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The Bitter Sea: Coming of Age in a China Before Mao
This haunting, illuminating memoir tells the remarkable true story of a young Chinese man’s coming-of-age during the tumultuous early years of the People’s Republic of China In this exceptional personal memoir, Charles N. Li brings into focus the growth pains of a nation undergoing torturous rebirth and offers an intimate understanding of the intricate, subtle, and yet all-powerful traditions that bind the Chinese family. Born near the beginning of World War II, Li Na was the youngest son of a wealthy Chinese government official. He saw his father jailed for treason and his family's fortunes dashed when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists came to power in 1945. He watched from his aunt's Shanghai apartment as the Communist army seized the city in 1948. He experienced the heady materialism of the decadent foreign "white ghosts" in British Hong Kong and starved within the harsh confines of a Communist reform school. Over the course of twenty-one tumultuous years, he went from Li Na, the dutiful Chinese son yearning for a stern, manipulative father's love, to Charles, an independent Chinese American seeking no one's approval but his own. Lyrical and luminous, intense and extraordinary, The Bitter Sea is an unforgettable tale of one young man and his country.
283 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
April 16, 2022
Life and the Human Condition at the commencement of Communist China
"kuhai"- the bitter sea is an interesting document detailing the early life in Shanghai when Chairman Mao's Red Army oust Chiang Kai-Shek's white nationalist forces. It's an autobiography of the first 21 years of Li Na, or Charles Li, who lived for the first 4 years of his life sequestered in a compound within the French concession of Shanghai before descending to the slums of Nanjing for a very enjoyable year of running free amidst the other streetkids before spending 3 years with a spinster aunt in Shanghai and finally, a move to Hong Kong for his first experience of schooling in a foreign language-Cantonese.
Having lived within Communist China before emigrating to a British colony, and a centre of capitalism, he has a fascinating perspective particularly as he returned to the Chinese mainland to attempt to become a University student. Instead, given his father's elevated position in the previous regime, he was forced to attend "Reform School" for cultural and behavioural reform-think George Orwell's "1984". This is during the first year(1958) of the national campaign to exterminate the "Four Pests" initiated by the Great Helmsman.
Initially, the sparrows were targeted but actually all birds suffered from the human predation and aggravated the subsequent devastation of agricultural crops and subsequent years of famine. Then, it was the turn of the flies and mosquitoes and the four days of national mobilization for the whole population to stop work and marshal resources to deplete the insect population which thrived in the open indoor sewers that were a Communist innovation. The idiocy of the policy was clearly evident to the author and his peers but party policy could not be altered, let alone questioned, without severe repercussions.
After a year but without the required credits to attend University, despite an excellent academic performance, he returned to Hong Kong to rejoin his family who were horrified at his skeletal.appearance. He then determined to accompany a friend who was attempting to obtain a college scholarship in the USA. Aided by his 100m sprinting prowess as well as significant Mathematics capabilities, he achieved this and went to a College in Maine, at which point the book ends.
However, I cannot leave this review without mentioning the part family plays in this memoir and the role of Confucian thought. His family relationships are at best, dysfunctional, but verge into the abusive spectrum frequently with his father representing a vintage tyrant on many an occasion.
The book dots around somewhat in its narrative and the writing at times appears formulaic. However, it's a fascinating story and is overall well told.
3.75 🌠
"kuhai"- the bitter sea is an interesting document detailing the early life in Shanghai when Chairman Mao's Red Army oust Chiang Kai-Shek's white nationalist forces. It's an autobiography of the first 21 years of Li Na, or Charles Li, who lived for the first 4 years of his life sequestered in a compound within the French concession of Shanghai before descending to the slums of Nanjing for a very enjoyable year of running free amidst the other streetkids before spending 3 years with a spinster aunt in Shanghai and finally, a move to Hong Kong for his first experience of schooling in a foreign language-Cantonese.
