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Title: Wild Grass : Three Stories of Change in Modern China by IAN JOHNSON ISBN: 0-375-42186-6 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 23 March, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.86 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: insightful and beautifully written
Comment: As a Chinese journalist, I've read several books on China by foreign correspondents. But this one, Ian Johnson's "Wild Grass" stands out exceptionally and inspirationally. It's based on solid reporting, which had to entail lots of courage, wisdom, patience and critical understanding of China's political system. Even I couln't have imagined to be able to do the same reporting--travel extensively in china's remote hinterland, most of which are unaccessable to foreigners, evade police tracing, more amazingly, track down those falungong practioners. But this book is not just a piece of serious journalistic work, it's also literary. I think the writing is beautiful and delicate. It's also well-researched. The narrative of current affairs is smoothly interwoven with the background of history and culture. I am very impressed by the author's wide and deep knowledge and his profound understanding of China. I also learned a lot from the book.
I remember a former London Time China correspondent once wrote that a lot of western journalists in the past came to China for a sense of mission. But it seems to me that Ian Johnson came to China not just with a sense of mission, but also to understand the country and the people, to experience the history and culture that had already fascinated him. I think he is one of the few western journalists who don't have a prejudiced mind and have set their minds and hearts into the country's painful and unsetteling reality. And by focusing on three ordinary Chinese people and their seemingly futile struggle against the govertment, Johnson got to the core of most paradox in china. Indeed, it's a very insightful book with beautiful language. It's worth reading.
Rating: 5
Summary: Reaching For Freedom
Comment: Freedom has long been acclaimed as mankind's most prized possession. The Bible tells us that first man sacrificed paradise and accepted the penalty of death as the price of freedom. Ian Johnson, in his book Wild Grass, depicts through first-hand visits to cave residences, hovels, huts and grand architectural buildings that the average Chinese citizen is being denied freedom by Chinese government officials and their enforcers. He plays hide and seek with government lackeys who try to prevent the outside world from having an outsider's inside information on how corrupt and evil the government is and the brutal methods used to silence its citizens. The book is investigative journalism at its best..... Harold Givens
Rating: 5
Summary: Backroads China
Comment: This is an unusual book because it gives a picture of China that we rarely see--China off the beaten track.
The author, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of China, tells the story of three people whose unusual stories show how change is coming to China at the grassroots level. I found this more useful than the run-of-the-mill generalizations that one reads about on China, about how it's the next superpower or the next enemy. Instead, we have an up-close look at China by looking at these three people. An added bonus is that the stories are cleverly told so you're wondering what's going to happen next. In a way, they're kind of like three suspenseful short stories, although they are true stories and the author gives references and endnotes explaining how he obtained the information.
As someone who has been involved with China for several years, I also thought that the author shows a deep knowledge of China--his understanding of Chinese religions, traditions and literature shines through repeatedly.
If there's one thing I'd quibble about it is that the author saved the best story for last. The story on the Falun Gong spiritual movement is clearly better than the other two stories: it's not only longer but also seems to have for my money more suspense. Personally, I believe in leading off with your strongest hitter so I think it would have been better to start with this story rather than holding it back. But the other two stories are good, too, and this way the reader finishes this quick-paced book with the feeling of having read something very special.
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Title: China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia by James R. Lilley, Jeffrey Lilley ISBN: 1586481363 Publisher: PublicAffairs Pub. Date: 04 May, 2004 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Falun Gong: The End of Days by Maria Hsia Chang ISBN: 0300102275 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 10 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Losing the New China: A Story of American Commerce, Desire and Betrayal by Ethan Gutmann ISBN: 189355483X Publisher: Encounter Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: China's Democratic Future: How It Will Happen and Where It Will Lead by Bruce Gilley ISBN: 0231130848 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $29.50 |
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Title: Red-Color News Soldier by Li Zhensheng ISBN: 0714843083 Publisher: Phaidon Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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