But the biography of chinas most well known personality is not the only one that has made writer jung chang famous. Mao zedong sacred symbol and bloodiest mass killer new. The unknown story by jung chang and jon halliday, and found it quite biased. The unknown story, a 900page biography she published in 2005 with her. The official website of jung chang the international bestselling author of wild swans. Based on a decade of research, and on interviews with many of maos close circle in china who have. Jung chang on the moment she knew maos china would. When the red guard raided my flat, i had to tear my first poem to pieces and flush it down the toilet the. I havent read this particular book, but jung chang is a controversial writer in china, having written the book mao. Mao zedongs long, wicked life has generated some lengthy biographies in english. The fearless writer who took on the chinese machine jung changs bestsellers have slaughtered sacred cows in china, enraging the government but she wont back down, she tells katy. Now she and her husband jon halliday have written a groundbreaking biography of mao tsetung.
Chineseborn british writer jung changs multigenerational memoir of china, wild swans, was the highestselling nonfiction paperback ever published, translated into 30 languages and selling. The untold story, a scathing account of maos life that also includes questions about the military victories that the pla claime. Chineseborn british writer jung changs multigenerational memoir of. Three daughters of china, mao and empress dowager cixi. Books from jung chang the international bestselling author of wild swans. Changs 2005 biography of chairman mao, written with her husband jon halliday. The unknown story, before tackling a biography of the empress dowager cixi, who ruled china from 1860 until her. Kirsty youngs castaway this week is the author jung chang.
My grandmothers feet had been bound when she was two years old. Jung chang is the bestselling author of wild swans, which the asian wall. Jung chang with her husband, the historian jon halliday, 2006. If you grew up in china in the 1950s and 60s, as jung chang did, the last thing you aspired to be was a writer. Jung chang on mao, the empress dowager and moving to. Chang is the author of wild swans, a hugely successful account of three. Jung chang books list of books by author jung chang. Mao biography in 2005 jung chang and jon halliday brought out mao. An extract from jung changs new book about the concubine who came to rule china. The story is a key aspect of 20th century history, but is not well known in the west. Jung chang is a chineseborn british writer now living in london, best known for her family autobiography wild swans, selling over 10 million copies worldwide but banned in the peoples republic of china. Three daughters of china is a family history that spans a century, recounting the lives of three female generations in china, by chinese writer jung chang.
Chang and halliday document at length just how willing mao was to kill innocents for presumed crimes or mere expediency, how quick he was to concoct schemes against even such essential comrades as lin baio and chou enlaiand how willing the leaders of the world, among them richard nixon, were to bow to maos wishes. Jung chang on mao, the empress dowager and moving to britain. Shocking, traumatizing, depressing, textbookish but brilliant. In her latest, new yorker staff writer orlean rin tin tin. Both changs previous books are banned in china, and she is only allowed to. See all books authored by jung chang, including wild swans. Wild swans writer jung chang takes on the love, loss and. Wild swans author jung chang to discuss her latest book. I had always wanted to be a writer as a child but couldnt spell out this dream to myself because during the cultural revolution all writers were condemned. It was not an easy read and certainly a challenge to empathize with.
The story of three generations in twentiethcentury china that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness historya bestselling classic in thirty languages with more than ten million copies sold around the world, now with a new introduction from the author. The unknown story, written with her husband, the british historian jon halliday, was published in. Jung chang born march 25, 1952 is a chineseborn british writer quotes. Although my book is banned i am still allowed to go to china and travel. In conducting their research for the book over the course of a decade, the. Quotations by jung chang, british writer, born march 25, 1952. British book awards balance art and selling power to decide best writer in 30 years. Writing is the most dangerous profession in china the. Discover more authors youll love listening to on audible. After so many years of dictatorship, from chiang kaishek to maos, right up to the repressive regime of. Lee kenny spoke to the writer about her latest biography big sister, little.
Her books have been translated into more than forty languages and sold more than fifteen million. The unknown story is a 2005 biography of chinese communist leader mao. Browse jung changs bestselling audiobooks and newest titles. No wonder the chinese government has banned not only this book but issues of. Jung chang, the bestselling author of wild swans tells sabine durrant why. The unknown story with jon halliday, which was described. One of the book s two authors is jung chang, the chinese writer whose family memoir, wild swans, became one of the biggestselling nonfiction books of all time. Acclaimed wild swans author and historian jung chang will be in new zealand as part of a twoday speaking tour next week. The unknown story with jon halliday, which was described by time as an atom bomb of a book. The fearless writer who took on the chinese machine. The unknown story and millions of other books are available for instant access. The unknown story, written with her husband, the irish historian jon halliday, was published in june 2005. To be a writer was the most dangerous profession anita sethi the biographer of mao on life during the cultural revolution, finding strength in.
Despite possessing the two things virginia woolf famously declared necessary for a woman to write money and a room of her own jung chang was living under maos rule, a megalomaniac who owned thousands of books but prevented a billion chinese people from reading, she said. This text was scathing in its condemnation of the mao, attacking his leadership, personal conduct and indifference to the suffering of ordinary chinese. To be a writer was the most dangerous profession anita sethi the biographer of mao on life during the cultural revolution, finding strength in her mother, and the sisters who. The unknown story is a 2005 biography of chinese communist leader mao zedong 18931976 written by the wife and husband team of writer jung chang and historian jon halliday, who depict mao as being responsible for more deaths in peacetime than adolf hitler or joseph stalin. This is most unfortunate because the book is an unremitting attack upon socialist revolution in china and the great communist who came to lead it, mao tsetung. The three daughters of china almost a quarter century ago, but her touching and extraordinary story thrills and. Chang and her husband, irish historian jon halliday, later collaborated on the 2005 book mao. First published in 1991, wild swans contains the biographies of her grandmother and her mother, then finally her own autobiography. Her book ripped the veil off mao zedongs regime and was described as a. Didnt know maos biography would be an expose books.
Why is wild swans banned in the peoples republic of china. Jung chang talks about writing about the soong sisters from shanghai in her latest book, big sister, little sister, red sister, and her struggle to be a writer in china. Jung chang and jon halliday have not, in the whole of their narrative. Jung chang wrote a beautiful story in wild swans, the biograpy of her own family through the mao era, but this biography she has written of mao zedong is flawed in that she clearly lets her overwhelming hatred for what her family went through keep her from being an objective biographer. Her books have been translated into more than forty languages and sold more than fifteen million copies outside mainland china, where they are both banned. Wild swans by jung chang the good earth by pearl s. Please provide me with your latest book news, views and details of waterstones special offers. Jung chang is the bestselling author of wild swans, which the asian wall street journal called the most widely read book about china, and mao. Her books have been translated into more than forty languages and sold more than fifteen million copies outside. This is the sequal to jung changs first international best seller, wild swans three daughters of china. Jung chang is a chineseborn british writer now living in london, best known for her family autobiography wild swans, selling over 10 million copies worldwide but banned in the peoples republic of china her 832page biography of mao zedong, mao.
Chang then took on the task of rethinking how we view chairman mao, in her book mao. The machiavellian politics is what makes the book so entertaining. Her coauthor is her husband, jon halliday, a historian who gained access to soviet archives on mao. Together the pair researched and wrote changs second book mao. Chang jung, born march 25, 1952 in yibin, sichuan is a chineseborn british writer now living in london, best known for her family autobiography wild swans, selling over 10 million copies worldwide but banned in mainland china. Later he described it in his book on china as onesided. Writing was the most dangerous profession, she told me recently. Chineseborn british writer jung chang published her landmark book wild swans. Jung was born in the years after mao came to power in china and as a child she took part.
Indeed, for many of the readers it is the only book they have ever read about modern china. Jung chang born march 26, 1952, chinese writer prabook. Her books wild swans, a memoir of her life, growing up in china, and a controversial biography of mao zedong are both banned in china but now, shes out with a new one, a book on chinas. The unknown story by jung chang, jon halliday books. In wild swans jung chang recounts the evocative, unsettling, and insistently gripping story of how three generations of women in her family fared in the political. An engrossing record of maos impact on china, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, jung chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members. Wild swans writer jung chang takes on the love, loss and legacy of the soong sisters jung changs new biography, big sister, little sister, red sister follows soong eiling, soong chingling and. Jung chang is a chineseborn british writer now living in london. An engrossing record of mao s impact on china, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, jung chang describes the extraordinary lives and.
750 993 77 382 1288 1116 1240 211 282 488 951 745 443 658 1277 932 8 685 628 883 256 1611 925 722 1260 694 447 1104 807 302 409 931 299 XML HTML