4 comments about The Poker Bride: The First Chinese in the Wild West.

1. Polly Bemis is the poker bride of this book's title. She survived being brought to America as a concubine and the movement to try to rid the west of the Chinese population. She was looked upon in later years as a treasure, emerging from the ranch she had lived on for many years, in 1933, never having seen a car, airplane or heard a radio.
   The book is set up with a complete introduction that tells her story. Christopher Corbett then tells of the time of the gold rush and describes all that surrounded the Chinese in the west.
   For some the structure of the book will be frustrating. It is like sitting in a history class listening to your teacher start to tell one story and then go off on another. All are interesting, but if you acquired this book to read about the poker bride which is boldly printed on the book cover, then you will read a small bit about her and then read through 2 or 3 or more pages of information about the Chinese immigrant condition and history until another fact about the poker bride is mentioned again.
   There is much about the horrendous conditions and life that Chinese women brought into the country for men's pleasure went through. There are 2 chapters and other frequent descriptions given in the 197 pages. There are about 50 pages on the story of Polly at the end. He writes of the many photos taken of her, but only 2 are included.
   There is no index but the book seems to be well documented and researched; just realize that it will be an interesting story of the Chinese immigrant story. Not just specifically the poker bride.



2. the book was o. k. for one reading, too much of the book was about the gold rush, I wanted to know more about the Poker Bride.



3. Have not read this book yet but I do intend to. Several years ago a movie was made based on this story. The movie and the book are titled, Thousand pieces of gold. Wonderful movie if you can find it. I had to order a VHS copy. You won't regret finding the movie. Wonderful. I was so enthralled with the movie that I bought the book. This book looks equally interesting. Will let you know later.



4. "In the 19th-century American West, for a white man to marry a Chinese woman was almost unheard of; to have won her in a poker game was also unusual. Yet here Corbett (who teaches journalism at UMBC) tells how the Chinese concubine Polly became the bride of Charles Bemis, a saloon keeper who took her to his remote Idaho gold-mining community. Around this story, Corbett gracefully weaves the history of the Chinese in the 19th-century American West, from the arrival of the first "celestials," as they were known, through the anti-Chinese agitation at century's end. He pays particular attention to the importation of girls from southern China and tells just how Polly's story ultimately became known to the world.
   
   "VERDICT Corbett's intriguing book will appeal to readers interested in the narrative history of the American West and tales of the mining camps. Corbett provides a sound bibliography and refers to specific sources within his narrative, though serious students will prefer works with full editorial apparatus, such as Gunther Barth's Bitter Strength: A History of the Chinese in the United States, 1850-1870. Corbett's accomplished book will engage history buffs and general readers alike."
   
   Library Journal

5 comments about The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun.

1. I love this book. This book opened my mind, and i would say helped lead me to Christianity. Now i recommend this book to everyone, and I even give it out as a gift. Highly recommend it.



2. I could not put this book down. What a truly remarkable man of God!!



3. I was capitivated by the contents. So much suffering by the asian people. However, sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. No wonder the book is about a heavenly man. May God open the windows of heaven for the suppressed people of China.



4. This is hands down the most amazing book I have ever read in my life after the Bible.
   It has changed my life and challenged me more than any other book I've ever read.



5. This is the most amazing factual story that I have experienced in reading. It proof positive to me that God, Jesus, & the Holy Spirit are real and alive today. Your willingness to except what is written as truth will enlarge your life from all perspectives. Live it out today by understanding this book to be truth.

5 comments about The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts.

1. I don't know about everyone else, but I don't like reading novels that anger me. I had to read this for a class and absolutely hated it. Avoid it if you want to sleep after reading.



2. I never received this item. I will not use this person again. After waiting to the point that I had to go out and buy the book, I'm not happy at all. I don't know if my money was refunded or not. (Probably not). I wrote to the buyer and didn't get a reply.



3. When i got this book i was slightly disappointed because the pages were starting to yellow and the cover was a little bit damaged; but i am happy to get a a 9.00 book for only fifty cents!



4. The Woman Warrior is a beautifully written story about a girl growing up in America, torn between the culture of her Chinese family and the culture of the country in which she lives, told through five short stories. Throughout the novel, this is the major conflict that the main character faces. I would give this novel a rating of four stars because of the way in which the book is written, switching point of views between the main character and her mother. Also there is a great conflict that exists in most places around the world. The story also provides a theme that everyone can relate to.
   
