Mao's Last Dancer (2003)

This is a tremendous book for anyone who wants to understand life in the dying days of Mao's regime in China. Li Cunxin's story is one of hardship and poverty which, through sheer effort of will and a few lucky breaks, becomes one of freedom and fame. It's told with engaging honesty as Cunxin comes to realise that everything he has been taught to believe in by the Mao regime is based on a lie. Through it, he questions the essence of Marxism and the future of his country. But though the political context is critical to his story, it never dominates because first and foremost this is a story about one man and his ambition to rise to the top of his chosen profession. At times it's a painful story as Cunxin endures physical and mental anquish but its balanced by the strength of affection and love given first by his parents in China and then by his second family in the ballet world.

Highly recommended. ( )

Very interesting account of growing up in China under Mao's rule. Read the book after seeing the movie, and was surprised at some of the things they changed. The movie made it seem like he never saw his family again after being taken to the ballet school in Beijing. But, not only did he see his family almost every year, but his parents were allowed to come to the US for many months at a time once Mao died and a new Open Door Policy began. Li could not return to China for many years after that, but he finally was able to go back and take his wife Mary with him to see where he grew up.

It is amazing that people actually survived with little or no food and primitive shelter. The land they were given to farm barely eked out anything they tried to grow, and could be taken away from them by the government. Truly horrific, but he found joy by his surrounding family. ( )

Winding up 2006 with our book club brought us to the biography, Mao's Last Dancer by Le Cunxin. This amazing story follows the poor peasant boy Li Cunxin through Mao's Red China to fame and fortune in the west as a world renowned ballet dancer.

This is the first biography our club has read together, so it was interesting to see what sort of discussion it provoked. Not as lively as some of our others, but noteworthy none-the-less.

First of all, Joan was quick to point out that the writing of this book lacked passion, even though the story itself was fascinating. Most everyone agreed. We were all interested in what life was like for Cunxin and his family as peasants under Mao's communist regime, but the story and its characters were a little one dimensional, which, with a story such as this is not unusual. Cunxin is a dancer, not a writer.
Shirley brought up the question of the children's diet within Cunxin's commune and how they managed to be as healthy as they were. They seemed to have so little to eat but there was few references made to the degree of fatalities due to health issues. Did Cunxin purposely avoid this aspect, or was their diet really not so bad? In today's western society maybe we are made to believe we need more than we really do!

The strong family bond of the peasant Chinese was also mentioned, as was the Chinese culture itself and how these people accepted their fate. But without a doubt the strongest point this book brought to all of us was the form of brain-washing Mao's cultural revolution performed on its people, especially the children. We all found this appalling, and those of us who have read Wild Swans recoginised similar observations of this time in China. Tera was able to give us some first hand experiences of her visit to China in 1987, which helped to put this complex country and its people into even clearer perspective.

A few of us, myself included, felt that the hype this book received when first released put expectations a little high, but generally it was agreed that it is a worthwhile read that imparts remarkable knowledge of this time in China's history. And of course, at its core, it is a rags to riches fairy tale. Something none of us can resist! ( )

"Mao's Last Dancer" was terrific, engaging, and suspenseful from beginning to end. A large section of the beginning is devoted to Li's boyhood in rural China in a large, very poor, but very loving family of 7 boys. Li is selected to study ballet as part of Mao's program to include dancers from all walks of Chinese life. He really knows nothing about ballet in advance, but discusses the extensive rehearsals, his classmates and teachers, how much he missed home, etc. Eventually the story moves to Houston and elsewhere. There is an afterword providing updates on many of the key characters. It's a powerful "family trumps all" message and an amazing life story. ( )

http://www.stensrude.com/wred.html#cunxin ( )