Having lived within Communist China before emigrating to a British colony, and a centre of capitalism, he has a fascinating perspective particularly as he returned to the Chinese mainland to attempt to become a University student. Instead, given his father's elevated position in the previous regime, he was forced to attend "Reform School" for cultural and behavioural reform-think George Orwell's "1984". This is during the first year(1958) of the national campaign to exterminate the "Four Pests" initiated by the Great Helmsman.
Initially, the sparrows were targeted but actually all birds suffered from the human predation and aggravated the subsequent devastation of agricultural crops and subsequent years of famine. Then, it was the turn of the flies and mosquitoes and the four days of national mobilization for the whole population to stop work and marshal resources to deplete the insect population which thrived in the open indoor sewers that were a Communist innovation. The idiocy of the policy was clearly evident to the author and his peers but party policy could not be altered, let alone questioned, without severe repercussions.
After a year but without the required credits to attend University, despite an excellent academic performance, he returned to Hong Kong to rejoin his family who were horrified at his skeletal.appearance. He then determined to accompany a friend who was attempting to obtain a college scholarship in the USA. Aided by his 100m sprinting prowess as well as significant Mathematics capabilities, he achieved this and went to a College in Maine, at which point the book ends.
However, I cannot leave this review without mentioning the part family plays in this memoir and the role of Confucian thought. His family relationships are at best, dysfunctional, but verge into the abusive spectrum frequently with his father representing a vintage tyrant on many an occasion.
The book dots around somewhat in its narrative and the writing at times appears formulaic. However, it's a fascinating story and is overall well told.
3.75 🌠
July 2, 2018
Required Reading for All Immigrant Children
The Bitter Sea will surprise you with its candor and historical insight into pre and post WWII China and Hong Kong.
More importantly it will personalize the spirit of the times through the authors biographical perspective through the story of his own life.
The Bitter Sea will surprise you with its candor and historical insight into pre and post WWII China and Hong Kong.
More importantly it will personalize the spirit of the times through the authors biographical perspective through the story of his own life.
August 4, 2010
Contrasted with the drama he sees all around him, Charles Li's autobiography is a quiet, solitary account of the upheaval in the China of 1944 onwards to the 1960s.
Born into the affuent surroundings afforded to a father who was a member of the collaborationist Nanking regime under the Japanese, the author was tought a practical, confucian code that distanced him from his actual situation. History swept the cars, mansion and servants away with the onslaught of the Nationalist movement of Chiang Kai-shek. From here onwards the family finds itself on the wrong side of everything, and our narrator finds himself progressively more alienated at each development.
The first two-thirds of the book conveys that sinking feeling, the sense of being on the wrong side of history, something infinitely complex for a child on his own to metabolize. The boy gets occasional guidance from the father, but the advice is cryptic & distant at best. "Rule Number One: Keep everyone else in the light while you yourself remain in shadow."
Pretty much cast adrift and left to his own ideas, occasionally the boy gets a lift, as when stumbling onto a treasure trove of popular culture, a mashup of east and west in happy agreement:
In order to avoid unpleasant encounters, I had to find a place in that flat to hide after school and made myself as inconspicuous as possible on weekends. A tiny room at the back of the flat, used as storage space, provided me a surprisingly beneficial escape.
Originally intended as a bedroom for a second servant, the little room now housed books that did not belong to mainstream literature in the Confucian framework, books that did not deserve the title of classics. They were "lowbrow" books--novels folklores, mythologies, opera librettos, travel books, ghost stories, martial-art legends, even American magazines such as National Geographic and Life. Father had never assigned any of those books for me to read. After all, Confucius had decreed twenty-five hundred years ago that any written work other than poetry, philosophy, history, and didactic essays was to be dismissed as "sreet talk and alley gossip." But to me, the lowbrow books in that little room offered suspenseful diversion and fascinating information...
Across the breadth of the book the young man moves from Nanking to Shanghai and eventually away to the British Colony of Hong Kong, essentially part of a family of political exiles. When time for University comes around, Li is urged by his father to repatriate to (what by now is the Maoist mainland of) China, advising that the progressive marxist regime would reward his efforts and welcome him as a native son.
