Life in China

[twinkle]

I'm reading The Good Women of China: Hidden voices by Xinran.

 

It's a collection of letters, conversations, and so on where women in China talk about themselves and their lives, revealing secrets they wouldn't normally be able to talk about openly.

 

I've read the first couple of chapters. The first was heart wrenching - a girl being told by her mother to suffer her father's daily rapes so as not to bring shame on the family. In the end she makes herself so ill she has to stay in hospital, only to die from her wound. The second chapter is about female uni students who found they could make a career in business and be taken (relatively) seriously by becoming a mistress of a businessman. A life a whole lot better than the villages they come from.

 

I've read a few books about life in China in recent years (such as Wild Swans and a love story told by a man, which I forget the name of), and all of them have made me so glad I live in Britain. It's amazing just how different our cultures and lifestyles are.

[Child.of.God.1989]

That is an interesting recommendation, Twinkle. I am going to share it with my cousin studying Mandarin Chinese. She stayed in Taiwan helping teach at a small school for maybe a month or longer this summer.

 

I can relate to the sentiment you shared, your surprise at how different this other country is. I have ignored my school's library's little section of books on different countries and religions, but I think I will pick up two or three after Thanksgiving break! Thank you. I don't want to be like so many other young people who neglect the fact that there are bigger things than themselves out there.