   The main character is a girl who holds an extremely powerful imagination in her hands. She is not named within the book. In the first two short stories, she is told different legends and throughout the story, develops them into something that pleases her imagination. In the first story, she is told that her father had a sister, though she was never informed of this before in her life. Her parents never mentioned her because she committed the crime of adultery, becoming pregnant while her husband was away. Like Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, she is ridiculed because of this, which eventually causes her to kill herself, along with the baby. Within this vignette, our main character is only given a brief summary of what happened. Then the reader witnesses her thinking deeply about the situation. She takes what her mother told her and imagined that she was in her aunt's shoes from the time she realized she was pregnant to the time in which she committed suicide.
   
   Another great example of the imagination of the main character is in the second story where she gives the reader information about a legend about Fa Mu Lan, who was a great warrior in Chinese legend. The main character talks about how the adults would talk-story, meaning they would tell the children legends. This was something she loved as a child. When she heard the legend about Fa Mu Lan, she sees herself as a girl who climbs a mountain and meets an old couple. They train her as a warrior and she becomes famous for her feats, disguising herself as a man. This really shows how the main character gets carried away in her mind. It also hints that she might wish she was someone else, or that her life was more exciting.
   
   The main character grows up in America and is conflicted between the two cultures surrounding her. At times she talks about how she wishes she were "American pretty" instead of "Chinese pretty" because they are two different things. She also shares how the Chinese act differently at school, by being quieter than the others in the class. Although she shows a lot of the Chinese characteristics, she is ridiculed because she still in influenced by Americans, as her mother says. We see this distinction a lot through one of the stories where her mother's sister comes to America. She is not welcomed like Chinese normally welcome family. She isn't treated the same either. The children are occupied with their own lives to notice most of the time.
   
   The main character's mother is another powerful figure shown throughout the story. We find her name is Brave Orchid. Brave Orchid went to medical school in China while her husband was in America, trying to make money while Communism began to take over China. She finished medical school and was a well known doctor in her village. She also believed heavily in ghosts and spirits. Throughout the novel, she calls the Americans and foreigners ghosts, when she finally travels to America. When in America, she is unable to be a doctor because the training is different. Instead, the family invests in a Laundry. Brave Orchid is a strong person, working full time at the Laundry and raising her children, trying to keep them within the Chinese culture, though they are in America. She is a loving parent, as well, even though her children are so different than she is.
   
   Not only does she love her children, but her entire family, especially her sister. Her sister, Moon Orchid, comes to America to visit and find her husband, who left the house to make money in America. Brave Orchid is very brave, as her name says, forcing her sister to see him, though they don't know whether or not he wants to see her. Eventually, they do see him and he doesn't want to see his first wife again, sending her away and thrusting her into a deep depression that lands her in a mental institute.
   
   One major conflict in the story lies with the main character and her growing up in America while her parents try to raise her in the Chinese culture. She is torn between the culture she is growing up in and the culture that exists around her. Although she is torn between the two cultures, she tries to embrace both. It is apparent that, at first, her and her parents go through culture shock because of the difference. This is similar to the culture shock some people face in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. In this novel, the Africans are forced to integrate with British, which cause many to revolt. Although there are no revolts to the culture in The Woman Warrior, some of the character's reactions are similar. Brave Orchid is similar to Okonkwo in the fact that she is forced to embrace the new culture, but tries her hardest to keep her Chinese ways.
   
   A theme within the novel is to never forget your culture, no matter where you are. Although you may be growing up within a different place, your culture is a part of you. The main character's culture is a split between her Chinese parents' cultures and the culture of the America she grows up in. This is different from her mother's culture which is her Chinese history. Although their cultures differ, along with many characters' cultures in the novel, it is important to live within your culture, because it is who you are. We see this in the end of the novel, where Brave Orchid begins a story to tell her daughter, the main character. Then the main character ends the story with her imagination. It is within Brave Orchid's culture to talk-story and to share legends and even invent new stories that reflect the ways of the Chinese. The main character grew up in America, where imagination is treasured. She also grew up with the Chinese influence, which causes her to finish the story with her own adaptation, though there are Chinese elements to it. This shows how she is mixed between American culture and Chinese culture.
   