It is here that the narrative finds its voice, and the pace quickens perceptibly. Met at the border by a grey-suited Comrade Zhu, a nervous Li is taken inland on a train.
As the train pulled into Guangzhou Station he told me, "I am going to hand you over to a special school established for students who returned from overseas."
"But I am not from overseas," I protested. There isn't a sea separating Hong Kong from China. Just a small river."
"Well, we include Hong Kong and Macau in the 'overseas' category at this point in time," he said officiously, dismissing my protest. "But of course, they are without a doubt an integral part of our motherland. You know that we will take them back."
"What will I do in the special school for students returned from overseas ?"
"You will undergo thought reform."
From here a story that was somewhat detached becomes entirely visceral. Life is turned around drastically for young Li. And life in the 'reform' of Mao's pogroms was as ridiculous as it was harsh. Even more amazing than the flyswatting "Campaign To Exterminate Pests" undertaken by millions of chinese is the logic used to support and police the effort. More than reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's trial and sentencing guidelines in Alice In Wonderland, the Party has inexplicable ways & means. There is a mindbogglingly funny scene in which intellectual Student-Comrade Mei stands up in Mutual-Criticism-Self-Criticism class, to confess that he has often dreamed erotic scenarios at night in the study compound, involving Teacher-Comrade Ziu, she of the shapeless uniforms and asexual affect... and a very colorful confession it turns out to be. Student-Comrade Mei is promptly redirected and his student days are terminated.
There is an astringent quality to humor when it is in the grip of state-socialism, a bitter tang that is unforgettable when told in narrative form. Like Witold Gombrowicz's expressionist novels, Charles Li has chapters in his account of the Cultural Revolution that are benchmarks of just that, the extremist self-denial and delusion during the era giving way to the ludicrous. Convention and civility are twisted into unrecognizable shapes, and humanity forgets itself. There is something here that is turning out to be one of the unfortunate dramatic hallmarks of Twentieth Century literature-- the senseless inhumanity that results from humanity's efforts to rebuild a social contract-- inevitably contravening the fairness and practicality it sought to re-establish.
March 10, 2022
A fascinating insight into the transition of a young Chinese person raised in a strict traditional manner by parents who were born in the Manchu era and who themselves lived through until the Communist regime’ s rise to power. The turmoil for the child/young man is reflected in the Father’s struggle and follows his successes and difficulties
June 19, 2023
An incredible story about the most resilient and intelligent man who lived through the Chinese Communist Party take over, and subsequent struggle under the communist regime. Writing style is very engaging. I learnt SO much and highly recommend!
May 10, 2013
There are many good narratives by survivors of this period in Chinese history. This short narrative, by the son of a player in the drama of 20th century China, is unique for its descriptions of the number of facets of Chinese life experienced by the author as a boy and young man.
Before leaving his teens he had lived in sheltered wealth and in the slums of Nanjing, in the freewheeling city of Shanghai, in various places in Hong Kong (including living through the exodus of refugees within 3 days of border closure) and in a "reform school" on mainland China. We learn about each of these through his descriptions and anecdotes.
The chapter on the "reform school" needs to be incorporated in larger annals of modern Chinese history. He tells how students who went back to their mother country to carve out careers in the "new China" were separated by previous country, how they lived, ate, swatted flies and received an education that did not need books. With student Mei's revenge, you forget the seriousness of his transgression for a moment because you just have to laugh out loud.
Most dramatic is the portrait of the author's father, whose high station in life resulted from his important role in the Japanese occupation. The advice he gives his son is like that of Machiavelli to the young Prince. In the beginning we have the child's eye view of how the family's good fortune during the Japanese occupation ended, and later the author's adult perspective on how his father became the man that he was.
I was surprised to see, at the end that the author credits Judith Regan for initiating the project and encouraging him in writing this book.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in 20th century China.
