If you're looking for an in depth analysis of China's Cultural Revolution under Mao, then this is not the book you're looking for. It's not in depth and it analyzes nothing much. You'll come away with no greater understanding of the Cultural Revolution than you had when you first picked the book up - and that's all right. Analysis was not Ting-Xing Ye's purpose. This was a personal memoir; a relating to the reader of what life in China during the Cultural Revolution was like. Ting-Xing Ye was not one of the worst victims of the Cultural Revolution. Compared to some things I've read about how some suffered, it's hard to call her a "victim" at all. Essentially, because of her family's "capitalist" background, she ended up having to spend several years at a "prison farm." Because of her suspect background she had few friends, living conditions were hard, working conditions were worse, and the nature of the Revolution meant that life was lived with a lot of fear. But from time to time she got to leave the farm and visit her family of "Great-Aunt" and her 4 brothers and sisters, all of whom were affected by and reacted to the Cultural Revolution in different ways. What makes this book so enjoyable is not what it teaches about the Cultural Revolution. One is left with the impression that those who lived through it really didn't understand what it was about, except that it raised the personality cult around Mao to ridiculous levels. That lack of real purpose or achievement might be the most important thing of all to know about the Cultural Revolution. But what makes the book enjoyable is Ting-Xing Ye's writing style. She pens a wonderful, and very human, and extremely engaging and readable story about life during this insane period of China's history. You may not put the book down knowing much more about the political and social underpinnings of the cultural Revolution - but that was not the author's intent. You will, however, find the book hard to put down once you start it.
When Ting-xing Ye was born her aunt stated: “Ah Si shi ge lao lu ming” meaning that “Number Four will have a difficult life because the signs were unlucky”.It wasn’t long before Ting-xing would find out how true those prophetic words would be. Her life was soon turned upside down due to China’s Cultural Revolution. Ting-xing and her four siblings lost both their parents and it was shortly after that their lives changed forever. Her family’s home was attacked by the Red Guard’s as well as their schools. Already drowning in hunger and poverty, Ting-xing, at the age of sixteen, was sent to a prison farm far from her home. There she suffered more brutality, long hours of labour and unending meetings with Guards.At one point Ting-xing is forced for hours upon hours to write down her sins against the Revolutionists but she hadn’t made any and her captors would hear none of it. They slapped her, punched her and yelled at her for hours and hours to write something down on the paper they provided.Ting-xing is spirited and audacious and keeps fighting to save herself in the midst of events that she had no control over.An engaging, edge-of-your-seat read. At times you can’t believe your eyes and what you’re reading. To think that human beings had to endure the hardships that Ting-xing did. This is a story of bravery and survival.
Do You like book My Name Is Number 4 (2007)?
This memoir is an absolute must-read. Ting-xing Ye was born in China at the start of the cultural revolution and after the attack of the Red Guards is forced to leave with her family to a prison camp. Despite losing both of her parents, almost dying herself from starvation and having lost everything she once knew and loved, Ting-xing continues to fight for her life and those of her siblings. She is a pure demostration of what courage is and I found her to be inspiring. I had very little knowledge of the Cultural Revolution but through her eyes, I got a strong glimpse into what life was like for the Chinese during this horrendous time.
—Lindsay Caron
Perhaps not the best memoir about China’s insane Cultural Revolution, but it is certainly enough to make you appreciate the freedoms that come with, oh, not living in a totalitarian society. The race-like stain of her “capitalist” family remains on the author and her four siblings, orphaned in Shanghai but taken care of by a family servant. The author experiences the Cultural Revolution firsthand as it tears apart the fabric of her rigid communist society. Her teachers are humiliated and her school overthrown with the sanctioned, revolutionary fervor of Mao’s delusions. As a teenager, she is sent away to work on a desolate farm-prison camp, nearly as harrowing a description as any Gulag memoir. Surviving appendicitis, sickness, hunger, and humiliation Ting-Xing ends up one of the lucky ones, gaining a coveted spot at Beijing U to study English. Interesting descriptions of Mao worship, collective religious-like fanaticism, and the arbitrariness of sadism amplified by Communist ideology.
—Elliot Ratzman
Reviewed by hoopsielv for TeensReadToo.comAn old proverb says: When at home, depend on your parents; when away from home, rely on your friends.Ah Si, which means number four, was told this by a beloved teacher when she was sixteen and about to leave for a prison farm.The author was born into a capitalist family in China. Her father was a prosperous business owner who was forced into becoming a laborer. His sudden death caused the family to take drastic steps to survive. The older children needed to find jobs to support the others. Then their mother died of cancer and the children were totally on their own.Number 4 found herself in the middle of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. She was treated poorly because of her upbringing as a capitalist and protested with other students in Beijing. She made a brave decision to work at the prison farm in exchange for her sisters to remain in Shanghai.Life at the prison farm was grueling and Number 4's capitalist background causes the guards to bombard her with questions. Yet Number 4's spirit and drive remain strong and she knows she has the courage to succeed.This was a very good novel full of history about a time period that Americans may not be familiar with. I found it to be educational as well as motivating.
—Jennifer Wardrip
