Chinese Cinderella: The True Story Of An Unwanted Daughter (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
Every country and every people that resides have different culture and have different story to tell. From the most depressing experience of their lives from most unforgettable moments they felt in their childhood. But how can they manage to express and treasure those experiences forever? Some people write them on their journals or diaries, some record it through tapes and CDs, some tell their past lives from their grandsons and few write and compile their stories into a book.Adeline Yen Mah's short biography, exploring her childhood experiences, meant to be read and inspired other readers. She wrote this book for teens and young kids to express her desire and sadness in the past while living with her stepmother, living without desire, loosing hopes and dreams and losing her rights as a child of his father.She was born rich and born bad luck because of her mother's death, nobody desires to enter her life even her siblings except her aunt. Adeline struggles to grow when the days past. They are awfully sad and very painful for the readers. She was not welcome to the household as she carries bad luck, she find friends and a place where she belong, a place where only happiness can be found, the school.Her lives possessed with desires to achieve the top just to be recognized by her father. Her father, who only believed to fiction stories that her 2nd wife told, not believing that he already forgotten her first wife's children. As Adeline struggle to the top and gaining freedom in the end, she manages to show her success by education and share her success through books.She graduated in London Hospital Medical School in Europe with the help of a miracle, a winning piece that change her life forever. After a very long journey she practiced her course in California and become a teacher and author, and helping children in China to go to school and to make their wishes come true.This thin book is very emotionally uncontrollable; she wrote most of her depressing stories from the first chapter until the end and few not-quite-happy memories. This biography is not suitable for those people who have heart and eye problems; I suggest that you have to skip reading this book not to mention that this had a serious problem to childhood experiences.I live with a group of Chinese kids when I was young and agree that Chinese parents, teachers and other professionals are very strict with their children that I can't believe that Adeline have this gap and heart breaking experience with her parents. Although this is normal for a child, but this change my perspective towards other traditions and beliefs of Chinese people.This book is not as good as any biography book I read, but this book is very inspiring and consider that she implement education as a tool to succeed in life and trying to emphasize that expectation is not only give negative results but also positive. One thing that I observe from the book is that, she needed more attention to her parents and siblings. I'm not a psychologist but I think a child must grow needed high attention of the parents. At least, she succeeds in the end.I recommend this to all half Chinese kids, teens and adults who have the same experience with Adeline or readers that are curious to Chinese tradition. This black book is full of sad memories, so fragile that every reader wanted to keep it forever even the sadness keep on pouring inside the book. Adeline, you are a true beauty of success and you make Cinderella go gaga. most complicated fairy tail ever written was Cinderella, nobody had the idea who the hell first wrote it. Is it the Egyptians, Russians or Chinese? Anyway, at least the gore picture tells the other side of Cinderella, why she have small feet that only the glass slippers (originally a fur) fits to her.Review posted on Old-Fashioned Reader.Rating: Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah, 4 SweetsChallenges:Book #216 for 2011Book #127 for Off the Shelf!
I chose to read this book as I had heard that it was very inspiring and taught you many life lessons such as you can do anything you set your mind to. I have had many friends read it and say how it was such a sad and moving book so I was very intrigued to read it to. The category this book fits is "a book that teaches you about a culture other than your own" This book is about a girl called Adeline. She is despised and left out by her family because she is believed to be the reason for her mothers death. This is a true story written by Adeline herself which makes it even more heartbreaking to hear what happened to her.My least favourite character in the book was Niang (Adeline's stepmother). In most books with stepmothers they are always evil and treat their stepchildren unkindly and in this novel it is exactly the same. Niang would treat Adeline badly by beating her because she was ugly which made her into a very evil stepmother. All Niang did all day was lie in her room doing nothing. She was lazy, selfish and mean. What made me even more angry was how Baba (Adeline's father) could not see or did not care how mean hearted Niang was. It frustrated me how Niang could get away with treating others badly.My favourite character was of course Adeline. I liked how she persevered through life- from coming from an unloved home where she was hated and now becoming a famous author. Adeline was a hard worker and determined to succeed in everything she tried which made her a very interesting character to read about. I also felt sorry for Adeline for her horrible upbringing and I could not imagine how any child could live through that because I surely could not!I learnt a lot about the Chinese language and culture. There was a glossary at the back which taught you basic Chinese words such as "cu ju" which means football and "niao" being bird. I found this very interesting looking at the language. There were also many festivals such as The Cold Food Festival therefore I could understand some Chinese traditions and culture.Reading this book was heartbreaking and very emotional sometimes bringing tears to your eyes. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.
What do You think about Chinese Cinderella: The True Story Of An Unwanted Daughter (2009)?
What is really shocking about this book is to read about the abuse of a child (the author) at the hands of her truly wicked stepmother and sadistic father (well, the stepmother is sadistic, too, so they're a perfect pair), and then to get to the middle of the book and actually see photos of these horrible people. It made my blood boil. Adeline Yen Mah's story, however, is about a child's attempts to navigate an abusive household situated in China during and after World War II. As she matures, we see some healing occurring within her and we are able to watch her make her own life for herself despite intense pain and neglect. Her grandfather (her Ye-Ye) and her Aunt Baba are the heroic adults who love Adeline unconditionally and have good hearts. This is an easy read for an adult, but it's a great book to use in school both for the story, the linguistic, and the historical aspects. There's a really beautiful passage towards the end where Adeline's grandfather realizes that she devalues her Chinese identity and he explains to her the depth of meaning beautifully held by the various Chinese characters.
—Laura
Chinese Cinderella was a great book. It taught me many new things. I really liked this book because it wasn't like an ordinary Cinderella story. Their is not a prince in this story their is no magic, but it's about someone who is unwanted. Their were some parts in the story that I didn't like but their were only the parts were she got hit for doing nothing. Adeline was a girl who her father, brothers, and sister blamed her for her mothers death. Adeline was treated unfair by her family. Her father remarried a year after her mothers death. Adeline's step mother was unfair with her and her brothers and sisters. She was separated from her aunt who was the only one who believed that she was special. Her life was not a happy life she was treated with hatred and unfairness. Their would be times were she would win prizes but no one ever seemed to care. All she ever wanted was love and understanding of her family.
—Dulce
I'm not going to rate this because I just reached exactly half way through and I have no desire to finish it. It's not only the whining but the style of the writing. She's too preachy-teachy for me to listen to her "poor me" for that many more chapters. Family dysfunction and cultural clash happens to 100,000's every day who need to emigrate or for economic reasons. It's sad that she is so negative in response to the circumstances of her myriad misfortunes. But I have no desire to seep myself down in her well. It's pitiful that at 50 something she remembers every negative. My Mother-in-law's Mom died when she was born and she was given away to a neighbor and taken to work on a fruit truck every day while still in diapers. No one ever watched her beyond the age of 7 or 8 and then it was just one uncle who died of drink when she was 13. She worked for her own clothing for high school. I worked in a store from the time I was six or seven. A lot. Lots of immigrants have to grow themselves. That doesn't make this acceptable at all. Just that I'm not the audience for the blame and the "poor me" attitude that she has carried so late into her life. It's poison for her own soul.
—Jeanette
