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Book Reviews Title Colours
Of The Mountain Fiction-Net
Rating Buy It
From Amazon.co.uk - BUY
NOW! Cover
Story A unique modern
memoir of growing up in rural China in the `60s and
`70s, Colours of the Mountain is a powerful and
moving story of supreme determination and
extraordinary faith against the most impossible
odds. A book about
friendships, prejudice, familial love and academic
striving, and of one man's escape from hunger,
poverty and ignorance, Colours of the Mountain is
an inspiring and eloquently recounted
memoir. We
Say Wow, what a book!
I cannot say enough good things about Da Chen's
memoir, Colours of the Mountain. Here is a story
told with amazing depth. Set during the 60's and
70's, Chen takes a honest look at the persecution
of his family, in a society that was supposed to be
based on a community where each individual worked
for the common good. Instead, through Chen's eyes
we are able to see a society that used their ideals
as an excuse to punish others. Although Chen grew
up in China and many believe that China is so
foreign, he accurately describes every child's
longing to fit in and be accepted. His tenacious
pursuit of his dreams while growing up is an
example of the qualities that individuals have had
which have helped make the United States the
prosperous country it is today. Da Chen's father
and mother and the rest of his family are key
figures in his success. Despite the fact that they
are labeled enemies of the government because they
owned land before Chairman Mao and the Communist
regime came into power, the Chen family manages to
succeed in little ways against all odds. Da Chen's
father refuses to be broken and Da Chen's mother
successfully keeps the family together while the
older Chen is sent to labor camps for "special"
indoctrination. Throughout Chen's young life, the
family must endure prejudice, injustice and
humiliation at the hands of their fellow villagers.
Chen's father and mother teach their children to
maintain their pride despite the attempts to beat
them into submission by all those around them.
Chen's father even becomes a well respected
acupuncturist based upon his careful study of
medical journals. I was humbled by
Chen's descriptions of his efforts to pass the exam
to get into college and his quest to learn to play
the violin. To have had so little but to achieve so
much could be cause for jealousy, but one cannot
help but admire and be shamed by Chen's dogged
determination for a better life. Colours of the
Mountain is filled with humorous descriptions of a
young boy growing up in addition to the cultural
explanations that make the memoir that much more
interesting. In many ways, Chen tells a tale not
unlike Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn.
One cannot help but fall in love with the youthful
exuberance described by Chen. Colors of the
Mountain is a wonderful memoir that I cannot
recommend enough. I was so disappointed when I
finished reading it. Like an incredible moment in
time that you wish would never end, I did not want
Chen to stop telling his story. If this had been a
fictional story about a young boy's coming of age
in China, I would have still loved it. The fact
that it is a memoir made it all that much more
powerful. To say Chen's story is great because it
is about growing up in China would be a huge
discredit to his abilities as a writer. I felt as
if I knew the members of Chen's family and his
friends based upon his wonderful descriptions and
narrative. This is definitely a must
read. Review by: Yumi
Nagasaki-Taylor |
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