Before leaving his teens he had lived in sheltered wealth and in the slums of Nanjing, in the freewheeling city of Shanghai, in various places in Hong Kong (including living through the exodus of refugees within 3 days of border closure) and in a "reform school" on mainland China. We learn about each of these through his descriptions and anecdotes.
The chapter on the "reform school" needs to be incorporated in larger annals of modern Chinese history. He tells how students who went back to their mother country to carve out careers in the "new China" were separated by previous country, how they lived, ate, swatted flies and received an education that did not need books. With student Mei's revenge, you forget the seriousness of his transgression for a moment because you just have to laugh out loud.
Most dramatic is the portrait of the author's father, whose high station in life resulted from his important role in the Japanese occupation. The advice he gives his son is like that of Machiavelli to the young Prince. In the beginning we have the child's eye view of how the family's good fortune during the Japanese occupation ended, and later the author's adult perspective on how his father became the man that he was.
I was surprised to see, at the end that the author credits Judith Regan for initiating the project and encouraging him in writing this book.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in 20th century China.
November 8, 2021
Narravite flat but story compelling. Learned a lot about China's transition to communism as well as life in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
October 8, 2024
A brutally honest book about growing up in a loveless family during a tumultuous period in recent Chinese history. In this compelling biography, the author records in detail how he is buffeted by forces over which he has no control, yet manages to survive and, ultimately, to flourish. It is also an intimate portrait of his father, a larger than life figure whose towering ambition was eventually reduced to disappointment and frustration in addition to the alienation of his wife and children. While his father's attempt to use him as a stepping stone in an attempt to return to political life ended in acrimony, there is nevertheless an impressive reconciliation at the end of the book. The reader is left with an impression of how each has learned valuable lessons from the other.
His entire story is recounted with a minimum of sentimentality, self-pity or ornamentation. The prose is direct, unaffected and engaging. This is a remarkable book for an author who not only arrived late to writing but also wrote in his second language.
His entire story is recounted with a minimum of sentimentality, self-pity or ornamentation. The prose is direct, unaffected and engaging. This is a remarkable book for an author who not only arrived late to writing but also wrote in his second language.
May 7, 2018
I've always loved stories about people's lives and families. I especially have a soft spot for dysfunctional families - so this was right up my alley!
I liked how the author spoke to the turmoil in his personal life while weaving into the story the woeful events in Chinese history between the mid-thirties to early nineteen-sixties.
Good writing. Good descriptions. I learned a lot about Chinese culture, history, and one man's struggle.
I liked how the author spoke to the turmoil in his personal life while weaving into the story the woeful events in Chinese history between the mid-thirties to early nineteen-sixties.
Good writing. Good descriptions. I learned a lot about Chinese culture, history, and one man's struggle.
October 13, 2024
Fascinating memoir of a tumultuous time in Chinese history, with plenty of introspection, insightful remarks on familial and other relations, and attention to detail, revealing a firsthand experience that goes beyond what is taught in history books. An immersive and enjoyable read. Now I want to find the sequel.
July 20, 2008
I chose this book because I love to read anything about modern Chinese history, but the book focuses more on a bitter father-son relationship. The question is how much bitterness was generated by the horrific historical circumstances and how much was plain old personality conflict. Li Nai was born during World War II, while his Chinese father worked as an important government official in the Japanese-occupied government -- kind of like the Vichy government in France. His father got jailed after the war ended by the Nationalists, so Li Nai and his family left their life of luxury for life in the slums. Interestingly, Li Nai fondly recalls his days as a street urchin, running around the streets with his friends. Eventually, the family reunites in Hong Kong, where his politically ambitious, cold-hearted father tries to make a comeback. His emotionally distant mother ends up leaving the father after 30 years to go live in a Christian seminary. So, I guess with such a dysfunctional family, you could understand why he liked life on the streets.
The most interesting historical part of the book was his description of attending a thought-reform school in the 1950s in the mainland in order to gain access to a university. I never thought anybody would voluntarily return to China under Mao, but many ethnic Chinese had no where to go to make a future -- not British-controlled Hong Kong, nor Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, where anti-Chinese backlash destroyed businesses and homes.
