- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Mariner Books; Reprint edition (1 Jan 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0618380434
- ISBN-13: 978-0618380435
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.2 x 1.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 376,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is fantastic, I could not put it down!Although historically remarkable, intensely moving and erotic, at heart this book is based on the friendship between two girls, Wild Ginger and Maple. Set agianst the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution this book describes in detail what life in china was like whilst Chairman Mao was in power and how none-Mao supporters were diciplined & executed. It really is a heart-wrenching tail of a girls battle for survival and her desire to be accepted. From war to intense bullying in a time where sexual relations are forbidden, both Maple and Wild Ginger fall for the same man, Evergreen. Wild Ginger denies her desire for him but Maple has other ideas! When Maple and Evergreen decide to take off together, Maple (...and the reader!) underestimate Wild Ginger's feelings and what she will do to stop them....!
Format:Paperback
This book starts poorly however very quickly ramps up, I'd say it is very moving in parts it is almost a coming of age story bit set against the Chinese revolution. Some of the taboos and the backdrop which it is set about seem incredibly realistic and heart wretching in feelings.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
26 reviews
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
As good as Red Azalea
7 April 2002
Format:Paperback
From the time Maple meets her in elementary school, Wild Ginger has always been singled out for a particular kind of torture because of her "foreign colored" eyes. This gives the girls something in common because the Red Guards have been making Maple's life a living hell because her father is in prison.
Anchee Min writes of China's Cultural Revolution with a restraint that makes the spiritual cost of such repression all the more horrific. As Maple and Wild Ginger grow, they see that the only way for them to survive is to become model Maoists, to pin all their hopes and deeds on the Great Leader. When Wild Ginger and a young man named Evergreen discover emotions that have no place in the Chairman's little red book, all three of them risk complete destruction.
Don't be deceived. Min leaves no doubt that this will not be a "triumph of the human spirit" story in the way most will expect it. In fact, the human spirit may not triumph at all. But you will keep reading, your heart aching for these girls, their young friend, and anyone who has to pass through this kind of daily gauntlet in order to survive.
Anchee Min's last novel, "Becoming Madame Mao" was a bestseller and a fine piece of work. But my favorite is her first novel, "Red Azalea," which broke new ground with its straightforward description of an ordinary girl during the Cultural Revolution. Min knows that there is no need to elaborate on these stories; simply relating them as if they were the most ordinary thing in the world is more devastating than embellishment.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Love and politics in during China's cultural revolution
26 Oct 2002
Format:Paperback
This story is about two friends growing up during those recent awful times in China when family background could earn you a beating from sadist classmates. That's how Maple, the first person narrator, met Wild Ginger. Together they fought the class bully, and together they studied Maoism. Wild Ginger, however, whose father was a foreigner, had a harder time than Maple. But the abuse she endured even pulled her more strongly into Maoism. Eventually she rose in the party. And when a young man developed a romantic interest in her, a triangle developed that included her friend Maple. That's when the events take a more tragic turn.
From the very first page, I was immediately swept up in the story, which was set against the background of the horrors of Maoism. Here was history come alive through the eyes of the people, each one so beautifully developed that even the minor characters became unique individuals. There is not a wasted word and the tightly crafted sentences, juxtaposed with quotations from Mao's writings, brought me right into the heart of China. I felt the political fervor as well as the frustrations and depravations of living through that unique time.
I loved this book. I read it quickly, and had a hard time putting it down. Highly recommended.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Freedom is Slavery
2 Aug 2002
Format:Paperback
Adults are terrified to curb the impulses of sadistic children for fear of being branded an anti-Maoist. Children denounce their own parents and citizens are executed, tortured or sentenced to labor camps for life for the most arbitrary of political `crimes' or for having the misfortune of being descended from the wrong social class. The entire community is forced to attend marathon mass rehearsals in freezing weather for Mao quotation singing rallies. The only words that are safe to speak are Mao's own, which the children spend most of their school days memorizing and chanting endlessly. George Orwell's 1984 sounds like a walk in the park compared to China in the midst of the Cultural Revolution.
Against this totalitarian nightmare of a backdrop the reader is introduced to the title character through the eyes of Maple, a kind natured child. Wild Ginger is tainted because she is ¼ French, and she is ostracized and loses everything as a child because of it. Through sheer will and a singlemindedness to become the best Maoist ever she rises in the party and ascends to power. Being a perfect Maoist leaves no room for marriage, love or humanity, though, and when she and another rising Maoist fall in love tragedy results.
The author survived the Cultural Revolution, and her experiences lend a chilling authenticity to this story.
Against this totalitarian nightmare of a backdrop the reader is introduced to the title character through the eyes of Maple, a kind natured child. Wild Ginger is tainted because she is ¼ French, and she is ostracized and loses everything as a child because of it. Through sheer will and a singlemindedness to become the best Maoist ever she rises in the party and ascends to power. Being a perfect Maoist leaves no room for marriage, love or humanity, though, and when she and another rising Maoist fall in love tragedy results.
The author survived the Cultural Revolution, and her experiences lend a chilling authenticity to this story.
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