"Socialism Is Great!": A Worker's Memoir of the New China | 
| Author: Lijia Zhang
Publisher: Atlas & Co.
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
Buy New: $9.50
You Save: $14.50 (60%)
New (37) Used (6) from $9.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 122692
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.6 x 1.3
ISBN: 0977743373
Dewey Decimal Number: 951.05092
EAN: 9780977743377
ASIN: 0977743373
Publication Date: April 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: unread, cloth binding, 1st edition, immediate shipping
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Product Description
A spirited memoir by a former Chinese factory worker who grew up in Nanjing, participated in the Tiananmen Square protest, and ended up an international journalist.
Lijia Zhang worked as a teenager in a factory producing missiles designed to reach North America, queuing every month to give evidence to the "period police" that she wasn't pregnant. In the oppressive routine of guarded compounds and political meetings, Zhang's disillusionment with "The Glorious Cause" drove her to study English, which strengthened her intellectual independence—from bright, western-style clothes, to organizing the largest demonstration by Nanjing workers in support of the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989. By narrating the changes in her own life, Zhang chronicles the momentous shift in China's economic policy: her factory, still an ICBM manufacturer, won the bid to cast a giant bronze Buddha as the whole country went mad for profit.
Written in English, "Socialism Is Great!" is a testament to Zhang's personal triumph over the controlled existence that was supposed to be her destiny.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
Socialism is Great July 8, 2008
This is a great read. Anyone interested in China and women in modern China should read this for its exceptional portrayal of the rapidly changing and evolving place of women in China.
Throughout the narrative of Lijia's life, from early childhood on, the portrait she draws of herself and those around her is intense and personal, while she describes her life, those she loves, and survival and success despite the large and numerous obstacles in her way. Lijia is a determined young woman, her personality shines through the pages of the book as she takes us on her journey as an independent thinker in a conformist society. My only complaint is that I want more, more about her beloved grandmother whose grace and strength shine, the grit and determination of her mother to survive and care for her family, Lijia herself, how did she get to where she is today.
Lijia is open and honest about herself, her country, her family, and her friends, even about the mistakes and twists and turns of her life. Definitely not a puff piece, she narrates her life as she lived it and perceived it. This is an honest and remarkable book.
Please, Lijia, write more!!!
Timely, Informative, and Beautifully Crafted Story in post Mao China July 6, 2008
I have met Lijia Zhang by a chance encounter as we shared the same row seat on a recent trans Pacific flight. At the onset of our casual conversation, I was impressed by her command of the English language, quite uncharacteristic of a native Chinese. I naively asked, "where did you learn to speak such good English?" She modestly replied that she is a writer, just having returned from a US book tour promoting her newly released "Socialism is Great!" and proudly handed me a fresh copy. Then, for the next 12 hours I was practically glued to the book, discovering the answer to my original question, and learning much more...
"Socialism is Great!" is an autobiography spanning a 10 year period of Ms Zhang's young adult life centering in China's ancient capital of Nanjing. On a surface level, it is a story about Lijia, a free spirited young woman coming of age. The book's plot skillfully meanders around both her home life, dominated by a strong mother, and her work place, a munitions factory, whose 'danwei' system keeps her shackled to a monotonous job while denying her the higher education which she desperately seeks. Lijia's heart is fragile, first broken by a handsome young intellectual called Red Rock, and then hurt once more by an older married man. In disillusionment, she spirals down to a series of loveless affairs and one night stands. Unlike her heart, Lijia has a tough skin, and against all obstacle she single-mindedly pursues a dream to better her education, to study and perfect her English (she even hides to study in the factory's garbage dump - the only place to provide her privacy), so she can free herself of her factory confinement and become a journalist.
On another, and more significant level, the book's plot unravels against a backdrop that vividly portrays the dawn days of modern China, a post Mao Zedong's era of the 1980's, in a period when the tornado of the Cultural Revolution has dissipated, yet its dust has not quite settled. This is a time of great change, as the Communist system shifts toward market economy. Individuals become entrepreneurial, while government controlled factories find creative ways of competing in a free market. (In an ironical example, Lijia's munitions factory produces a huge bronze statue of Buddha). Many shed their old garbs to mimick Western styles and anything American (as does Lijia to her old cadres displeasure). Others are out rightly challenging the limits of the new government.
