Review: Amazing
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 21, 2011
What a book, what a life!In an easy, unaffected narrative, Junying Kirk tells a story of life in China before and after the death of Mao Zedong. In the first half of the book she talks about family life, personal relationships, survival, customs and traditions, politics and bureaucracy as experienced first hand in an environment that offered little personal choice.In the second half of the book, the young woman tries to make her way at the other side of the world, battling the obstacles, making friends, forging relationships and jumping through the hoops on the foreign soil and in a foreign language.Very cleverly, the book is written in English as a second language, a touch that enhances authenticity and provides an interesting insight into the culture and way of thinking.My one objection are occasional and rather bizarre slips into third person narrative. I'd like to see that edited out.