Paula-Madame Mao 2

I just finished the book, and I thought that the ending was very interesting. I was somewhat disappointed to learn that Jiang Ching's reign completely ended after the death of Mao, her husband. Although she worked very hard to gain the power that she eventually got, she ended up trying to destroy people that had once done wrong unto her, which I thought was unethical. One thing I really enjoyed about the progression of her story was the way Anchee Min told the story as if it was a play. I enjoy performing in front of audiences, and the format of the story made it seem that much more realistic and relatable to my every day life.

Another thing I liked about this novel was the changing point of view. I think it gave a more well-rounded story and a more diverse opinion of Madame Mao. She would tell her story during some points, and then a third-person omniscient narrator would continue the story without her bias in focus. I think that this helped me better understand her life story and the events that she overcame. The point of view was an integral part of the story, bringing in different perspectives about Jiang Ching.

Finally, I feel like I learned a lot about the Chinese cultural revolution through this book. As I stated before, I think that Mao is a symbol of change for the people. However, after reading more, I have realized that although many people were very supportive and even dedicated to him, he was not necessarily always right or ethical or kind to others. This can be seen perhaps most easily through his relationship with his wife. Near the end of his life, he treated her terribly and did not respect her at all, even though she tried everything she could to help him succeed by creating Communist plays and trying to destroy different government leaders to make his position easier and less burdensome. Mao Tse-tung was never willing to change his ways to make her happy and inspire her to do even more for the cultural revolution. I think that in a way, her time spent in jail symbolizes an overthrowing of old and bringing in new. These changes affected her profoundly, and she realized that she was no longer the true leader to bring about change in China. Overall, I enjoyed Becoming Madame Mao a lot and I learned many new things about the cultural revolution in China.

Wild Ginger 2....Brianna

As I said last time Maple and Wild Ginger do become the kind of outcast friends but their friendship is a weird one. Wild Ginger is sooo rude and disrespectful to her mom and her french father. I think she comes off like a brat. But i guess, who wouldn't when all the parents "crimes" are blamed on the child. While Wild Ginger is trying to do anything she can to distance herself from her parents Maple (not even knowing Gingers father) defends them because she can see past some of the blame and see peoples loyalty and virtue. I think she can also understand the situation better then Ginger b/c her dad saw the chinese revolution differently then most Maoists. Their friendship kind of struggles to survive the tension with the whole Evergreen thing. They both come to like the boy but Evergreen goes for Wild ginger first. Wild Ginger is respected for "outing criminals", even ppl like her own mom. At this point in the book all the children are taken out of school to march the country and train so theyll be able to defend themselves and fight if needed. Thats where i am so far and even tho its an easy read its definatly an interesting book