The thought reform schools were incredibly creepy. Keeping people near starvation is a good way to control people. Also, Li Nai felt shock at seeing the quietness of the cities under Mao, the lack of street life and entrepreneurs.
The book is straight-forward and truthful, but not great writing. If you are interested in modern Chinese history, it fills in a few gaps and tells an interesting personal history. My own personal connection -- Li Nai attended Pei Zheng high school in Hong Kong. I taught at the affiliate school -- Pei Zheng Commercial College in China.
The most interesting historical part of the book was his description of attending a thought-reform school in the 1950s in the mainland in order to gain access to a university. I never thought anybody would voluntarily return to China under Mao, but many ethnic Chinese had no where to go to make a future -- not British-controlled Hong Kong, nor Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, where anti-Chinese backlash destroyed businesses and homes.
The thought reform schools were incredibly creepy. Keeping people near starvation is a good way to control people. Also, Li Nai felt shock at seeing the quietness of the cities under Mao, the lack of street life and entrepreneurs.
The book is straight-forward and truthful, but not great writing. If you are interested in modern Chinese history, it fills in a few gaps and tells an interesting personal history. My own personal connection -- Li Nai attended Pei Zheng high school in Hong Kong. I taught at the affiliate school -- Pei Zheng Commercial College in China.
August 4, 2025
Every so often, I’ll explore a memoir, and coming across this easily accessible and well-told tale of a life formed in the transition to Mao’s China, I was reminded of the changes described in David Kidd’s Peking Story: The Last Days of Old China. Life for all those in some position of power under the Nationalists distinctly changed; it was a time when trusting in the sustenance of one’s way of life could no longer be counted upon.
Charles Li found his family in the crosshairs, and following his father’s fall from grace, experiences the struggle to define his life throughout the significant changes unfolding within Chinese society at the time. It’s a fascinating timeline, and Li presents the contrasts before and after the Communists’ rise to power succinctly. This is done primarily through his description of his relationship with his father, as ultimately, the assault upon their status foun his father isolated, trapped within the world of the past. Due to his age, Charles finds no alternative but to forge forward into the new world. His answer is education.
Essentially, his pursuit of knowledge and erudition leads him to leave Communist China, which does nothing to mitigate the rift between he and his father. Yet, his father’s influence wasn’t been completely diminished, as Li the younger gathered the strength and determination required by his response to father’s defenestration and channelled it into his own personal and intellectual development.
4 stars. In the end, the core lesson to take from this book is one of resilience in the face of adversity. In effect, this memoir serves as a reminder of many of the lives affected in the aftermath of the political changes occurring in mid-20th Century China. While the Li family suffered the loss of status and social security, Charles still found a pathway to discover a new way forward. His resilience remains a model for others experiencing similar disruptions within their lives.
Charles Li found his family in the crosshairs, and following his father’s fall from grace, experiences the struggle to define his life throughout the significant changes unfolding within Chinese society at the time. It’s a fascinating timeline, and Li presents the contrasts before and after the Communists’ rise to power succinctly. This is done primarily through his description of his relationship with his father, as ultimately, the assault upon their status foun his father isolated, trapped within the world of the past. Due to his age, Charles finds no alternative but to forge forward into the new world. His answer is education.
Essentially, his pursuit of knowledge and erudition leads him to leave Communist China, which does nothing to mitigate the rift between he and his father. Yet, his father’s influence wasn’t been completely diminished, as Li the younger gathered the strength and determination required by his response to father’s defenestration and channelled it into his own personal and intellectual development.
4 stars. In the end, the core lesson to take from this book is one of resilience in the face of adversity. In effect, this memoir serves as a reminder of many of the lives affected in the aftermath of the political changes occurring in mid-20th Century China. While the Li family suffered the loss of status and social security, Charles still found a pathway to discover a new way forward. His resilience remains a model for others experiencing similar disruptions within their lives.
