Legacies: A Chinese Mosaic: Amazon.ca: Bette Bao Lord: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

As residents of contemporary China voice their opinions, we hear from an aged scholar who underwent torture and imprisonment, a doctor appalled at medical practices and a terrified journalist. According to PW , this "kaleidoscopic blend of reportage, oral history, reminiscence and family reunion sets the agony of China's current situation against decades of smoldering ferment for democratic change."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

YA --Using the dramatic chronology of the "China Spring" demonstrations in 1989 as her structure, Lord illuminates the mystery that is China for Westerners. While in The People's Republic of China as the wife of the American Ambassador, she renewed family ties that had been severed in 1949 when she and her family departed for a political assignment in America. Using narratives from her Chinese family and new friends, Lord is able to repair her family heritage and come to terms with the disparity of the two cultures that she shares. This is a fascinating account of China from 1949-1989 and the tenacity with which the Chinese people hold on to life within a constantly vacillating world. The book is a valuable resource in helping students better understand the background from which the "China Spring" came. It also illustrates the demands placed on an individual who must live a bicultural life. An outstanding chronology is included. --Dolores M. Steinhauer, Jefferson Sci-Tech, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

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4.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Illuminates the last 50 years of Chinese history, Mar 12 2004

By

Dan (Boulder CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legacies: A Chinese Mosaic (Paperback)

How much do you know about recent Chinese history? I knew a bit, but reading A Chinese Mosaic, by Betty Bao Lord, really brought the recent human tragedies of modern China home.

Bao Lord intertwines two main themes: the story of her experiences as an American citizen who emigrated from China as a youngster and is returning as the wife of a American diplomat, and the stories of Chinese friends and acquaintances, often given to her on audio tape, and recounting the sordid and tragic tale of the last 50 years of China. She does all this against the backdrop of the mid to late 1980s and the Tiananmen Square protests by college students.

This book derives much of its power from the simple stories Bao Lord relates. Whether it's the man who stays alive locked in his office (for years) because his son flys a kite to reminds his father of his presence, or the stories of the real life excesses of the Red Guards, burning any of the "Four Olds," these stories are touching and real. Even her own family story has a certain pathos, as we learn about her grandfather dying three years before she was able to visit, her aunt calmly dying of cancer, and a sister who only learned that she was adopted by happenstance.

The Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and the other major events of modern Chinese history are only touched on as they affect the people in the stories told, but even that was enough to shock me with what this nation endured. In fact, it's even more shocking than it was when I read about it in the history books, because the folks in the stories are real people.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Painful stories of the Cultural Revolution, Jun 21 2003

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J. Marren "jtm497" (Glen Ridge, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Legacies: A Chinese Mosaic (Paperback)

Bao Lord's book is a montage of stories about her family and friends in China against first, the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution, and then Tienamen Square in 1989. There have been many books that have come out in the 1990's on the Cultural revolution, an unimaginably painful period of 10 years in China during which Mao Zedong turned the people against one another as a way of deflecting challenges to his own power. The country descended into chaos as the Red Guard, basically a group of millions of teenagers set loose, destroyed everything in its path. Thirty million people died during this period! It is hard to imagine living through what Bao Lord's characters have endured--betrayal by relatives and friends, the death of a child, imprisonment for no reason, torture, the destruction of education, art and culture--it goes on and on. Many of these stories are told in the characters' own words, transcribed from audio tapes sent to her by people who wanted their stories told. The stories of Bao Lord's own family are equally absorbing, especially of her grandmother, who defied tradition and paid the price.

I listened to the audio version of this book, read by the author. Generally I find that professional readers do a better job, but this book was an exception--Bao Lord reads with great emotion in a slightly inflected voice but otherwise no acccent. She does an excellent job.

Anyone traveling to China is well-advised to read several memoirs of modern China. It is easy to look at China today and see rapid modernization, signs of free enterprise, and a bustling economy. Books like Bao Lord's remind us that China has a long way to go.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Flawless, Nov 13 2002

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C. Wang (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Legacies: A Chinese Mosaic (Paperback)

This is the most amazing book I read in a while, in touch me in all the ways possible. I simply love this book so much. It is a story telling that one could not be found anywhere else. Bette Bao Lord surpasses Amy Tan with Spring Moon. Peerless in its artisry and beauty, Lord has done wonders.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Untitled
Written by the wife of former ambassador to China, Winston Lord, whe was present in the spring of 1989 as CBS reporter for the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Read more

Published on Nov 3 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars experiencing the cultural revolution
This book is filled with fascinating anecdotes about the cultural revolution. I had visited China shortly before reading it and felt everyone should go there as you don't... Read more

Published on Oct 28 2001 by lanoitan