A Leaf in the Bitter Wind: A Memoir

by Ting-xing Ye

Book Overview

One of the best ways to understand history is through eye-witness accounts. Ting-Xing Ye's riveting first book, A Leaf in the Bitter Wind , is a memoir of growing up in Maoist China. It was an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385257015
• ISBN13: 9780385257015
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Anchor Canada
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

A gripping tale

In this touching and gripping story we read of the life of Ting-Xing Ye growing up during the 50's - 70's. A real page turner, you read fast just to see what horrifying thing is going to happen next. It sure makes one appreciate life in a free country. My heart bleeds for those who had to suffer. I highly recommend. ...

Riveting

I have read many memoirs by people who survived the Cultural Revolution. Ye's memoir keeps you hooked into the story of her life, giving details when necessary. You get to see the Cultural Revolution through the eyes of a child - her eyes. Also wonderful is how she is not bitter about her experiences - cautious, but not bitter. It is an excellent read that you won't be able to put down.

A bittersweet memoir impossible to put down or let go...

This book of a woman's struggle to grow up during China's Cultural Revolution is at the same time inspiring and troubling. It has made me appreciate the freedom I've enjoyed having been fortunate enough to be born in America. I devoured the book like a wind-fed prairie fire, reluctant to stop reading, even to eat or sleep. The writing is realistic and not overly emoted, the story speaks for itself. I just hope there soon will be a Part Two, including the author's beautiful daughter.

The best book I read in 1998

This was my first Chinese autobiography and I was absolutely blown away at how incredible it was, how engagingly written it was, and what an amazing survivor Ye Ting-Xing is. Witnessing her family ostracised by the government as Capitalist traitors, losing her parents at such a young age, seeing her family scattered everywhere for a great cause that no-one seemed to really understand, humiliated, tortured, - this is only the half of it. Many of us have read about people around the world living such hardships, but it's easy to forget and not to sympathise when their lives seem so far away and different to ours. But with Ye's intimated and captivating style of her life, we are drawn into her world, and walk away feeling a small part of the pain ourselves. Sometimes the best way to learn about something is through feelings. And it makes you appreciate your life's comparatively small burdens by comparison, makes you appreciate the fact that you can wash yourself with warm water every day. It's also a great eye-opener about 20th Century China - not by the history books which tell us what they want to, but by someone who was actually there, directly affected by it. Brilliant reading absolutely recommended to anyone.

Must Read!!

Among all the books that I read about the Cultural Revolution and all the political turmoils that happened in China, Ting-Xing Ye is the only writer who is as honest and straight-forward as she could be in telling her extraordinary life. Without any cosmetic phrases and additions, the book took me through a turbulent journey as if I were accompanied by Ye herself. Once I started I couldn't put down the book. I kept on flipping back to the pages where a bunch of her family's photos were displayed. Repeatedly I looked into their eyes and asked "why?" I admired Ye's courage and I wish her the best. Like others I would love to know whether she got a chance to meet her daugher subsequently. Bravo!!