Customer Reviews

Wild Ginger: A Novel

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From the time Maple meets her in elementary school, Wild Ginger has always been singled out for a particular kind of torture because of her "foreign colored" eyes. This gives the girls something in common because the Red Guards have been making Maple's life a living hell because her father is in prison.

Anchee Min writes of China's Cultural Revolution with a restraint that makes the spiritual cost of such repression all the more horrific. As Maple and Wild Ginger grow, they see that the only way for them to survive is to become model Maoists, to pin all their hopes and deeds on the Great Leader. When Wild Ginger and a young man named Evergreen discover emotions that have no place in the Chairman's little red book, all three of them risk complete destruction.

Don't be deceived. Min leaves no doubt that this will not be a "triumph of the human spirit" story in the way most will expect it. In fact, the human spirit may not triumph at all. But you will keep reading, your heart aching for these girls, their young friend, and anyone who has to pass through this kind of daily gauntlet in order to survive.

Anchee Min's last novel, "Becoming Madame Mao" was a bestseller and a fine piece of work. But my favorite is her first novel, "Red Azalea," which broke new ground with its straightforward description of an ordinary girl during the Cultural Revolution. Min knows that there is no need to elaborate on these stories; simply relating them as if they were the most ordinary thing in the world is more devastating than embellishment.

This story is about two friends growing up during those recent awful times in China when family background could earn you a beating from sadist classmates. That's how Maple, the first person narrator, met Wild Ginger. Together they fought the class bully, and together they studied Maoism. Wild Ginger, however, whose father was a foreigner, had a harder time than Maple. But the abuse she endured even pulled her more strongly into Maoism. Eventually she rose in the party. And when a young man developed a romantic interest in her, a triangle developed that included her friend Maple. That's when the events take a more tragic turn.

From the very first page, I was immediately swept up in the story, which was set against the background of the horrors of Maoism. Here was history come alive through the eyes of the people, each one so beautifully developed that even the minor characters became unique individuals. There is not a wasted word and the tightly crafted sentences, juxtaposed with quotations from Mao's writings, brought me right into the heart of China. I felt the political fervor as well as the frustrations and depravations of living through that unique time.

I loved this book. I read it quickly, and had a hard time putting it down. Highly recommended.

Adults are terrified to curb the impulses of sadistic children for fear of being branded an anti-Maoist. Children denounce their own parents and citizens are executed, tortured or sentenced to labor camps for life for the most arbitrary of political `crimes' or for having the misfortune of being descended from the wrong social class. The entire community is forced to attend marathon mass rehearsals in freezing weather for Mao quotation singing rallies. The only words that are safe to speak are Mao's own, which the children spend most of their school days memorizing and chanting endlessly. George Orwell's 1984 sounds like a walk in the park compared to China in the midst of the Cultural Revolution.
Against this totalitarian nightmare of a backdrop the reader is introduced to the title character through the eyes of Maple, a kind natured child. Wild Ginger is tainted because she is ¼ French, and she is ostracized and loses everything as a child because of it. Through sheer will and a singlemindedness to become the best Maoist ever she rises in the party and ascends to power. Being a perfect Maoist leaves no room for marriage, love or humanity, though, and when she and another rising Maoist fall in love tragedy results.
The author survived the Cultural Revolution, and her experiences lend a chilling authenticity to this story.

Anchee Min's "Wild Ginger" recounts the tale of Maple, a young Chinese girl living in China during the rule of Mao Tse Tung. Under the control of the Red Guard, Maple's school life is difficult. She has no friends to speak of and her home life isn't much better. Her father is in a work camp, sent there by Maoists who thought he wasn't devoted enough. Maple's family is extremely poor because of the low wage the work camp pays her father.

When Maple meets Wild Ginger, most of her problems seem to fall away. The two girls become fast friends and Maple learns that Wild Ginger's life is as difficult as her own. Wild Ginger's father was a Frenchman who was convicted of being a spy. Her mother, a good but weak woman, commits suicide not long after Maple and Wild Ginger meet. Wild Ginger is forced to care for herself and devotes all of her time to studying the teachings of Mao and making a living in the fish market. When a fortunate series of events turns Wild Ginger into a national heroine, Maple couldn't be happier for her friend. But soon, Wild Ginger's fierce devotion to Mao and the Red Guard threaten to drive apart the two young girls.

