Becoming Madame Mao

Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min is the story of one of the key hands in the Chinese Revolution. She began as a rejected daughter of a concubine and eventually moved in with her grandparents. After her grandfather introduced her to opera she became enthralled with the stage. She went on to change her name to Lan Ping and worked as an actress beginning in smaller roles and working her way up. I feel like Lan Ping is uncomfortable with herself and has to resort to playing a part to make up for what she feels she lacks. She turns to men and relationships to feel like she matters, and she denies anything that makes her look bad. Several themes that have arisen so far are the importance of respect within a relationship and the benefit of perserverance. Although Lan Ping may not go about situations in the appropriate manner, she works at it until she completes her goal. So far I like the book; however, it is getting a little slow.

Wild Ginger - Valerie

I am not that far into the book, Wild Ginger, by Anchee Min, but so far it is interesting. We have met three main character in this book so far, the narrator, Hot Pepper, and Wild Ginger. The narrator talks about how her parents and grandparents were teachers instead of participants in the Red Guard, so she wasn't always welcome around Hot Pepper. Hot Pepper is the leader of the Red Guard, and was a firm believer in violence, hitting was apart of her treatment. I am assuming this book took place during some kind of war or revolution because the Red Guard is all they talk about. The narrator considered Hot Pepper the bully girl. These people had to bring "three piece treasure everywhere they went to show loyalty toward Chairman Mao, we have not yet met Mao. The three pieces were: a mao button, a little red book -which contained Mao quotations- and if you were a Red Guard, an armband. The other character we met is named Wild Ginger, when she first enters the classroom Hot Pepper questioned her about the Red Guard and her name, trying to make Wild Ginger look like a reactionary. At this part after Wild Ginger gets badgered by Hot Pepper she stands up for herself. The narrator seems to really look up to her after this part, because no one has ever stood up for themselves to her, everyone is to scared of Hot Pepper. I think the narrator and Wild Ginger will become good friends/allies.

Becoming Madame Mao--Morgan

Below: Lotus Feet

So far, the book has summarized Madame Mao's life from her traumatic childhood up to her career as a actress in adulthood. As a child, the author portray's Mao as not having a real name besides "girl". She was born into an abusive family: her father is hardly ever there and when he is, he beats both her and her mother. Her mother was forced

into the marriage and has no idea of how to raise a child. When Mao was four, her mother attempted to bind her feet so that she could have "lotus feet." This results in extremely disfigured and small feet that are swolen and pointed like rice cakes, as described in the book. After three weeks with bound feet, Mao rips off the bandages because she can no longer deal with the pain: this is the first of many acts of defiance and independance in Mao's life. Soon after, she is put into the custody of her grandparents who giver her a proper name of Yunhe. Her grandpa introduced her to theater and the opera, which consequently becomes her passion in life. She runs away from her grandparents to begin her acting career but is majorly unsuccessful, save for the debut appearance she made as a replacement for the lead part in an opera. Yunhe then becomes a Chinese teacher but word gets out that she's a communist so she is put in jail for a time and is luck to get out alive. After many failures, she rechanges her name to Lan Ping (meaning blue apple) to start a new life. In this "new life," Lan Ping tries her hand at acting again in Shanghai and gets a leading role in a popular play.

Wild Ginger....Brianna

During China's cultural revolution in the 60's and 70's it was a scary place to be. Chairman Mao and his devoted people demanded self-sacrifices from people for their "great cause". Maple, the narrator of my book, loses her father to a labor camp. And whats so unfiar is that crimes of parents are blamed on the kids! his teeny criminal record, if any leaves Maple vulnerable at her school to beatings by Maoist, (and bully girl of the school) Hot Pepper and her gang. No one really speaks out either because they're afraid of being accused a reactionary or anti-mao which would get them in deep trouble. The new girl, named Wild Ginger, and Maple become friends because theyre the two outcast and targets at school. Thats all i've read so far but i plan to read a lot more for next time and so far its a good book