February 26, 2010
Product Description
Born near the beginning of World War II, Li Na was the youngest son of a wealthy Chinese government official. He saw his father jailed for treason and his family's fortunes dashed when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists came to power in 1945. He watched from his aunt's Shanghai apartment as the Communist army seized the city in 1948. He experienced the heady materialism of the decadent foreign "white ghosts" in British Hong Kong and starved within the harsh confines of a Communist reform school. Over the course of twenty-one tumultuous years, he went from Li Na, the dutiful Chinese son yearning for a stern, manipulative father's love, to Charles, an independent Chinese American seeking no one's approval but his own. Lyrical and luminous, intense and extraordinary, The Bitter Sea is an unforgettable true story of a young man, his father, and his country.
I read this as an advanced readers copy and loved it. Charles' story is amazing, especially his time spent living off the streets as a young child and then his development into a man of learning in later years. Fascinating story, well-written and poignant.
Born near the beginning of World War II, Li Na was the youngest son of a wealthy Chinese government official. He saw his father jailed for treason and his family's fortunes dashed when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists came to power in 1945. He watched from his aunt's Shanghai apartment as the Communist army seized the city in 1948. He experienced the heady materialism of the decadent foreign "white ghosts" in British Hong Kong and starved within the harsh confines of a Communist reform school. Over the course of twenty-one tumultuous years, he went from Li Na, the dutiful Chinese son yearning for a stern, manipulative father's love, to Charles, an independent Chinese American seeking no one's approval but his own. Lyrical and luminous, intense and extraordinary, The Bitter Sea is an unforgettable true story of a young man, his father, and his country.
I read this as an advanced readers copy and loved it. Charles' story is amazing, especially his time spent living off the streets as a young child and then his development into a man of learning in later years. Fascinating story, well-written and poignant.
January 8, 2009
I'm honestly not sure WHY this book was written; you get a glimpse into a Pre-Mao China, but only via the eyes of a person who was neither rich nor poor, and who wrote more of his personal feelings on the universe than letting us see the world around him. The setting was interchangeable with that of any city where the people were poor after WWII.
And, I must admit, the continual bad feelings between the author and his father made it feel more like a book written as a therapy excuse for the author coming to grips with his own feelings and less like something you should be sharing with the world.
And, I must admit, the continual bad feelings between the author and his father made it feel more like a book written as a therapy excuse for the author coming to grips with his own feelings and less like something you should be sharing with the world.
January 29, 2009
Descriptive coming-of-age story that focuses on familial relations, mainly between the author and his father. Scattered in are socio-cultural tidbits about Chinese culture and history that I found enlightening, but the book primarily serves as a memoir of Dr. Li's life prior to moving to the United States as a college student. Dr. Li is a linguistics professor, which may explain some of his lovely metaphors and aptitude for vividly evoking scenes, whether it is the slums of Nanjing or his time in Maoist reform school. This is one of my favorite nominees for the APALA literature award so far.
June 3, 2008
This is the story of a Chinese man whose father rose to political power as a collaborator with the Japanese. After his family falls from power, the author lives in the slums outside Nanjing, in Shanghai under the Nationalists and then Communists, in British Hong Kong, and in a Chinese reform school before he finally makes it to the States. Half history, half biography as he details his relationship with his father. I couldn't believe he survived it all, and the story was so gripping that I almost carried this library book on the plane home with me so that I wouldn't have to wait to finish it.
February 13, 2009
This is a captivating book about a boy and his relationship with his family (his father specifically) growing up in China before Mao. The book shows a tough life but a lot of tender moments. It has some fun anecdotes including tricking a "kidnapper" to fall into the latrine and piling dead flies in front of the principal's office.
And amazingly ... this could be the author's 4th language? Mandarin, Shanghaiese, Cantonese ... and then English? He has a handle on the English language better than most American writers.
August 20, 2010
I struggled with this book for the entire first chapter. It felt cold and the author hits you with so much pain and despair without any context that I almost chose out of the book.