   I would recommend this book to any woman, especially young adolescents. It is a great story to show a mother/daughter relationship. It is also a great book to show the progress of a girl growing up within a world that holds many differences than she is brought up to believe. The Woman Warrior gives a glimpse of a girl's life through her point of view and her mothers, while giving stories from both of their lives, to give perspective on their personalities. It is also five different stories molded in to one, this creates an easy read, though the concepts are intricate. I would recommend the book to someone who is searching for a novel that really makes you think and also anyone who is interested in different cultures, especially the Chinese culture.
   
   This book is very different than many out there, but the passion within the characters and their relationships give it true life, creating a masterpiece worth reading.



5. I'll never forget the moment when, reading this book, I realized that I am a ghost (to Chinese). A poignant realization. Read the book to see what I mean.

5 comments about On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family.

1. On Gold Mountain is the history of the See family and like most histories it is most interesting to the one telling it. For me, this book club choice was boring with a capital B. Approximately 400 pages of family history from Lisa See's great great grandfathers immigration to work on the transcontinetal railroad to her latest sojourn to the small Chinese town of Dimato to meet her great grandfathers and great uncles third and fourth family relatives from their concubines left in China. Make your head spin? Keeping the memebers of the original See family straight was tough but trying to keep up with the second wives, third wives and fourth wives and their children was frustrating and boring. It seemed to me that this was in essence the American story. It told about the lives of immigrants who came to a new place to find wealth and happiness and instead found discrimination, back breaking work and in the Fong See's case success. Lisa See interjects throughout the book facts regarding Chinese discrimination and hardship through the years as this group of immigrants struggle to become citizens with equal rights in this country. In all the most amazing part of the book for me was the marriage between Fong See and Letticie Pruitt. This was an unheard of union at the time and must have required a bravery on both their parts. The fact that this couple produced four sons and one daugther and two successful import companies is no small feat. As the book went on it was heartbreaking to read about the distance, petty differences, and shortcomings between the five original See children. I suppose that their story is also the story of every family. As children grow up they often grow apart. What original immigrant parents value their children often turn against. In the end, Lisa See provided a very detailed account of her families joys, hardships, success and failures. For me, it was about 200 pages too long and in the end bittersweet.



2. This book was required for a class. It was nice because I actually enjoyed this book!



3. Great Book!! Learned more about Chinese history in the US than in a history book. Passed it on twice already, friends all say how much they enjoyed it.



4. I am a long-time fan of Ms See's novels, but never got around to reading "On Gold Mountain", which is a work of non-fiction. Well, after reading it, I have to say that I found Ms See's account of her family's history interweaved with California's history in the late 19th and 20th centuries to be fascinating, and Ms See's meticulous research shows through her work.
   
   Lisa See is only one-eight Chinese, but has always been exposed to the elements of traditional Chinese culture, having spent a great deal of her formative years in L.A.'s Chinatown, surrounded by her Chinese family members. Thus, her account of her family [on the Chinese side] is both credible and compelling. Besides, Ms See also draws her material from numerous interviews with her Chinese family members, as well as journeying to the family village in China, amongst others. See's great-great-grandfather, Fong Dun Shung migrated from China to the US aka Gold Mountain with his two sons in 1867. Later, See's great-grandfather, Fong See [Dun Shung's fourth son] arrives in the US and works his way to becoming a prominent member of society & founding father of L.A.'s Chinatown. He also does something that is unexpected, scandalizing his family in the process - marrying a Caucasian. The saga continues with See's interweaving family history with accounts of California's history in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Another aspect of the book which fascinated me was of the early account of inter-racial marriage and its consequences, and of course, of the East-West connection.
   
   Ms See is a gifted writer, as evidenced by her mastery of writing both fiction and non-fiction, as well as being able to illuminate her stories through deep exploration of the main characters and settings. "On Gold Mountain" is a fascinating read indeed.



5. Most informative & interesting reading !!!!
   
   Good Chinese story of family culture

5 comments about Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter.

1. Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah is an extremely depressing book... but as the title states, it is satisfying. I saw everyone reading it and thought,AM I GOING TO LIKE THIS BOOK? i went to the library, found the book and sat down. I read the first few pages of the book and then and there, i knew this was going to be my favorite book... and so it is =). This book is about a chinese unwanted daughter who has to struggle to deal with life. It may not sound interesting, and i felt the same way too, but the way the author wrote this book is so inspiring that you would think it's made up. The book is also full of life lessons that everyone should live by... the main one: Be thankful for what God has given you. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about a story that has ups and downs, uplifting, and adventurous. =)



2. This is a wonderful recollection of a young girl's struggles in China. The author does not sugar coat her condition in the slightest, and deeply conveys her misery and sorrow in this compelling memoir. Though many of the issues and situations she deals with are jarring and upsetting to the reader, her story is completely deserving of the reader's attention!



3. Adeline Yen Mah has dedicated her autobiography to all 'unwanted' children and is indeed skilfully written and engaging book which will fill you with sadness and empathy as well as admirtaion for this little girl in Shanghai, whose mother died soon after she was born, and who faced a childhood of negelct and cruelty by her father and her truelly evil step mother 'Niang' . Her only allies in the household were her gradparents and her Aunt Baba.
   In some sense this as much resembles a true life Chinese Dickens type story .
   
   Her father forgot to fetch her from school, her father and stepmother beat her for visiting friends, ot because friends visited their home, neglected to her where Niang's own children were pampered and even set their dog to kill the little girl's beloved pet duck.
   When she was ten they sent her away to an orphanage, never visitng her or writing to her. When the Communists seized mainland China, in 1949, Adeline, at 11, moved with her family to Hong Kong where she attended boarding school.
   
   Adeline winning the prize in a prestiguous international writing competition persuaded her father to agree to send her to study medicine at Oxford University, England.
   This is an iunforgetabble, heartlifing but ulimately uplifting told with spirit and honesty. A skilfully written piece of modern literature.



4. Most of us have heard the fairytale about Cinderella. There is a girl who lives with her stepmother and stepsisters who treat her horribly. She ends up sneaking out of the house and into a ball where she meets a prince who falls in love with her, and like all fairy tales they live happily ever after. The book Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, is a completely different story. It is about a girl named Adeline. This girl lives with the despair of killing her mother during birth over her head and this fact is also hidden inside of all of her family's actions towards her. She lives a life where there is no believing in happy endings, because she can only hope that she can advance through life in one piece. Adeline tries her hardest at school and shortly is at the top of her class, but slowly she gets pushed away from her family. This true story is both breath-taking, intriguing, and definitely deserves five stars. The minute you start reading, you will want to keep reading to find out what happens, but when it ends you will be wishing for more.
   
   From the first word of the first page, you will drop into the life of Adeline Yen Mah, the Chinese Cinderella. Your story will intertwine with many historical happenings, like the Second World War, and you will understand what it feels like to have an "evil stepmother", formerly known as a Niang in China. You will experience the Chinese Culture, and uncover how different their life is from ours. You walk in Adeline's shoes as she is pushed around, but still she spreads nothing but smiles and thankfulness. Adeline understands life; she knows that the only way to prosper is by determination and optimism. She is a role model because she tries her hardest; still knowing that she won't get anything in return. I would recommend this book for any age from thirteen to adult. If you read this story you will see how your life would change by being born into a different country.
   -PEC



5. this book goes deep into the soul. everything that she went through everything that she had to take just because of her place in the family. sometimes we all hope that things like this - families like this- never happen. but even though she had a not so great childhood she push through and made her dreams come true, she made a future all by herself.

No comments about Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Loss and Love.

5 comments about Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter.

1. My late paternal great-aunt, 1/4 unknown European and 3/4 Chinese was the only grand-family that my father counted on financially since the sudden death of his father at age of 8 in 1945. She was mean and tended to verbally abuse her own family and even step-family who later supported her at old age. She expected everyone to look up to her and to always say good morning, great-aunt every day from us. I grew up fearing her in my home when she came to visit us from San Francisco to Hong Kong almost every summer. Luckily she never abused physically anyone in my knowledge. One day when I was 8, I was trying to get to know her and decided to amuse with her, but she got mad and shouted at me saying that I disrespected her. I cried and felt mad silently and finally got brave for the very first time by showing a little angry attitude towards her!
   
