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Lawrence's Reviews > Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China During the Cultural Revolution
Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China During the Cultural Revolution
by
by
p.1-41
The book has so far illustrated the narrator's history as a time of growing up. Li describes her childhood with innocence in the midst of the Great Leap where China is rallying its people to revolutionize the country in the face of the industrial West. The Great Leap has now passed and Li is about to face a life changing moment, or "loss of innocence". I anticipate this will happen in the next chapter because it begins with, "...my school headmaster hanged himself." (42) Li's style consists of past tense as if she is watching her childhood from the present. The details are very elaborate which makes it questionable whether an event actually happened or not. Occasionally, Li will dedicate a chapter to bring out a character's past such as Lao Lao's, Li's grandmother, childhood. A particularly moving part was when Li discovers her grandmother saving the better food for her and her brother. She later, with her brother, adamantly demands Lao Lao to serve her the same meager food. Such insight in children (not exclusive) is rare nowadays.
The book has so far illustrated the narrator's history as a time of growing up. Li describes her childhood with innocence in the midst of the Great Leap where China is rallying its people to revolutionize the country in the face of the industrial West. The Great Leap has now passed and Li is about to face a life changing moment, or "loss of innocence". I anticipate this will happen in the next chapter because it begins with, "...my school headmaster hanged himself." (42) Li's style consists of past tense as if she is watching her childhood from the present. The details are very elaborate which makes it questionable whether an event actually happened or not. Occasionally, Li will dedicate a chapter to bring out a character's past such as Lao Lao's, Li's grandmother, childhood. A particularly moving part was when Li discovers her grandmother saving the better food for her and her brother. She later, with her brother, adamantly demands Lao Lao to serve her the same meager food. Such insight in children (not exclusive) is rare nowadays.
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Reading Progress
April 4, 2011
– Shelved
April 14, 2011
–
44.79%
"The Communist Party is retaking China after World War Two against the Japanese. The military of the Communists, the Red Guards, are portrayed as exceptionally cruel to their own Chinese citizens and Moying Li's boarding school is particularly affected by this turn of events. The passage which struck me was when Lan, a role model to young Moying Li, joined the Red Guard."
page
86
April 22, 2011
–
65.1%
"The protagonist, Moying Li, learns more about the Great Leap in China when she visits her cousin in western China. Students in China are confused about their identity with the communist party and no longer know where they belong. Li finds herself sanctuary in books, which she must secretly read. It was heartening to see her father return temporarily from a labor camp. At age 18, Li continues to educate herself."
page
125
