Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Colors of the Mountain by Da Chen ISBN: 0-375-50288-2 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 08 February, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.73 (56 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: This is why I love reading books
Comment: History nuts don't seem to like this book. But let's forget whether or not Da Chen's memoir is historically accurate, let's just enjoy the inspirational story that it is!
Da Chen has a talent that is undeniable. His lyrical storytelling is poignant, unpretentious, and fluid. One can see his story unfold in their mind vividly and with ease. THis book does not take much effort to read. It draws you in with exceptional ease.
Some parts did seem unreal and sugary, like how he made friends with fourteen year old hooligans at the age of ten, and their wonderful dinner that they prepared one day.
But other than that, who cannot help but be drawn into this story of the oppressed--the families of landlords in China during this time period? THey endured great inhumane torture, and learned to maintain their dignity and pride throughout. Da Chen's story is universally appealing. How he survived through all this torture and managed to make it to college and become a success is phenomenal. He is an inspiration to anyone.
Never mind if their is a strand of historical inaccuracy!
Rating: 2
Summary: A Memoir or a Fiction
Comment: I was very impressed by the overwhelmingly positive reviews about Da Chen's memoirs (Colors of Mountain) in the national media (especially the article on News Week). I thought that finally, here comes a fresh writer from China with such passion and humility and was writing about the time our generation care deeply about. Well, I have to check it out. Indeed, his use of humor and earthy style is very effective and touching. One could not but to resonate with him at various points of his struggle and triumph. The book would be good if he did not pass it along as a memoir but as a first person fiction. My rough assessment on the contents of the memoir is as followings. There is about 20% of real-life experience that can be easily dissociated and are commendable. The rest can be divided as about 70% second hand exaggerated fantasies for the situation effects and about 10% deliberated fabrication for the sole propose of self-indulgence.
Let's set a few records straight as an illustrative example. First, Da Chen is not a son of a landlord (his father is). There is only one sentence that talked about that because his grandpa is a landlord, so that his father was dismissed from his teaching job. This is hardly a true statement. I have not encounter a single instance that a teacher was dismissed solely because his/her father is a landlord. Indeed, my study of China of the same period shown that about 40 to 60% (dependent on the specific geographic location) of school teachers' fathers are landlords or worse according to the standards of the day. There must be something else he was hiding.
His vivid description of his first day of schooling (the trouble with tuition) is hardly credible either. He might, indeed, hold 50 fens (equivalent of 50 cents) in his hand and that the teacher gave him the extension on tuition. But the tuition was only 3 Yuan (equivalent of 3 dollars). The education was essentially free at the time and 3 Yuan was mostly for the books etc. For example, any one of his piglets (when fatting up by the end of the year) would easily sell for 60 to 100 Yuan at the time (a princely sum, indeed), not to mention the mother pig they had all along (if only one knows the truth, all that sympathy for him would evaporate). The recollection of his association with the gang-activities is equally laughable. Without getting into the details, I just want to remind the readers that at the high of his gang association, he was only 9-10 years old (I had the sense of dislocation of time when reading his description). There must be other ways to generate the same sensation.
His distaste for the Red Guards is also very strange. True, he might be turn down the first time when he applied to join the little red guards (and I don't believe that the whole class was little red guards except him, perhaps only 30% was in little red guard at first. I personally, have to apply eight times in order to join). But strangely, he did not have any memory of his second and third attempts. I'm sure he was admitted into the little Red Guard eventually. What about his joining of the real Red Guard in middle school (he probably was the first few that was admitted into that organization)? Furthermore, there is no description of his joining the Communist Young League. One might wonder what kind of selective memory he has. Then, there are many instances of bizarre alteration of historical facts that make this reviewer wonder just what he is try to present. For instance, on page 77, he quoted the lyric of a popular song at the time, but inserted the "Russian" there himself, but why?
In all, this memoir should be labeled as a fiction. Even so, one should think twice before been foiled into his semi-genuine sentiment. I do not recommend this book for serious reading.
Rating: 1
Summary: Fiction passed as memoir
Comment: This book caught my attention immediately when I saw it. Besides my interest in Chinese history, I found from the book's jacket it was the life story of the author who was born in the same year I was, 1962, also in rural China. Wow, I thought, I could really relate to it. I wanted to enjoy the book.
As I read it, I grew more disappointed. The book was more about fiction than facts. As other readers had pointed out, it was full of fabrications or shades of truth. To cite but one such case, the author talked about being treated by a school nurse after a fight. A school nurse? In a rural elementary school? Perhaps in America, but there was no such thing in China!
Clearly the book was written for the western audience, which is not a bad thing. But, the author, whose intelligence and ability I don't doubt, would have been more honest to market it as fiction rather than memoir. I should have known better, given the manner of the crystal clear memory the author flushes out in the book. All that after some thirty years!
 |
Title: Sounds of the River : A Young Man's University Days in Beijing by Da Chen ISBN: 0060958723 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
 |
Title: China's Son : Growing Up in the Cultural Revolution by DA CHEN ISBN: 0385729294 Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers Pub. Date: 12 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: Throwing the Emperor from His Horse: Portrait of a Village Leader in China, 1923-1995 by Peter J. Seybolt, Peter J. Seybold ISBN: 0813331315 Publisher: Westview Press Pub. Date: November, 1996 List Price(USD): $32.00 |
 |
Title: Wandering Warrior by DA CHEN ISBN: 0385730209 Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers Pub. Date: 14 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: River Town : Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler ISBN: 0060953748 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 24 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