This novel was quite good. I am a fan of Anchee Min's. I find her writing style to be sort of intoxicating. The reader becomes drunk on the beautiful fluidity of her writing. "Wild Ginger" was an interesting glimpse into what it must have been like to be a teenage during the reign of Mao Tse Tung, but also reveals that all teenagers share the same heartbreaks, Chinese or otherwise.

I would definitely recomend this novel.

The best book I've ever read was Anchee Min's personal memoir, Red Azalea, so forgive me if this is a biased review.

I lucked out today and picked up a reserved copy of Wild Ginger (it's not supposed to be out for another two weeks) and spent the evening devouring it. Without having the craft of describing thoughts as the author does I feel inadequate to review this book but I feel compelled to do so anyway, while trying to give none of the story away.

Anchee Min has an amazing rawness, honesty and passion that is at the same time simplistic (although to say it is simple is, I think, demeaning) and penetrating. She doesn't seem to build up the plot or the characters as most novelists do to make the drama more intense. Rather she lets the personalities and storylines speak for themselves - which I would say is an understatement because this is one of her outstanding talents, but I don't know how else to say it.

This is the most realistic fiction I've ever read. She's certainly bringing real memories and experiences into play and the effect is like reading a fascinating memoir. The book is alive from beginning to end.

This a candid look at the personal side of China's Cultural Revolution. Although focused highly around Mao's teachings and the effects they had on the people, it goes much deeper as do her other books, getting deep into personalities, ideas, passions, friendships, love, families, regrets and so on..... so that people with little interest or knowledge of this era can still find it a gripping, delightful work of art.

"Wild Ginger" is the coming of age story of three teenagers set in China during the Cultural Revolution. Wild Ginger and Maple meet in grade school. Maple is the target of vicious bullying and beatings by classmates for being classified as a reactionary ("not from three-generations-of-labor family") and for not being fully indoctrinated in the teachings of Mao. Wild Ginger, new to the school, is an outcast for being the biracial daughter of a French father and a Chinese mother. When Wild Ginger rescues Maple from an after school beating by ardent Mao supporters the two become fast friends. Although the friendship appears, initially, to be based on the need for protection, the relationship develops into one of the deepest commitments each will ever make.

Wild Ginger is determined to gain acceptance by resisting the physical punishments from her classmates with the same conviction with which she embraces the teachings of Mao. Maple, though not as committed to Mao, remains loyal and supportive of her best friend. The bond the two girls establish is steadfast, impenetrable - until the help of a neighborhood boy is solicited and an unpredictable love triangle forms that threatens to destroy the thing both girls value most.

"Wild Ginger" is a skillfully drawn novel that explores themes of friendship, love and loyalty within the social and political backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution. Min's writing is crisp and uncluttered. The story flows like the rhythm of an ancient Chinese fable yet it possess all the elements of style and device commonplace in modern literature. "Wild Ginger" is insightful and enriching. This is the first novel that I've read by Anchee Min; I'm now looking forward to others.

It is hard to imagine what life in China was like during the Cultural Revolution. And it is also hard for me to imagine what life in Taiwan across from China was like after the Second World War even though I live here and was not born yet. And I was not interested in this story until my American friend lent it to me and I started to read it. I learned a lot from it. During the Cultural Revolution, many things people should have done to develop the country were abandoned. They were replaced by the Mao teaching. People were scared of Red Guards, so they tried to be a Maoist. Maybe they just pretended to be. It still helped them. And some people were involved in this mainstream and forgot who they were. They even rejected human nature. Those so-called anti-Maoists may not be bad, but they were killed or punished. An old lady yelled "Kill that Mao," and she was killed. Mao means cat, but it sounds like the last name of Chairman Mao. Even food was hard to get. Mao could give his people that, but he did not want to lose face, so he gave much food to other communist countries. Can you imagine how stressed those poor people felt? Many people died of the Cultural Revolution, but what Mao did is rarely blamed. Hard to imagine. If you read this book without understanding Mandarin or the Chinese culture, you will find something peculiar. When people meet each other and say "Have you eaten?," what they mean is "How are you?" The writing style is quite special, and it is still not hard to understand what the author tries to tell us. I enjoyed this story very much. Hope you will like it, too.

