chang - Wait list

Wild Swans

Three Daughters of China

by Jung Chang
Joy Osmanski
Audiobook
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The story of three generations in twentieth-century China that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history—a bestselling classic in thirty languages with more than ten million copies sold around the world, now with a new introduction from the author.
An engrossing record of Mao's impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, Jung Chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members: her grandmother, a warlord's concubine; her mother's struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents' experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution.

Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a "barefoot doctor," a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving—and ultimately uplifting—detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    December 13, 2011

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781442349704
      • File size: 658632 KB
      • Duration: 22:52:08

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Three generations of a family--grandmother, mother and daughter (the author)--relate, not only a family history, but also a picture of China from the Boxer Rebellion to Tiananmen Square. Written with a remarkable clarity of vision, the most striking aspect is the picture of what communism, and especially Mao Zedong, did to China and her people. Rowena Cooper reads in a clear, British accent without providing vocal characterizations for individual characters, a choice appropriate for a work that doesn't include extended dialogue. Chinese names and words are easily understood. Cooper skillfully conveys emotional content, maintaining pace throughout. Her ability to capture the pain, courage and determination of the characters through years of tribulation, combined with the author's remarkable story, produces an outstanding audio performance. M.A.M. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      The history of twentieth-century China is told through the lives of three women--Jung Chang, her mother, and her grandmother. Reader Anna Massey brings the perfect tone to the recording. Her British accent relates the tale simply, but compellingly. Massey's passion acccentuates the text. Technically exceptional as well, this memoir is superior in all regards. The listener will learn much about recent Chinese history with pleasure. This is a must for most libraries. E.L.C. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 2, 1991
      Bursting with drama, heartbreak and horror, this extraordinary family portrait mirrors China's century of turbulence. Chang's grandmother, Yu-fang, had her feet bound at age two and in 1924 was sold as a concubine to Beijing's police chief. Yu-fang escaped slavery in a brothel by fleeing her ``husband'' with her infant daughter, Bao Qin, Chang's mother-to-be. Growing up during Japan's brutal occupation, free-spirited Bao Qin chose the man she would marry, a Communist Party official slavishly devoted to the revolution. In 1949, while he drove 1000 miles in a jeep to the southwestern province where they would do Mao's spadework, Bao Qin walked alongside the vehicle, sick and pregnant (she lost the child). Chang, born in 1952, saw her mother put into a detention camp in the Cultural Revolution and later ``rehabilitated.'' Her father was denounced and publicly humiliated; his mind snapped, and he died a broken man in 1975. Working as a ``barefoot doctor'' with no training, Chang saw the oppressive, inhuman side of communism. She left China in 1978 and is now director of Chinese studies at London University. Her meticulous, transparent prose radiates an inner strength. Photos. BOMC alternate.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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