The book kept me captivated as I was anxious to learn at every step how the bravely tenacious young woman was going to 'make it' out of the factory. Every page is sprinkled with colorful metaphors, perhaps influenced by ancient Chinese proverbs. The author's mastery of the English prose brings to mind another non-native English writer from another century - Joseph Conrad. I find the book to be quite informative and recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about Chinese history and its culture.
When finished reading the book, I felt as though an epilogue would be useful to explain what happened to Lijia personally after she left the factory. I also wished she provided her commentary on China's progress today, which certainly is influenced by the policies of the 80's. Or perhaps the author will produce a sequel book to deal with the subject. I certainly would want to read it.
 A frog who jumped out of the well to become a monkey July 3, 2008
A memoir or a mockery of socialism and Mao's China by a native factory worker, playing to western audience, a rebellious and non-conformist, fell in love, went to bed with couple of boyfriends on her way to liberation. In this process after a "one night stand" got pregnant and ended up aborting the unwanted baby...
In 1989 participated in the protest at Tianamann square, fled her native land with a Scottish writer, married him had two girls with him and divorced him later: A PERFECT PICTURE OF LIBERATED (coming from an oppressed society)WOMAN,WEST LOVES THESE DAUGHTERS OF THE EAST, A FROG WHO JUMPED OUT OF THE WELL TO BECOME A MONKEY
Frog in a well July 2, 2008
After reading this book I felt as though I had travelled to a far off country and walked briefly in the shoes of another soul; a very moving and unique experience. Not only did it offer a window into a completely different culture, but it also educated me about the political climate of the country at the time, as well as its impact on the day to day living of normal people. I learnt also the about Chinas rich cultural heritage; brought to life beautifully through the use of metaphors and the play on language. I found it fascinating learning about the various cultural superstitions & I will now watch how I hold my chopsticks! But the most impressive element for me personally was the wonderful rainbow of emotions that were painted; I found myself openly crying at times and laughing at others; I felt deep sorrow and also fired passion. It was so encapturing and enchanting and I really felt like I merged with the characters; it was a wonderful experience. The last chapter seems to end slightly abruptly, but maybe I just want to read more, hungry to find out what happened next. But all in all it was a wonderfully balanced window into an amazingly interesting and vivacious life.
Endurance, stoicism and joy June 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Lijia Zhang is an autodictat that worked her way up from poverty and the factory floor. Aged sixteen and a promising student she was denied a place at University because of her father's 'political problems'. Consequently she was pulled out of school by her mother, to replace her when she took early retirement from her job on the acid pickling line at the Ministry of Aerospace's Liming Machinery Factory. Liming in Nanjing was responsible for the development and production of China's Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Not that that mattered to Lijia stuck in the overmanned and underworked Work Unit Number Twenty Three, the gauge testing department. Desperate to escape her 'iron rice bowl' job for life and a Stakhanovite by nature and training she signed up for the new TV University.
She passed with flying colours, but was denied the expected promotion because of 'political problems' again. This only made her more of a rebel. 'Socialism is Great!' follows her revolt in fashion, ideas and action. With the help of a series of male mentors/lovers she adopted colourful western dress, Nietzsche, Kafka and the much frowned on Misty Poetry, who sense of ennui certainly was not designed to motivate the masses. Then English was to become the key to escape. Lijia took up the language as if her life depended on it.
In some senses it did. English was learnt playing truant from her work in the malodorous surroundings of the factory waste dump as in her private life men came, betrayed and went. One leaving her with the gift of an illegal abortion. As Liming arms were turned into ploughshares as the winds of change and the new drive for profit saw the factory win a bid to cast a giant bronze Buddha. By 1989 she was one of the leading organisers of the largest demonstration of Nanjing workers in support of the democracy movement in Tiananmen Square. The book finishes as, post-Tiananmen, the Public Security Bureau take her in for questioning. Zhang's 'Socialism is Great!' lifts with its endurance, stoicism and joy. Zhang leaves you wanting more!
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