Amazing...how did I not read (listen) to this book before now?
I have no idea how I missed reading "listening" to this book before now...its a Pulitzer Prize winning book, is required reading for many literature classes and everyone in my family has read this book but me... I also love books that tells me about another time and place (China) and have been rereading the classics as an adult for years. Now that I have read it. I do think it should be required reading. I really got caught up in the characters and their lives, especially the first half of the book. By the second half I was a bit annoyed with some of the characters but not enough to put the book down. Now that the books done I will be getting the two other books in the series. I visited China several years back and spent one day in a culture tour lead by a very modern and talkative young lady. She talked fast and no stop for 6 or so hours. I loved her candor (she drove some of the people on the bus nuts though) and the information she gave. I thought of her stories and opinions often in reading this book since this book covers many of the same issues as viewed by a Chinese farmer in days gone by (when these views were the norm). Views that girls are "less than" for one. In the book girls are often called "slaves" instead of daughters. Female infanticide, the selling of female children as slaves and foot binding are viewed as part of life in this book. While this is sad, it does reflect the culture of the that time in China. The book also alludes to various periods of Chinese history that are quite interesting. I believe the next books will cover the culture revolution.