Customer Reviews

Dream of the Walled City

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Dream of the Walled City" is an emotionally moving account of the life of Jade Virtue, a self-described ordinary woman who chronicles extraordinary times. The writing is fluid, if not poetic (reminiscent, in places, of Virginia Wolff), and the characters are at once dynamic and realistic. The story exquisitely weaves the quotidian events of Jade's life with the seismic political and industrial developments of Twentieth Century China. The story is immediately enrapturing and also provides a unique overview of some of the important events in the history of modern China. "Walled City" tells its story with grace: it is superbly written; it is at times humorous, at others tragic or shocking (or both); and it is at all times engrossing. The New Yorker recently praised the book and I was not surprised to read in that review a favorable comparison to Dickens's "Tale of Two Cities."

"Walled City" is the best book I've read this year, by far.

"Dream of the Walled City" is the BEST book about China I've ever read -- and I've read HUNDREDS! My grandfather went to China from Sweden in 1892, about the time Lisa's "grandmother" was born. My father was born in Xian in 1904, as was I in 1942. Like Lisa's, my family fled to Taiwan in 1950, where my son was born in 1968. The main difference between Lisa's "family" and mine is that we are "white Chinese" Americans. We share much, but because we're Anglos, much is also different. What we do share are those memorable China roots -- and Lisa has written about those roots with such eloquent style, superb storytelling, and fascinating accuracy. I'm getting this book for Christmas for my friends and family. Thanks, Lisa, for a poignant look back in time that makes our todays richer!

Dream of the Walled City is the story of one woman's epic journey through life in China during an important time in Chinese history. It is superbly told and as a result you become one with the character, Jade Virtue, and go on to experience her life as China changes from Imperialist to Communist rule. Once you start reading it, you won't want to put it down. As you come to finish the book, you regrettably realize your visits with Jade Virtue are nearing an end and you find yourself wishing there was more. I can hardly wait for Ms. Fleischman's next book!

What an incredible journey! Fleischman really conveys the sense of traditional China by the social and political pressures Jade Virtue faces throughout her lifetime. I was truly impressed by the restraint of this author, who kept the storyline clean, the political siutations understandable and tale completely believable. What a pleasure to read a story that completely transfers you into another time in history. I look forward to reading more from Fleischman.

I was fortunate to receive this book as a gift. The writing flows with imagery and the descriptions are dynamic. I was fascinated to learn of the transition of China from imperialism to Communism through the main character, a woman, and how her life, and the lives of her relatives changed drastically. I plan on enriching my friends with gift copies of the book. I am looking forward to Ms. Fleischman's next book.

I have read quite a few books of this genre and was surprised to have become so engrossed in this one. The author gives an amazing description of an ordinary woman alive and trying to survive during extraordinary times. She sees the world through incredibly intelligent eyes. She is brave, strong, dependable, completely flawed and utterly human. I loved her.

The author describes places and events with beautiful language and clarity that lends itself to the dreamlike quality interwoven throughout this book.

A must read for anyone interested in China and Chinese history.

This book had me hooked after the first page. The writing is masterful and allows the imagination to run wild. This book is for anyone that enjoyed "Memoirs of a Geisha."

I couldn't put this book down. The writing was beautiful and the story gripping and fast-paced. I highly recommend it for book clubs -- it's fascinating on both a personal level, with unforgettable characters, insight and wit, and on a political level, providing a sense of a country and time filled with movement and turmoil. One of the best novels I've read in years.

"Dream of the Walled City" is an emotionally moving account of the life of Jade Virtue, a self-described ordinary woman who chronicles extraordinary times. The writing is fluid, if not poetic (reminiscent, in places, of Virginia Wolff), and the characters are at once dynamic and realistic. The story exquisitely weaves the quotidian events of Jade's life with the seismic political and industrial developments of Twentieth Century China. The story is immediately enrapturing and also provides a unique overview of some of the important events in the history of modern China. "Walled City" tells its story with grace: it is superbly written; it is at times humorous, at others tragic or shocking (or both); and it is at all times engrossing. The New Yorker recently praised the book and I was not surprised to read in that review a favorable comparison to Dickens's "Tale of Two Cities."

"Walled City" is the best book I've read this year, by far.

Although set a century ago in the walled city of Changsha, China, it might just as easily have been a thousand years ago. Jade Virtue, a chinese girl born into the late 19th century, tells us the story of her life in China, which spans only fifty years until the Mao's victory in 1948. Yet she and her homeland travel through successive changes--the end of female foot-binding, the fall of the empire, the rise of the war lords, the spread of opium addiction, the Nationalists, the Japanese invasion, the defeat of the Nationalists by Mao. Jade Virtue is blown like a autumn leaf through these swift times. The closing of her family house and the dismissal of her father's concubines, her marriage to a rich decadent, her education in socialist circles, her teacher's daughter's marriage to Mao, her best friend's enlistment in the communist revolution's underground army, her kidnap by war lords: Jade Virtue's struggle for survival in modern times, recalls the ancient curse "May you live in interesting times." Ms. Huang Fleishman's novel lays open those intersting times thorugh the eyes of a single chinese girl turned woman. The epic of Jade Virtue is the epic of China.