   When I read Falling Leaves book, I was really surprised that Niang went ahead and abused her own toddler daughter physically so badly. She's like expecting every family member to be robotic to her. She's been creating violence in the innocent, sweet home. That's how her own son Franklin grew up to be monstrous as the adult Susan described. Niang certainly was not a good influence in the home and I'm so glad that my great-aunt never had any children. Otherwise she probably would do such things to her own children like Niang did to her own! Yen's Falling Leaves book is a truly great book for Chinese History with more specific details. I bought this book because I wanted to know why my great-aunt acted that way towards her own family. After reading the book, I finally got some ideas of what happened to my mysterious great-aunt's past!



2. I could not put this book down. Brilliant story of how one woman overcame numerous obstacles to find her place in the world. Empowering and inspirational as well as educational. I learned quite a bit about China and its history. Recommend to anyone who enjoys true accounts of the strength of the human spirit.



3. I wasn't expecting to pick up this book and be unable to put it down until I turned the last page. That is what happened to me yesterday. This book makes me glad that I am a fast reader and even more grateful to have an understanding husband who knows that once a book has me in its grip that I am unable to focus on anything else until the book is done. (It helped that yesterday was also a holiday.)
   
   I don't "love" this book, per se, but I am amazed by the strength the author had to write this book. While others may view it as a "woe-is-me" type story ... which it is in some ways, I viewed this as a story of a child who endured emotional neglect and survived to be stronger for it. Yes, she was born in a wealthy family. Yes, she was taken care of and was never starving. Yes, she wasn't completely abandoned, left to fend for herself on the streets. But she was abused and neglected and unwanted.
   
   Adeline was born the fifth child of her father's first wife. Within two weeks, her mother died and Adeline was blamed for causing her mother's death. Since she was a female child, she was degraded even more in her family's eyes. Her father soon married a beautiful woman who was part French and part Chinese ... and this woman really did fit the stereotype of the "wicked stepmother." Adeline was soon shuffled off to boarding schools with no contact from home. She grew up and eventually became a doctor and even though her first marriage ended in a disaster, she did find happiness with her second husband.
   
   Adeline sought hard all of her life to gain her parents' approval as well as her siblings, but she was constantly betrayed by them up to the end when she discovered that her father did include her in the original will but her stepmother excluded her. After her stepmother's death, Adeline finally felt the courage to severe ties with her family.
   
   Adeline did have two people in her family that did love her and encourage her, her aunt Baba and her grandfather. Both of them were punished by Niang, her stepmother, for loving her and eventually, her aunt left the house to take care of herself. Her aunt was soon caught up in the revolutions that swept through China and it did not fare as well for her as it did for Adeline's family, who managed to escape China by fleeing to Hong Kong.
   
   Throughout this memoir are fascinating information about the history of China and the revolutions that swept through the countryside. No one was left unaffected, even the Chinese who fled to other countries. There are also information about the Chinese culture, the society mores that dominate the family and more. It is a fascinating look into one family as well as one child's life.
   
   This is an interesting memoir and one that I will definitely pass onto others to read.
   
   1/19/10



4. As an avid reader of books involving Chinese culture and the hardships of the Twentieth Century, I have to strongly recommend not reading this book. While the author did suffer hardships growing up in Shanghai, she was much better off that 99% of her fellow countrymen. During the timeframe of her book over 70 million Chinese were murdered, beaten and starved to death by policies of the dysfunctional Government. While this was going on she had plenty of food, was sent to a private school, lived in a multi-story home in an affluent neighborhood (with indoor plumbing, a luxury some Chinese still don't have), and a father who made more money than most people anywhere in the world.
   
   Yes, she did have an evil stepmother, a dysfunctional home life, and strict rules to follow. But, over-all, she was much better off than most others - like the homeless children she would sometimes pass when she was walking to and from school.
   
   I'm very disappointed in this book, but I'm even more disappointed in myself for buying it. There are many better books available that tell more honest tales of the horrors of growing up in China, because they also include heart-warming scenes of people caring for other people. This book has no heart, and therefore no reason to care for the author and her whining.



5. this book was more historical than i expected. the politics of china was woven throughout her story from a perspective one would never see or feel otherwise. her life remained hopeless throughout and it makes one see and appreciate just how wonderful the simple things of life in the united states really are. the style of writing is very matter-of-fact and you never feel she is whining or merely looking for sympathy. this is a very worthwhile book.

5 comments about Silent Tears: A Journey Of Hope In A Chinese Orphanage.

