Memoir books from China
Recommended memoir books (11)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into memoir here are some memoir books from China for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows : A Memoir by Ai Weiwei EN
Description:
The “intimate and expansive” (Time) memoir of “one of the most important artists working in the world today” (Financial Times), telling a remarkable history of China over the last hundred years while also illuminating his artistic process “Poignant . . . An illuminating through-line emerges in the many parallels Ai traces between his life and his father’s.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, BookPage, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews Once a close associate of Mao Zedong and the nation’s most celebrated poet, Ai Weiwei’s father, Ai Qing, was brande... continue
2.
A Daughter of Han; the Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman by Ida Pruitt, from the story told her by Ning Lao T'ai-t'ai EN
Description:
2011 Reprint of 1945 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. In "A Daughter of Han" author Ida Pruitt presents the autobiography of a Chinese working woman. Through this story the reader gains insight into the China of the poor, of women, and of the provinces. The subject of the autobiography, Ning Lao Tai-Tai, is also interesting as she lived in the period, the late 19th to mid 20th century, during which China underwent its most dramatic changes. This is a genuine, warm-blooded, dramatic chronicle of a woman's life, of the life of one... continue
3.
Beautiful Country : A Memoir of an Undocumented Childhood by Qian Julie Wang EN
Description:
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The moving story of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world—an incandescent debut from an astonishing new talent • A TODAY SHOW #READWITHJENNA PICK In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to “beautiful country.” Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. In China, Qian’s parents were professors; in America, her family is “illegal” and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive. In C... continue
4.
China Cry : The Nora Lam Story by Nora Lam, Richard H. Schneider EN
Description:
Tells the true story of the love, courage, and struggles of one woman, Nora Lam, whose Christian faith led her to make the ultimate choice between life and death
5.
China Witness : Voices from a Silent Generation by Xinran EN
Description:
In 1912, 5000 years of feudal rule ended in China. In 1949, Mao Zedong came to power. This book is a personal testimony from a normally silent generation, a huge major work of oral history which sums up, in their own words, the vast changes which have overtaken China and its people over a century.
6.
Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin EN
Description:
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER The extraordinary memoir of a peasant boy raised in rural Maoist China who was plucked from his village to study ballet and went on to become one of the greatest dancers of his generation. From a desperately poor village in northeast China, at age eleven, Li Cunxin was chosen by Madame Mao's cultural delegates to be taken from his rural home and brought to Beijing, where he would study ballet. In 1979, the young dancer arrived in Texas as part of a cultural exchange, only to fall in love with America-and with an American woman. Two years later, through a series of ... continue
7.
Once Upon a Time in the East : A Chronicle of Growing Up by Xiaolu Guo EN
Description:
'This generation's Wild Swans' Daily Telegraph 'One of the most startling and fascinating memoirs I've read in recent years...a story of China' Libby Purves 'Impressive...moving...exhilarating' Financial Times 'Guo is rebellious, flamboyant and fundamentally optimistic...fascinating' Scotland on Sunday 'This stunning memoir picks up where Jung Chang's 1991 bestseller Wild Swans left off...This book will make your jaw drop, then clench in anger' Five stars, Sunday Telegraph 'Riveting...Guo is a bolder, angrier and more ambitious figure than her forebears' The Times Xiaolu Guo meets her parents ... continue
8.
Description:
A revelatory and disturbing portrait of China, this is Anchee Min’s celebrated memoir of growing up in the last years of Mao’s China. As a child, Min was asked to publicly humiliate a teacher; at seventeen, she was sent to work at a labor collective. Forbidden to speak, dress, read, write, or love as she pleased, she found a lifeline in a secret love affair with another woman. Miraculously selected for the film version of one of Madame Mao’s political operas, Min’s life changed overnight. Then Chairman Mao suddenly died, taking with him an entire world. This national bestseller and New York Ti... continue
9.
Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption and Vengeance in Today's China by Shum, Desmond EN
Description:
"THE BOOK CHINA DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ."--CNN A riveting insider's story of how the Party and big money work in China today, by a man who, with his wife, Whitney Duan, rose to the zenith of power and wealth--and then fell out of favor. She was disappeared four years ago. News of this book led to a phone call from Whitney, proof that she's alive. As Desmond Shum was growing up impoverished in China, he vowed his life would be different. Through hard work and sheer tenacity he earned an American college degree and returned to his native country to establish himself in business. There, he met ... continue
10.
Red Scarf Girl : A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang EN
Description:
In 1966 Ji-li Jiang turned twelve. An outstanding student and leader, she had everything: brains, the admiration of her peers, and a bright future in China′s Communist Party. But that year China′s leader, Mao Ze-dong, launched the Cultural Revolution, and everything changed. Over the next few years Ji-li and her family were humiliated and scorned by former friends, neighbors, and co-workers. They lived in constant terror of arrest. Finally, with the detention of her father, Ji-li faced the most difficult choice of her life. Told with simplicity and grace, this is the true story of one family′s... continue