Colors of the Mountain

Da Chen - you added colour to the grey world of Mao.

A memoir giving fascinating insight into the changes in rural China during and after Mao's reign. The story flows well and couples with the aspects of life that appear unique to western readers but were commonplace to tens of millions of Chinese. With new and breathtaking subject matter it is difficult to be objective about the writing. The irresistible rythm seemed to drop off in the last quarter and loses the fifth star from this reviewer.

I enjoy historical fiction, and this book does not disappoint in that regard. Vivid descriptions of Renaissance Italy, historical figures like Leonardo Da Vinci, and a gripping hook -- a main character who has an unnaturally long lifespan.

The beginning of the book caught my attention pretty quickly -- the author did a great job introducing the main character, Luca Bastardo. He's a very likeable character as well, so the need to see what happens to him, and how he handles himself in the situations that arise, kept my attention through what I thought was a disappointing middle section of the book. But the climax and conclusion came full-swing, so the book didn't disappoint. I read it in a weekend and enjoyed myself.

Not as Intense as Other Cultural Revolution Memoirs

Compared with other memoirs of youth during the Cultural Revolution, "Colors of the Mountain" is rather tame. It is the story of a boy growing up in rural China, struggling to make friends and pursue artistic interests.

The book starts with the death of Chen's grandfather and the school-yard bullying he experienced because he came from a rich family whose land and capital was taken away when the communists took over. Chen was an excellent student who did not have many friends. While his brothers and sisters toiled away in collective fields, Chen's family decided he would continue past middle school in order to have a better life. He took an interest in the music as he reached high show more school. He made friends with a small gang of gambling and smoking delinquents who buoyed his spirits, encouraging him to continue his education so that he could be successful. In high school, he played violin for a local theatrical troupe, causing him to temporarily ignore his studies. Because of his father's connections, Chen takes private English classes from a rich woman. When Chen learns that the families of landowners will be allowed to apply for college, he and a chain-smoking friend spend a year rededicating themselves to studies in order to apply.

The worst problems Chen faces are schoolyard fights and teachers ignoring him. The tension of studying for college exams in the last third of the book was caused by Chen himself because of he essentially dropped out of high school to play violin. This is a change from most memoirs of the Cultural Revolution where children are completely separated from their parents, are extremely malnourished, and experience tremendous upheaval. Memoirs of adults describe nightmarish situations. In comparison, "Colors of the Mountain" is very tame. At times, the book is even bucolic, describing a part of the world where people bicycle between towns, spend vacations at lazy factories, and watch farmers working in the fields. Chen had many enjoyable adventures, traveling to island communes, going to larger cities with his friends to watch movies, and becoming a member of the theatrical troupe. Of course, while Chen lived in relative comfort, the people around him no doubt suffered even more.

Chen does not spend energy describing political events and upheaval. The one exception is his desire at the beginning of the book to be a member of the Red Guard. Perhaps this is because those political movements had enormous effects in cities but rarely spread to the countryside.

The book is very well written. It is easy to read. Although it was written in English, Chen has "idiomized" Chinese into English, using English phrases to reconstruct conversation rather than directly translating the Chinese. Although it got a little slow describing his intense study sessions toward the end of the book, "Colors of the Mountain" is well-written, generally moving quickly with a focus on pushing the narrative. show less

I originally thought I was going to dislike this book, the autobiography of a "black" Chinese growing up during the Cultural Revolution. The author's voice was flat and lifeless (even as it descended into gratuitous profanity), his anecdotes carefully chosen to shock but failing even at that, and his tale curiously devoid of any cultural context. The various personalities introduced by the narrative often failed to manifest any individualising traits beyond their names. And then the miraculous happened--Chen found his voice about midway through the text. I'm left with the impression that he slogged his way through his childhood and early adolescence in order to get to the story he really wanted to tell: how he turned his life around in show more an attempt to learn English and qualify for admittance into the national university system. The text is much more lively and focused from that point on, and becomes a much more enjoyable read because of it (although Chen remains unable to root his narrative in a larger socio-historical context). My final verdict is that Chen's book is a worthwhile edition to the growing body of Childhood-Under-Mao memoirs, but that it will only be a worthwhile read if one has already read other entries (Jung Chang's "Wild Swans" springs immediately to mind) capable of providing the cultural and historical background "Colors Of The Mountain" lacks. show less

An engaging description of the life of a young boy during Mao's Cultural Revolution. My college adopted this book for our common reading for our incoming Fall 2008 class and the author, Da Chen, spoke to the students during opening weekend. He is a charming and entertaining speaker and the students were very receptive. I was impressed by how much the 18 year old men that I spoke to were engaged by the book. Several self admittedly "non-readers" said they couldn't put the book down and they felt that reading the book impacted them in a positive way. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to young adults or teenagers.

This autobiographical account of growing up during the cultural revolution is much more "human" than many others of this genre.

Story of a landlords son growing up during the cultural revolution. Not an easy life to lead! Will open up your eyes to how hard the Chinese will work to be able to have schooling -- and show you how easy our kids have it in America. It's almost shameful. A good read - check it out of the library.