Welcome to the Hunting for Cheese Book Club

I haven’t actually joined a book club. It’s just me! But I have started reading some different books on China that I thought you might be interested in. My life as "Tai Tai" allowed me some nice downtime. I hope it's not over now that my job started!

Welcome to my Hunting for Cheese Book Club! 

The first, I know most of your have heard of, is The Good Earth by Pearl Buck, the second is, , Socialism is Great by Lijia Zhang, and the third is Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick.

First, The Good Earth: Obviously, this is a critically acclaimed novel (winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1932) and I found the story to be incredibly well written and engaging. While, for me, the end was a bit predictable, the story was a fascinating tale of one man as his life and family evolved over the supposed end of the 19^th century. As the novel was written in 1932 by an American, who spent most of her life in China, many people interpret the ends as a factual depiction of what life was like in China at the turn of the 20^th century. However, this is a novel. The story is fictional, but it does provide a beautiful perspective on familial values at the time and provides an obvious story of morals and riches in China.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Second, Socialism is Great: This story is true. It is a memoir of Lijia Zhang’s life as a factory worker turned journalist in post- Mao China. This book is in strong contrast to The Good Earth, in that the writing isn’t particularly engaging, and man does it end abruptly, but the actual details of events and life at the time are incredibly interesting. It provides details on “the period police”, the “hukou” system, and oh the “spitting”. Additionally, the most fascinating thing for me personally, is that I can see some of her life moments replicated in what I get the chance to see around me every day, here in Shanghai. It provides a great understanding and respect for how things are the way they are today.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars (3 for the writing, 4 for the “interesting moments”)

Third, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea Turns out I know nothing about North Korea. I had never heard of this book before a friend recommended it to me and since I’m on a “learning about Communism” kick, I couldn’t resist. This book is fascinating. It follows the lives of 6 different people who all grew up in the same town, but didn’t necessarily know each other and they have since all defected to South Korea. As I was reading the details of these peoples’ lives, I couldn’t help think that these are descriptions of times in the distant past with no electricity, running water, etc. But no, this is in my lifetime: 1980s through 2000s. It’s insane. My life in 2000 and graduating from high school and starting college is in stark contrast to escaping my abusive North Korean husband at night and crossing the Tumen River in my nightgown to unknown potential safety in China. These stories are of intelligent people living in a life where the government has deceived them into starvation for years, where people still believe it is the best place to live since they’ve been completely cut off from anywhere else in the world, they don’t know any different. Seriously, it’s just fascinating. I don’t necessarily think the writing is anything spectacular and the order of events sometimes gets confusing but that’s the only reason I deducted a .5 star in my rating. (Haha, like my rating makes any difference at all.) I would absolutely already recommend it if you’re interested in understanding more about what is hidden behind North Korea.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Right now, I’ve taken a break from Communism and am reading the Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Gripping but not at all Communist. 

Please feel free to make recommendations on any future Hunting for Cheese Book Club reading!