If you've not come across Anchee Min yet in your China reading, she really is an author to add to your list. Her memoir, Red Azalea, was named one of the New York Times' Notable Books of 1994 and was an international bestseller. Her novels Becoming Madame Mao and Empress Orchid were also chart toppers that received critical acclaim. Her two other novels, Katherine and Wild Ginger, enjoyed excellent reviews and impressive foreign sales. Stay tuned for her new book The Last Empress, which concerns the life of the Qing Dynasty's Ci Xi, and is due out in March 2007.

Min was born in Shanghai in 1957. She joined the Red Guards, and at seventeen she was sent to a labor collective. While in the countryside, a talent scout for Madame Mao's Shanghai film studio offered her a new career as a movie actress. She lept at the chance to escape the back breaking work, starvation, and brutalization of the Maoist farm, only to experience a different version of purgatory within the film studio. She has lived in the United States since 1984. Most of her literary work reflects her experiences with communism.

With regard to Wild Ginger, the book gives a reality-based view of the stress personal relationships suffered during the tumultuous years of China's Cultural Revolution. In this story, a young, working-class girl named Maple meets the brave and devoted Maoist, Wild Ginger, who makes it her mission in life to prove that she is worthy of the Communist Party despite her "bad" background. In the warped reality of those days, Wild Ginger denounces her mother for marrying a French man and thus causing her such trauma in life.

Ginger and Maple bond at school in resistance to a girl named Hot Pepper's bullying. When they require greater power to withstand her attacks, the girls call on Maple's old friend, the handsome and smart Evergreen. Ginger and Evergreen share a mutual goal of winning the upcoming Mao quotation contest. Though competitors, in true communist spirit, they decide to help each other study. Before long, the two fall in love--a serious problem in Mao-land. After Ginger performs an act of heroism she finally wins the respect of the Party, a coveted handshake with Mao himself, and a place in the Party. But the old saying "be careful of what you want--you might get it" applies here. Party membership in Ginger's case requires her to devote her life to Maoism in the same way that monks devote themselves to Buddhism--by remaining devoted to the cause without the distraction of marriage or romantic love. Ginger struggles to keep from acting on her feelings for Evergreen, and being together torments them both. Finally Maple and Evergreen betray Ginger by forming a relationship that springs from their mutual deep love of Ginger.

As a party member, taking revenge on Evergreen and Maple is easy. However, Hot Pepper gets involved in Ginger's plot to punish Evergreen and Maple because of her own ulterior motive, causing disaster for each of the book' s main characters. In the end, the Cultural Revolution has had tragic consequences even for life's most vital aspect--human relationships. The story is quite unsettling, because although it's fiction, the destruction of love, friendship, and family ties was all too real for many people during those topsy-turvy days. The book could just as easily be true.

Despite the depressing subject matter, Wild Ginger is a very well written page-turner. It reads quickly and remains hard to put down.

Anchee Min's WILD GINGER is an intimate look at the friendship between two contrasting young girls growing amidst the drastic changes taking place in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution.

A story of friendship whose chains were destroyed by partisan beliefs, Maple and Wild Ginger wrestle between the principles of Maoism and the natural urges that bind them to the even more painful process of growing up. Disturbing and heartbreaking, the narrative may tend to wallow in predictable sentimentalism. But by the sheer power of the sociopolitical circumstances that test the love of these two girls for each other ... and the young man who came in between them, Anchee Min provides an insight into the China often discussed in history books but with greater pain from the eyes of the youngsters who lived through its most crucial period of cultural evolution.

This is an easily read and thoroughly enjoyable book. It is educational without you realizing that you are learning. It is hard to believe these things were going on at the same time our life was so very different in this country.

Read it. You won't regret it.