Lung Ying-tai (traditional Chinese: 龍應台; simplified Chinese: 龙应台; pinyin: Lóng Yìngtái) (born February 13, 1952 in Kaohsiung) is a Taiwanese essayist and cultural critic. She occasionally writes under the pen name 'Hu Meili' (胡美麗). Lung's poignant and critical essays contributed to the democratization of Taiwan and as the only Taiwanese writer with a column in major mainland Chinese newspapers, she is an influential writer in Mainland China.
Lung was the Minister of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China in 2012-2014.
Для комфортного читання варто розбиратися у географії обох Китаїв або тримати під боком карту. У книзі обидві сторони конфлікту (і комуністи, і націоналісти) постають у непривабливому світлі, але чого я не помітив — це осуду тайванців (не корінних австронезійців, а саме китайських мігрантів). Навіть ті, хто співпрацював з японцями у таборах військовополонених, показані жертвами, яких засудили незаслужено.
This book was highly praised in Taiwan after it was first published over a decade ago. Recounting the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and the mass exodus to Taiwan of those under the Nationalist party, the book helps those, like me, understand the experiences of those in our grandparent's generation who lived through this tragic era.
While I was touched by the stories, I wasn't a big fan of the way the book was organized - there were 73 separate stories in the book, but only loosely connected with each other. I would have liked there to be a bit more organization; for instance, a set of chapters detailing the experience of youth soldiers in the war, and another set describing how the war tore apart families for generations. Instead, the book seemed to be a jumbo of stories. I also didn't enjoy how the author wrote the book as if she were telling a story to her son who is German (and thus she talks a lot about his childhood in Germany, like, why?), which sort of makes it more awkward and less connecting to us Chinese.
I savour every book written by Lung Ying Tai. Every character has a designated weight to it, and together, carefully paint a vivid, visceral, vibrant landscape. This book took me a long time to finish. I pick it up only to put it back down, because of the carefully curated characters, the book is a heavy, heavy read. Every time I pick it up I only have the capacity to digest a couple of pages. 1949, such an insignificant year in my western education, but the tides of history knows no rest. I finish this book in simplified Chinese, and intend to read it again in traditional, and now that I'm a mother, the book also feels completely different.
Pacing N/A. A work that is composed of multiple short stories, interviews and personal experiences. A bit dissonant if you read it all in one go. But each piece/story kind of inspire some certain feelings in you. Reading them all together is a bit jumpy and the feeling induced by the stories are sometimes not aligned. However it is amazing how this book highlight how the general population doesn’t care about political affiliation. They choose side not because of their policial stance but more on survival. Amazing piece of work and highlight how war is something no one should want.
A moving piece of work that will cause me to feel emotional and tear up a little. Will read again.
When you peel away the hard cruel shell of history away from the monster called war to reveal the tender skin and beating heart underneath - that is what this book is. Reading it was journey that took two years with many, many breaks in between. I was a decidedly different person when I was sixteen, but the bleeding heart that had me sobbing in an armchair over 大江大海 when I first started reading it hasn't changed; positively sobbed after reading the last sentence.
Absolutely excellent. A tragic, painful eulogy of the people who died in the wars before and after 1949. Love the closing paragraph:"I don’t care which battlefield you are from, I don’t care whose nation you belong to, I don’t care to whom you pledge loyalty or whom you betray, I don’t care whether you are a victor or a loser, I don’t care how you interpret justice or injustice. Can I say that all those trampled, humiliated, and hurt by the times are my brothers, my sisters?"
If history is written by winners, this is a historical accounts of the tragedy narrated by “losers”, or victims of destiny. A must-read by people who try to understand what happened to hundreds of millions of Chinese people in the 20th century.
This book really blows my mind in the perspective of humanism among the chaos in this special period of history. There is no political point of view, only speaking from a normal human being. War never does any good for both parties.
Changed your entire perspective about China war and World War II. At the end of the day, the victory gained by the so-called winner is built on countless stories of separation between the innocent people with their loved ones.