Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience – classics which will endure for generations to come. Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular bestseller which has sold more than 13 million copies and a critically acclaimed history of China; a tragic tale of nightmarish cruelty and an uplifting story of bravery and survival. Through the story of three generations of women in her own family – the grandmother given to the warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother and the daughter herself – Jung Chang reveals the epic history of China's twentieth century. Breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions, this is a masterpiece which is extraordinary in every way.
CONTRIBUTORS: Jung ChangEAN: 9780008485146COUNTRY: United KingdomPAGES: WEIGHT: 530 gHEIGHT: 198 cm
PUBLISHED BY: HarperCollins PublishersDATE PUBLISHED: CITY: GENRE: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Cultural, Ethnic & Regional / Asian & Asian American, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs, FICTION / Biographical, HISTORY / Asia / ChinaWIDTH: 129 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
China, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Autobiography: general, Biography: historical, political and military
‘Riveting; an extraordinary epic’ Mail on Sunday
‘Everything about Wild Swans is extraordinary. It arouses all the emotions, such as pity and terror, that great tragedy is supposed to evoke, and also a complex mixture of admiration, despair and delight at seeing a luminous intelligence directed at the heart of darkness’ Minette Marrin, Sunday Telegraph
‘Immensely moving and unsettling; an unforgettable portrait of the brain-death of a nation’ J.G. Ballard, Sunday Times
‘Wild Swans made me feel like a five-year-old. This is a family memoir that has the breadth of the most enduring social history’ Martin Amis, Independent on Sunday
‘There has never been a book like this’ Edward Behr, Los Angeles Times
Jung Chang was born in Sichuan Province, China, in 1952.During the Cultural Revolution she worked as a peasant, a ‘barefoot doctor’, a steelworker and an electrician. She came to Britain in 1978, and in 1982 became the first person from the People’s Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British university. She lives in London. In addition to Wild Swans, Jung Chang has written three critically acclaimed biographies: Mao: The Unknown Story (with Jon Halliday); Empress Dowage Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China, 2013); and Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China (2019).
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Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience – classics which will endure for generations to come. Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular bestseller which has sold more than 13 million copies and a critically acclaimed history of China; a tragic tale of nightmarish cruelty and an uplifting story of bravery and survival. Through the story of three generations of women in her own family – the grandmother given to the warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother and the daughter herself – Jung Chang reveals the epic history of China's twentieth century. Breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions, this is a masterpiece which is extraordinary in every way.
CONTRIBUTORS: Jung ChangEAN: 9780008485146COUNTRY: United KingdomPAGES: WEIGHT: 530 gHEIGHT: 198 cm
PUBLISHED BY: HarperCollins PublishersDATE PUBLISHED: CITY: GENRE: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Cultural, Ethnic & Regional / Asian & Asian American, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs, FICTION / Biographical, HISTORY / Asia / ChinaWIDTH: 129 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
China, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Autobiography: general, Biography: historical, political and military
Jung Chang was born in Sichuan Province, China, in 1952.During the Cultural Revolution she worked as a peasant, a ‘barefoot doctor’, a steelworker and an electrician. She came to Britain in 1978, and in 1982 became the first person from the People’s Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British university. She lives in London. In addition to Wild Swans, Jung Chang has written three critically acclaimed biographies: Mao: The Unknown Story (with Jon Halliday); Empress Dowage Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China, 2013); and Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China (2019).
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Naval's insights in this book are simple yet powerful.
This book is like a guide to living well. It’s easy to read, but the ideas are deep and make you see things in a new light. Definitely a book you should keep in your bookshelf!
Kruhan Malherbe is ’n tipiese twaalfjarige wat saam met sy ouers in met ’n ou Pajero en ’n karavaan van plek tot plek deur Suid-Afrika reis en vir tye staan in karavaanparke. Die storielyn is heel kontemporêr in terme van sy ouers se beroepe wat hulle aanlyn kan beoefen en Kruhan wat ’n internasionale skoolsyllabus volg. En ook tipies van ’n knaap van sy ouderdom, volg hy nie altyd opdragte en waarskuwings nie, en is hy soms krities, teleurgesteld en verveeld met sy ouers.
Die storie skop af wanneer die gesin by Kebospark kamp opslaan, ’n vervalle karavaanpark waar vreemde karakters woon. Gou blyk dit dat die rietbos, die strandmeer en die nagapies buitengewoon is. Die skrywer verweef die magiese, die mitiese en spanningselemente vernuftig om met ’n boeiende storielyn vorendag te kom. Ek is baie ouer as die aanbevole lesers van 12 jaar en ouer, maar ek het sommer baie gretig gelees aan hierdie jeugverhaal.
In kinder- en jeugverhale soek ek altyd na brokkies lewenswysheid wat aan die lesers oorgedra kan word deur middel van ’n storie. Geheim in die riete slaag puik daarin. Wat is meer heilsaam as ‘n seun wat dapper verantwoordelikheid aanvaar vir ander se veiligheid, wat misleiding raaksien en na waarde beoordeel, en besef hoe belangrik sy ouers in werklikheid vir hom is.
Constant van Graan het bekendheid verwerf vir sy Jungu Josh reeks en aanhangers behoort hierdie nuwe boek ook te geniet.
“Enigeen kan ’n moordenaar wees. Al wat dit vat, is ’n goeie rede, en ’n slegte dag.” (p. 25) Sommer vroeg-vroeg moes ek heelhartig saamstem met hierdie sentiment van adjudant-offisier Lisamore Talakase. Ek het om die beurt ’n hele paar van die uitgebreide aanbieding van karakters oorweeg as die moordenaar, selfs die moontlikheid ondersteun dat daar inderdaad meer as een moordadige sluiper los is in Hermanus. Die tienermoorde en die ander moorde hou duidelik nie verband nie.
Koloner Bekeer se taakspan, bestaande uit Talakase, Werner de Wege en die vermaaklike Johnny Delport, maak nie hond haaraf van die twee reekse moorde nie. Die hulp van kaptein Stephan Schutte word ook ingeroep. Laasgenoemde se IT-vernuf sorg weliswaar vir ’n paar deurbrake. Die tienermoordenaar word redelik vroeg ontmasker, maar die storielyn verloor nie momentum nie. Die ander moorde sorg dat die spanningslyn geensins verslap nie.
Wegkruiper is die tipiese boek wat mens heeltemal te vinnig lees omdat jy agter die kap van die byl wil kom. Die skrywer het geduldig omgegaan met die detail van destydse gebeure wat die karakters verbind asook met die moordenaar se makabere motivering is die wreedaardige slagtings.
Christelle Wessels se vorige boeke, Adder en Brandmerk, het ek nie gelees nie, maar ek is seker dat Wegkruiper ’n stewige posisie gaan inneem onder spanningsromans. Dit is net-net aanvaarbaar vir hierdie ietwat sensitiewe leser!
Wegkruiper is uitgegee deur Penguinbooks SA
A Crown of Chains was my introduction into the literary world of Closed Door Romance books. I loved every minute of it. The characters were well written, the story made my pulse race and the main character was so strong. Loved it!