1. This book is a tear jerker, especially if you look up videos that people who have visited these orphanages have made. The author writes this book in diary form in a way that sounds like she's writing to a close friend. It's a very quick read and somewhat horrifying and unbelievable in parts (not in the way that she's not being truthful, but in the way that you can't/don't want to believe this actually goes on, still, today, right now).
   
   She writes about babies being tied to their beds, to potty chairs all day, babies dying of neglect and starvation because of physical problems that would be easily treated here but are much too costly there. It opens your eyes to what it must be like to be a Chinese woman who has given birth to a handicapped child or even worse, a perfectly healthy girl but know that if her family is poor, they will likely disown her if she doesn't abandon the child due to the "one child" policy in China.
   
   Read this book with an open mind. Don't go in judging the Chinese culture or trying to Americanize it. Read it with a mindset that every culture is different and our job is not to try to humiliate and change, but to help the best way we can. Maybe it'll inspire you, like it did me, to do more research into this problem and think about what you can do for children like these, not only in China, but all over the world.



2. I ordered this book because we are part of Safe Families ([..]), a charity that cares for children whose parents temporarily can't do so as an alternative to the state having to take custody of such kids. I've also known children adopted from China, and wanted to know more about what life was for them like before coming here. In addition, with our nation now so deeply in debt to China, I wanted to know more about our new bankers.
   
   Silent Tears is a diary of several recent years in the life of an American Christian "ex pat" housewife living in Mainland China. It's a "warts and all" account of her experiences, good, bad and ugly, including her own problems. I was very impressed by the author's efforts. She was sensitive to the possibility that practices which seemed senseless and cruel to her might actually have good reasons behind them, as was sometimes the case, but also willing to persist in efforts to improve matters for the children of the orphanage in their town. By mobilizing donors and other volunteers, she was able to make lasting differences, especially in the lives of particular children.
   
   However, there was only so much the orphanage volunteer group could do without causing their Chinese hosts to lose face in ways that might have resulted in payback against the orphanage children. Even now, years later, the town in which the orphanage was located is not named, for fear of retribution against volunteers and children still there.
   
   One tidbit that really helped my own understanding was realizing that in Chinese culture, when a wife marries, she leaves her own family and joined her husband's. Thus, the only way a family can be sure of having a child to care for them in old age is by having a son. I still don't approve favoring sons over daughters, but do now better understand the "logic" of it in such a society.
   
   This book is must reading for anyone thinking of adopting a child from China, and highly useful reading for anyone planning to visit China. I also found it useful for understanding what it may take for the U.S. to continue good relations with China.
   
   I found the book best to read in small doses, due to the sadness and frustration described in many of its pages, but was still interested enough to finish it within two days.
   
   One thing I initially missed was a suggestion of next steps for those interested in helping, though I found that too at the author's Web site: [..], which suggests, for instance, how to fund the $35 monthly cost of fostering a child.
   
   Something else I'd like to have read more about was the Christian community in China, though that too might have endangered anyone mentioned.



3. I am the mother of a Chinese daughter and have aspirations of volunteering in a Chinese orphanage at some point in the near future. My husband actually picked the book up before I had a chance to start it and he read it entirely in a couple of days. He encouraged me to go ahead and read it and so I began. He also encouraged me to continue when I wanted to put it down after about 20 pages. I'll be honest- it was hard to read the descriptions and accounts and not apply those to my own daughter and her time before she was with us. However, my dear husband also gently told me that I "needed to read it". He was so correct!! This book, although difficult to emotionally process, was such an insightful and sadly realistic view of the orphanage the author worked in. I believe that her experiences and willingness to share the tough parts of her journey have prepared me for giving my time to a group of children such as these, God willing. However, if nothing else, she has opened my eyes to specific needs and requests that can be prayed for and could possibly be met by those of us that have been called to care for orphans.



4. I had very mixed emotions while reading this book. As the parent of a child from China, I was anxious for any insight into the inner workings of a Chinese orphanage. Reading of the treatment and conditions of the various orphans was at most times heartbreaking and painful, but yet, eye opening. I had a very difficult time when the author started ascribing postive changes within the orphanage to God, or to her work (as God's agent) there. I was also uncomfortable with her descriptions of the terrible food, the oppressive society...- all very provincial, western and egocentric, in my view. Thank God she had Kentucky Fried Chicken to turn to.



