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A Leaf in the Bitter Wind
 
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A Leaf in the Bitter Wind (Paperback)

by Ting-Xing Ye (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 486 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam Books (1 Jun 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0553813064
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553813067
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.6 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 353,825 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #7 in  Books > History > Countries & Regions > Asia > China > Communism in China

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Product Description

Product Description
Born in Shanghai to the daughter of a factory owner, the revolution tore Ting-xing Ye's family apart. This is her account of her early life on a prison farm where as the child of a capitalist she was tortured, her role as English translator for the Chinese government, her defection to Canada and her continuous attempt to contact her daughter.

From the Back Cover
Spanning thirty-five years, this enthralling memoir chronicles the life of a survivor who has been buffeted by the winds of history. Ting-xing Ye was born in Shanghai, the fourth child of a factory owner who had his factory taken from him. By the age of thirteen, her parents were dead.

The Cultural Revolution then tore Ye's family apart. With grim irony, she offers a riveting account of her work on a prison farm, where, as the child of a 'capitalist', she was subjected to humiliating psychological torture, then wryly relates how she found herself accepted into Beijing University and assigned to the Foreign Ministry as a translator for the delegations of such dignitaries as Queen Elizabeth, Ronald Reagan and Imelda Marcos.

In a moving and dramatic final section, Ye writes about her feudal-style marriage, her falling in love with a Canadian, and her eventual defection. Her former husband has refused her all access to her daughter. Now a Canadian citizen, Ye continues to attempt to contact her child, hoping to bring her to Canada where she too may be free.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars What a wonderful in-sight into modern life in China, 25 April 2001
By A Customer
This book was a fascinating read. It was such a revealing and frank review of the Chinese cultural revolution as well as being a real eye-opener. The book was easy to read as it was both moving and interesting and I really wanted to learn about how the author's life changed over time.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling Memoir of the struggle with state opression, 30 Oct 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: A Leaf in the Bitter Wind: A Memoir (Hardcover)
A compelling story about the human struggle against the brutal oppression of the Cultural Revolution. Through a vivid recounting of one person's experience, we learn more about a period in modern history that teaches us of the senslessness of tyranny and the human suffering that can accompany unchecked political leadership. Written with distinction, this account of one woman's experience leaves us with the awarness that human struggle in China is far from over but recurring in new and different ways. A must read for anyone interested in China, its recent history and its current struggles to modernize.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A struggle for freedom, 11 Dec 2005
By Luc REYNAERT (Beernem, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Ting-xing Ye's book shows eminently how political systems and decisions influence profoundly individual lives.
It is a personal report on Mao's one party-paradise: no free communications (total censorship), no free speech, no free travel, no free time, only harsh work and tiring meetings of political indoctrination. The reward was a meagre meal.
Marriage had to be approved by the Communist Party. Socially, all important were good connections with corrupt party bureaucrats and their rampant nepotism. Informants were all over the place, creating a sick atmosphere of suspicion. Only a few family members and friends could be trusted.

Ye's realistic portrait of the upheaval created by the, for China, disastrous Cultural Revolution is impresssive.
Her book gives also an inside look on the main character traits of the Chinese and the all important 'fear for loss of face'.

Ye's autobiography discloses a permanent struggle for personal independence from family chains and from the terribly irritating climate of suspicion and the sham pressure for political 'correctness', in one word, to be free from the Party's eyes.
Her book is an in depth political report with an individual human touch.

Not to be missed.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book
I picked up this book out of my curiosity on the Cultural Revolution and ended up getting more insight than I originally bargained for. Read more
Published on 28 Jul 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read!!
Among all the books that I read about the Cultural Revolution and all the political turmoils that happened in China, Ting-Xing Ye is the only writer who is as honest and... Read more
Published on 27 Jul 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Under Chairman Mao's Fist
For anyone who wants to know what it was like to be Chinese and live through the various campaigns of Chairman Mao, this is the book to read. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 1999

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