Het Kleine Meisje Van Het Grote Plein (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
Chai Ling was elected the commander-in-chief of the student movement at the Square. I’m always fascinated by the making of people who go on to risk it all for an ideal, and this is a pretty good book to read in this regard. One gets a picture of growing up in an rural area in post-cultural revolution China. Chai Ling’s parents were in the army and that ensured that they at least had food to eat, but her childhood strikes me as very hard, and her achievement at getting into one of the most prestigious institutions in the country more impressive. This achievement made her a star of her village, and her parents had high expectations of her, which she fulfilled in ways they could not have imagined.Reading about student life in Beijing in the 80s when there was some degree of freedom of intellectual debate was also interesting. This freedom played a part in the events that followed, in which the students demanded greater accountability from their government.Obviously, the most interesting part was Chai Ling’s recounting of the days of the actual student protest at the Square which ultimately culminated in a brutal government crackdown. She gives one an insider’s perspective on what goes into making a student movement, the kinds of debates and conflicts that take place in the backdrop, the naivete and the idealism, the need for quick decision-making and strong leaders, and the motivations of those who put their lives on the line.Chai Ling is a controversial figure, who was sharply criticised after a video of her making some shocking statements emerged. Chai Ling deals with this video in the book. Not everyone is convinced by her explanation, but as a reader of the book viewing events through her lens, one can be more sympathetic.The latter half of the book is about her escape and relocation in the West. I’ve always wondered what dissidents do once they are uprooted. How do they survive and meet their financial needs? Chai Ling's survival in the "free West" is also interesting. The last section deals with her conversion to Christianity and her newfound enthusiasm for fighting the one-child policy in China. This is the part I found hardest to stomach. Chai Ling had had a terribly hard life, and I can understand the need for the kind of solace that Christianity provides, but it was kind of boring reading all about her journey of faith. While her chosen cause is a worthy one, and one close to her heart for personal reasons, she champions it from a Christian lens. So I kind of speed read through that section, which I’m sure was not the author’s intention. To sum the story up, it is a story of discovery. Ms Ling breaks her autobiography into three parts; her youth, the Tiananmen Square youth democracy movement, and her discovering faith after her escape from China and move to the United States.While I enjoyed Ms Ling's story, her narrative would sometimes become bogged down as she explained situations in exacting detail, adding little to her story.But discounting those instances, her story is quite remarkable and you can appreciate what the Chinese youth experienced in their quest for democracy almost 30 years ago.
What do You think about Het Kleine Meisje Van Het Grote Plein (2012)?
I think this book was poorly edited, and tedious to read.
—Carolyn
A powerful story told well by a remarkable woman.
—txt
不好看。宣教味太濃。沒有故事性。
—kknamy13
Great gospel filled book! Highly recommend!!
—Terri
