Hunger's Daughter

Author: Hongying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: While this book is about a young girl and her family, it also belongs to an era, a place, and ultimately, a nation. This nation is quite different from the China we Westerners imagine, and compared to the little we know about the suffering of the "Cultural Revolution," it is almost incomparable. The characteristic of Daughter of Hunger is its candor and sincerity, without concealment. The book's greatest success lies in its restrained, non-extravagant narrative style. There are discussions, even touches of philosophy, but the way the story is told is light, perfectly complementing the grayness of the life depicted, the unbelievable cruelty—both natural disasters and human misfortunes—and the actual arrival of death, which does not degrade life but rather elevates it.