The book is really a great read on Chinese history, and a challenging look at father-son relationships from an extremely deep and intimate perspective. I was humbled by my individualism and arrogance by the end of the book by this man's humility and strength to overcome.
a solid read. in the end it only took me one day to finish it.
The book is really a great read on Chinese history, and a challenging look at father-son relationships from an extremely deep and intimate perspective. I was humbled by my individualism and arrogance by the end of the book by this man's humility and strength to overcome.
a solid read. in the end it only took me one day to finish it.
December 14, 2008
I really enjoyed reading this book. Although parts of it were harsh (due to real life stories and situations)I loved getting a perspective of China I've never had before. I can't say the writing style was utterly captivating - maybe that is just a cultural difference - so it wasn't always a "I can't put this book down" page turner, but I did really look forward to the times I could read it and loved getting to understand Chinese history better.
November 30, 2008
Another exceptionally well written and gripping memoir of growing up in China. Li also lived in Hong Kongfor a period of time. He went from living amongst the most wealthy and then a reversal of fortune found him living in a slum in Nanjiang. A difficult fatherand a very removed mother added to his difficult life. Now a professor of linguistics at U of California, Santa Barbara, this appears to be the first in a continuing saga of his life. I can't wait for the next one.
August 4, 2011
I got this book at the dollar store after reading the synopsis. I figured for a dollar it couldn't be too bad. Well I loved this book! It was straight forward with a nice easy tempo that was very articulate. Most books that I've read about China are from those that were in prison. This got into the politics of the time, but is easy to follow if you don't know Chinese history for the last 100 years. If you like autobiographies seek this one out!
November 13, 2012
Warning: if you don't want to know the ending, perhaps don't read this review.
An autobiography filled with poignant memories and reflections of family relationships and personal change in a tumultuous changing period in China's history. The story moves from Nanjing to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and finally America as the author experiences the ups and downs of a life tossed to and fro by political change and the power and authority of ancient hierarchy. I found it enlightening.
An autobiography filled with poignant memories and reflections of family relationships and personal change in a tumultuous changing period in China's history. The story moves from Nanjing to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and finally America as the author experiences the ups and downs of a life tossed to and fro by political change and the power and authority of ancient hierarchy. I found it enlightening.
February 2, 2009
An interesting combination of biography/history in the early life of Charles and his family's from riches to rags. The typical customs and lack of intimacy among Chinese families was not surprising. The intricate detail of day-to-day life was fascinating from catching flies to the lack of hygiene and early Communism in China. Li's read is easy to follow.
January 5, 2009
I love coming of age stories. Li's description of China during its revolutionary stages was fascinating. Against all odds Li was able to overcome life's obstacles and make something of his life. A great read for people interested in China and the human spirit!
read-some
April 15, 2016Stopped on Page 31. Interesting autob. about Chinese man who is moved to Hong Kong at an early age at the beginning of Communism. The dad falls from favor and the son never has it from his father to begin with.
February 25, 2015
Why are the best books the lesser known biographies? I loved this account of growing up in China in both poverty and wealth. Li had some fascinating stories about colonialism and Communism, neither of which were fun to live under.
April 15, 2012
Part biography, part history, this was a beautifully written and poignant tale of the author's experiences growing up in mid-20th century China and Hong Kong. Touching, interesting, and very readable - would highly recommend.
August 4, 2012
One of the best biographies I have ever read! He illuminated my understanding of China, Confucianism, and Eastern Thought in general, all while telling a compelling story and inspiring me to work hard to achieve my dreams.
February 8, 2024
I absolutely love this book. A literary gateway drug into memoirs. The trials and tribulations of a young man’s life during the establishing years of the People’s Republic of China, written so eloquently it feels like you are there even when you might not want to be.
June 2, 2008
While this was well-written, I would have liked more insight into the culture of pre-Mao China, as opposed to the intra-familial tensions that took up much of the book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews