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A very readable account of a girl's experience of the Cultural Revolution in China. It is as relevant today as ever, given what it illuminates in terms of people turning on one another for the sake of ideology or public praise and acceptance. We can see so many of the dynamics in our own society today that her account lays bare from what occurred during her experience of Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution.
The protagonist, Jiang Ji-Li, is torn between her love and loyalty toward her family, whom she learns are "black" class status, that is, descendent of a wealthy, capitalistic landowning family, and her sincere desire to be a good revolutionary Communist pleasing to Mao. He own "red" classmates tear into her once they learn of her black status, though they are confounded when they are confronted by the fact that no amount of Ji-Li remolding herself will ever change the fact of her black status to which she was born. (And never mind that her father risked his life joining the Communist Party when it was still illegal; once the son of a landowner, always the son of a landowner...)
At times Ji-Li takes enthusiastic part in the ongoing Cultural Revolution, at other times she is horrified by it, though often she is reluctant and conflicted, unsure why things that should be good make her feel bad.
Her experiences highlight the inevitable result of collectivism, that in promising camaraderie for its participants, it instead accuses teachers feeding poor children of poisoning them, accuses workers helping the less productive of covering up their deliberate sabotage, etc. In short, the system leads to people being suspicious and resentful toward one another, refusing one another's help for fear of being called out and punished. A scene from her revolutionary work harvesting rice is illustrative:
"I said I don't want your help!" My voice was cold and stubborn. He stood up. A clump of rice was still dangling from his left hand. His eyes were full of confusion, sympathy, and disappointment. (location 2499)
The tone of the book is kept as that of a adolescent girl and gives the reader the sensation of being right there with Ji-Li, as if she were reporting the day's events each evening to the reader. It flows well and is quite captivating. Really a very good read for anyone!