Monday, February 27, 2012
Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
"I
felt sad that they [my nieces and nephew], like most of the next
generation of children growing up in China, would have no brothers or
sisters [because of the one-child policy]. We had survived through
generations of dark and impoverished living because of this one
strength, because of the unconditional love and unselfish care of each
other within our family unit. It was all we'd had." p. 413 This
amazing book is a biography of the internationally renowned ballet
dancer, who was taken from his family in a small Chinese commune to be
preened and groomed as a communist puppet to promote Madame Mao's
cultural plans. It is an incredible story of oppression and poverty,
starvation and hopelessness that changes with one small taste of
personal freedom. It is also a story of determination and drive beyond
one's natural abilities in order to achieve a dream. I love a book that
teaches me, inspires me, and that makes me appreciate the countless
blessings I enjoy in my life. I want to see the movie now, so I need Netflix!
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huh, is the movie of the same title?
ReplyDeleteOk, I watched the movie last night. I LOVED it! It is so interesting to see how one man had such a following of people who obeyed him and his political "ideals". I liked the quote from the movie where the teacher is explaining that they are on the"path to perfect communism" and that one day everyone will be taken care of by the government and there will be no class distinctions. Then he says that Capitalist countries have all these problems and life there would be "indescribably horrible". Then it cuts to a bunch of dancers at a club having fun:) I especially liked the ballet scenes, ballet is so beautiful. Also, when he saw his parents for the first time since he left them to learn ballet. I can't imagine not seeing my parents for most of my life!
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