I'm always a bit leery of buying books with only a few reviews, especially if they're all five stars. What if its a very niche book? I wonder. What if the star distribution is meaningless? But I read the first couple of pages and realized that it was exactly my father's kind of book, so I bought it for him. Well, I decided to read it as well, because it was there and why not. I'm usually a fiction reader, and was expecting to read a couple of pages and put it down.
Based on the fact that I'm now writing a five-star review, you can guess how wrong I was.
This story was in many ways a punch in the gut. This isn't just a biography of an ordinary family; it's the biography of a family that survived in horrific circumstances. They lived through the Great Famine in China, even as most of their village died of starvation. They somehow lived under Mao without joining the Communist Party. They endured decades of hunger, poverty, disrespect (as it, your neighbors all turning on you and the government unfairly punishing you), and they survived it all -- because they were both clever and lucky, and because they met truly good people who helped them. In one anecdote, the author's father is at school and he's very hungry, because he can't afford lunch. One of his teachers secretly gives him his lunch -- not only his lunch, but his entire food ration for the day, and for one day, the boy isn't hungry. That teacher later, during the Great Famine, dies of starvation.
I am not a person whose emotions are generally on the surface, or who makes a display. But as I sit and write this, weeks after reading the book, there are tears streaming down my face. It's that powerful.
Don't get me wrong: the book isn't just a sobfest. There are plenty of funny bits. For example, the author mentions that when she was a child growing up in China, her mother told her to finish her food -- because there were starving children in America.
The book is very well constructed and very engaging, and I was left with a feeling of deep respect toward the author and her family.
A note on politics: at the end of each chapter, there is a "Food for Thought" section. This section details the author's observations on China and America, and sometimes draws parallels. It does make distinctive political statements. Do NOT let this put you off, whichever party you subscribe to -- or even if you're not American at all. First of all, these sections are short. Second, even if you don't agree with the author, her points are very interesting. Third, if you really can't stand them, just skip them; the narrative is complete without them if you really only want to read a biography.
Yes, I am going to buy my own copy.
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