AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: Shanghai Remembrance by Frank T. Leo, Joanne Parrent, James Deely ISBN: 1-56167-596-2 Publisher: Noble House Pub. Date: August, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (8 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: A Most Worthy Addition
Comment: Mr. Leo's Shanghai Remembrance is a worthy addition to the line of Chinese historical family sagas that would include Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth. Mr. Leo shares with the reader his poignant and fascinating family history through the tumultuous times of the first and second World Wars together with the Chinese Communist Revolution and the subsequent Cultural Revolution. Mr. Leo's focus on his family history is expertly interwoven within the historical context. Mr. Leo's artful interplay of his family history against the backdrop of Chinese history is thematically refreshingly subtle. Clearly acknowledging the personal and social ill effect of the Chinese Communist Revolution and painting an unflattering portrait of the devastating Cultural Revolution, Mr. Leo does not overstate his points, which is a pleasant rarity amongst today's authors.

Mr. Leo's writing team paints a vivid canvas of scenery and settings fully availing themselves of the splendors of the English language. These illustrative descriptions combined with fully engrossing characters draws the reader into the novel and makes one feel like a surrogate family member throughout the course of the book. Mr. Leo's complex characters and characterizations are imminently believable and show a depth of perception and understanding. Even the characters which one gets a sense that Mr. Leo's views with disfavor are, nonetheless, also shown in the occasional balanced positive light.

If there is to be any criticism, it would be that the book is too short. One would have liked to read further as to how Mr. Leo's personal history is reflected in his subsequent professional endeavors since arriving in the United States. Such a criticism is indeed a larger compliment as one reaches the last page of his book with sadness wishing for additional chapters; much like not to come to the end of a marvelous read.

Rating: 4
Summary: A Fascinating Tale
Comment: At the start, learning why Mr. Leo wrote this book, is what drew me into it. I found it very fascinating to meet a man through his book who began life as a privileged child, but whose life changed as he lived through the difficult times of tremendous change in his homeland (e.g., the Japanese invasion during WW II, the Communist takeover in the 1950s). It greatly enhanced the small amount of historical knowledge I carry with me of that part of our world history. It virtually came to life from the writer's perspective. Mr. Leo's mother often emerges as a hero, certainly Mr. Leo's hero. Nothing wrong with that. Most of us think of one or both of our parents as a hero. Much of what Mr. Leo writes about are his own memories, but without a doubt his mother fed him information over the years that stirred his memories enough to portray them so nicely in the book. Humor, fear, friviolity, trepidation, levity, innocense, love, glee, grief, these are some of the feelings I remember as being created so well by the author. It is to Mr. Leo's credit that he succeeded in finding a new life after leaving his family and his homeland. That took courage and hard work. Can you tell that I liked the book a lot!

Rating: 4
Summary: Shanghai Rememberance
Comment: A reflective personal account of the priviledged Chinese life changed forever by fluctuating political forces. In the spirit of Amy Tan, this author also demonstrates throughout his story the strength of his mother. She is revealed as a very modern woman for her time, not only taking charge of her husband's business interests but his "other" children as well.