Customer Reviews

China: Alive in the Bitter Sea

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The magnitude of suffering that the Chinese have endured this century is truly inconceivable. This book helps one to relate to it through the stories of those Chinese that Mr. Butterfield was able to talk to, not too long after the Cultural Revolution ended. It really makes one think: How does such a period of mass cultural insanity happen? Is it just a result of economics and youthful demographics? Could it happen anywhere? Was it no different than the nazis or the Khmer Rouge or the Inquisition? Are we even in such a period now, and dont know it? Mr. Butterfield does a valuable service in preserving this record of human suffering and endurance.

Around twenty-three years old, and therefore completely out of date, 'China: Alive in the Bitter Sea' is nevertheless an amazing read and it is invaluable as an historical document. It's not China today; it's China yesterday. It's a great book to read in order to understand China's more recent modern history, as it affected those Chinese who make China today.

This is an exceptional book about what China was like as it emerged from the insanity of the Cultural Revolution. Fox Butterfield tells a compelling story about a China looking at the abyss. He helps you appreciate how amazing China's economic growth has been given where she was in 1980. His insight into the massive disillusionment that was born out of the Cultural Revolution also helps one understand why there are so many "quality" problems with food and products today.

Fox Butterfield has an exceptional eye for the little details that give you a sense of what is important to Chinese people in the 1980s. As you read his book, you not only learn about Chinese history, you also learn about Chinese cultural values. If you want to understand China today, you must read China: Alive in the Bitter Sea. It will move you, it will sadden you and it will teach you. What it won't do is bore you.

I agree with the other reviewers of this book: I just couldn't put it down. But what is REALLY interesting is that Mr Butterfield's college-age Canadian/Chinese assistant, Jan Wong, wrote her own book about ten years later in which she also shared her perspective on the years covered in this book AND covers "what happened next" (after Butterfield left) ... both books complement each other and are great reads!

Everyone who wants to really understand modern China should read this book. The author captured the political turmoil and tragedy of culture revolution, and the everyday Chinese life with many captivating human stories from all walks of Chinese society. The book was published in 1982. I wish the author could go back to China and write an update book on the changes in the last twenty years.

I also suggest reading Ayn Rand's Anthem together with this book