5. I just started this book this morning and it is a page turner. I love it!

5 comments about The Concubine's Children.

1. Received my order quickly, the book was is the advertised condition and I loved the book.



2. I couldn't wait to read this book after it arrived. But I was disappointed. Althought the topic was fascinating, the writing was not. I became bored and at times found it hard to follow which person was doing what. I had to re-read some paragraphs to make sure I knew which person I was reading about. If the writing had been better, it would have been a far more captivating book. Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter was much better.



3. 
   THE BOOK WAS A VERY GOOD BUY....SERVICE WAS OUTSTANDING I RECD
   THE BOOK IN A HURRY. BOOK WAS IN GREAT CONDITION AND EVEN MY
   WIFE PICKED IT UP AND READ IT. THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK I
   PURCHASED FROM AMAZON. I WILL BUY AGAIN VERY SOON. KEEP UP
   THE GOOD WORK.



4. In this fascinating tale, Denise Chong deftly writes the story of her migrant Chinese family on two soils - Canadian soil, and Chinese soil. Her grandmother ("concubine" May-ying) moves to Canada following Chan Sam, her assigned husband. Times prove not to be so easy for the Chinese in "Gold Mountain". Their isolation and institutionalized exclusion from mainstream Canadian society stifled any progress. May-ying moves almost constantly from Nanaimo to Vancouver (the two Chinatowns) waitressing to support her husband, Hing (the third daughter and author's mother), and also the family left in China. Following relations in this book is key to understanding how the story unfolds.
   
   Denise Chong tells the story of May-ying's taut life in trying to fulfill the obligations of a Chinese wife in a polygamous setting. She also gives historical accounts (political and cultural) both at home and in China. When family and history are intertwined, both become inseperably tangible. I don't think that this book is an exploitation of Chinese culture as one reviewer pointed out. I think this book will be enlightening to many a reader with sparse knowledge and misconceptions about early Chinese migration to the New World.



5. For those of you who think polygamy works when it is culturally supported, this is the book that will give you a new viewpoint to consider.
   
   This book was written by the granddaugther of a concubine, a second wife taken while the first wife was still in the picture. Culture and practicality allowed and supported concubinage in China of the 1920s, yet this family suffered greatly for generations under the practice. It is the history of her grandparents' marriage, a second marriage. The grandfather took a concubine to be his wife in the New World while he worked to make a better living from his At Home family and to elevate his social status in his home community.
   
   The story tells of the struggles of being a "second family," of the depravation that had to go hand-in-hand with supporting two households, with the shame of having parents who were together for the convenience of sex and income, of the pain of being separated from siblings who were being raised by the first wife. It's about the descent from being a merely disfunctional family unit to being essentially an out-of-control single-parent household when the bonds of dependency and culture were broken by the stress of having two wives and two families.
   
   I couldn't put this book down once I started because it's like watching a train-wreck. I could anticpate the troubles and sorrows, as could the family involved, yet they were just as powerless as I to change things.

3 comments about Surviving the Dragon: A Tibetan Lama's Account of 40 Years under Chinese Rule.

1. Arjia Rinpoche is a wonderfully unassuming man. I have had the privilege to attend his classes in Bloomington. After reading his story, I have an even deeper respect for this wonderful teacher. The book blends his personal story, which is compelling in itself, with an honest look at the Chinese take-over of Tibet. If you read only one book this year, make it this one.



2. Surviving the Dragon is a compelling account of what has happened in Tibet during the last 50 years. It is very honest. It does not try to "pull your heart strings," but the sheer force of the actual events narrated caused me to cry. Everyone who wishes to know what it is like to live in Tibet/China should read this book



3. Arjia Rinpoche writes that his life provides an interesting lens through which to see larger events in Tibet and China. Certainly that is well-stated. Thank you, Rinpoche, for offering us the privilege of gazing through this remarkable lens. Thank you for shedding clear light on events that have otherwise been hidden in shadow. This is a powerful book and an important one. The significance of its impact is not only for the Tibetan people, but for our human family as a whole.
   
   This is an honest account in which Rinpoche shares his experiences over the past five decades or so. The generosity of his open sharing is inspiring. This book truly is a gift from a compassionate and wise heart.
   
   May Rinpoche's dream, hope and prayer be fulfilled.