Average Customer Review:
 ( 126 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 found the following review helpful:
 The Most Compelling Memoir in The World!Aug 05, 2000
By Andalucia
First of all, I must say this book deserves ten stars, not five. Ji-Li Jiang tells the story of her life being completely torn apart by the Cultural Revolution and her own thoughts and beliefs on Chinese Communism. Ji-Li, a distinguished student, is condescended at school because of her family's past. She watches in terror as her favorite teachers are being harrassed at school, people's homes being ransacked, and her father being put in detention at his work building. Red Gaurds (enforcers of the Cultural Revolution) are everywhere, and they make sure that every well-to-do man, woman, child, is punished for being who they are. Insulting posters of propaganda turn up all over the city and Ji-Li's school. During all of the turmoil, Ji-Li is forced to choose between her family and the prestige and honor she has worked so hard for. Because of her family's political background, she loses the chance of getting into one of the best jounior high schools in China. Ji-Li begins to hate her ancestors for being who they were and she even begins to hate herself. She wishes that she were poor, so that she would not be ostracized for her way of living. However, despite all of her struggles, Ji-Li is determined to rise above those who stopped her from being who she wants to be. This is a wonderful book that I could not put down. Read this, and enjoy.
21 of 22 found the following review helpful:
 The Cultural Revolution -- a review by Charlie, age 10Mar 05, 2004
Red Scarf Girl is about a memory of the Cultural Revolution. Ji-li Jiang is the main character. She also has a brother called Ji-yong Jiang and a little sister called Ji-yuong Jiang. She has a friend, An-Yi, who often helps her when she has a problem. Ji-li Jiang had a rich family. Being rich in China at that time could cause families to be separated. It could cause families who were rich five months ago to have to live in a cottage working on a farm, getting whipped by the farmers who owe the land they're working in. It could even cause them to be killed! Ji-li is aware of all of this, and is trying to keep her family safe.This is not a fiction book -- it is a memory about what Ji-li Jiang thought about the Cultural Revolution. You might think that this book is a girl book; but it's really about how people lived in the Cultural Revolution. If you like humor, this is not the book you're looking for -- it has a little humor in it, but it really is a sad story. Nothing goes well in the story. All the cliffhangers keep the reader in the story to see what happens next. Not all chapters end with cliffhangers, but sometimes there is a cliffhanger in the middle of a page which make the reader read a lot faster to see what happens to the person or what happens next. This book is a really detailed story about how people lived during the Cultural Revolution.
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
My Opinion of Red Scarf GirlDec 18, 2002
Red Scarf Girl was thought provoking and compelling book. The book is a memoir of one girl's experiences during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a movement launched by the Communist government and its leader Chairman Mao, to purge China of people who did not follow the Communist ideals. At the start of the book the protagonist, a young girl named Ji-Li, is a Communist Party poster child. She believes in Chairman Mao and dreams of a career in the Chinese government. When she learns that her grandfather was a landlord (a group scorned by the government) she considers renouncing her family to follow the Communist party.
While reading Red Scarf Girl I often felt annoyed at Ji-Li because of her blind faith in the Communist party despite the horror going on around her, and I was impatient for her to come to her senses. Even so, it must have taken great strength for Ji-Li to write what she felt at the time because she seriously contemplated leaving her family, almost changing her name so she wouldn't be associated with them. Events of the Cultural Revolution are not always pleasant to read, but the book was hard to put down. By the end of the story I had gained a greater understanding and appreciation for the people such as Ji-Li who had to make those impossible choices. I thought that Red Scarf Girl was engrossing and memorable and I highly recommend it.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
A Chinese HeroineJan 04, 2002
By Katie Panning
Ji-li Jiang, the writer and main character of the Red Scarf Girl, was a girl who grew up in China. The Cultural Revolution, started by Mao Ze-dong, began the year Ji-li turned 12 years old, in 1966. Her early life was joyful. Ji-li was respected because she was intelligent and she was trusted. However, soon she learns she is from a landlord family, which is one of China's Five Black Categories. Chairman Mao wanted all of China's Five Black Categories to be punished. This would include Ji-li Jiang. She then realized that some of her opportunities would have to be given up, like her not becoming a Red Successor or Red Guard because of her background. The Red Scarf Girl is a worthwhile read because it shows how Ji-li Jiang is a model hero. She is intelligent, mentally strong, and brave.
Ji-li was intelligent and was at the top of her classes. Throughout the book, Ji-li was the smartest student, had perfect test scores, and she was given the biggest opportunities because of her academics. Ji-li helped other students in math because she was the best in the math class. This was one of the honors given to her because she was intelligent. In addition, her perfect tests reflected how she was so dedicated to her studies. Early in the book, Ji-li was given the opportunity to be a Liberation Army soldier because she was intelligent, physically strong, and flexible. However, Ji-li could not be a Liberation Army soldier because of her family background. Ji-li was given many chances to succeed because she was intelligent and she used her gifts to go beyond what her family history limited her to. When she could not be a Liberation Army soldier, Ji-li kept on studying hard because later in her life, she might be given that chance once more.
Ji-li Jiang, in addition to being intelligent, was mentally strong throughout the Cultural Revolution. She went through many tough times, like when she went through reading a da-zi-bao about her and her teacher, Ke Cheng-li. During the Cultural Revolution, a da-zi-bao was a posted note that humiliated people by telling others what the accused person was charged with. The da-zi-bao was about how Ji-li Jiang was Ke Cheng-li's favorite student. During this time, Ji-li used her mental strength to get through her troubles. She did not take revenge upon the people who wrote this about her although she was the one who helped them through their questions and troubles in the classroom.
During the Cultural Revolution, Ji-li Jiang remained brave, in addition to being intelligent and mentally strong. Later in the book, Ji-li Jiang, along with other classmates, went to work on the rice farms as summer labor. Everyone had to work either in the factories or on the rice farms. At first, Ji-li choose to work in the factories so she could look after her family. Her father was forced to work in labor because he had performed a counterrevolutionary crime, which he refused to confess. A counterrevolutionary crime is a crime that is done against the Communist party. Ji-li's family did not see him for more than three months. Without her father, Ji-li had to go work. Her grandmother was too old to work in labor, and her mother had Ménière's disease. Ménière's disease causes one to be dizzy, weak, and nauseous. Ji-li's mother could not work under these conditions. Lastly, her younger sister, Ji-yun, and her younger brother, Ji-yong, were too young to be able to work in labor. However, a friend, Chang Hong, told Ji-li if she worked on the rice farms, she could work hard so the officials would overlook her family background throughout the summer. It was then Ji-li became brave and left her family to work in the rice-fields.
Ji-li was intelligent, mentally strong, and brave. She always tried to succeed, even when she was held back by her family history. Ji-li was mentally strong, even when she was humiliated among friends and neighbors. Lastly, Ji-li was brave, as when she left her family to work on the rice farms by herself. The Red Scarf Girl is well written. Ji-li Jiang's troubles allow us to know how hard it was to grow up in a politically oppressed family during the Cultural Revolution. She was a real life hero.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
A review of Red Scarf girlJan 04, 2002
By Melissa
In today's world, people are taught that heroic people must influence the masses. Only those who have monumental physical strength, celebrity status, or piles of money have the resources to affect the world around them. Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang disproves these notions. This non-fiction book tells the story of a 12 year-old girl growing up in the midst of the Cultural Revolution who becomes a hero to her family. The glossary at the end of the book defines the Cultural Revolution as "The social and political upheaval that overtook China from 1966 to 1976. During this time many innocent people were ruthlessly persecuted. THe Cultural Revolution was launched by Chairman Mao, supposedly to rid the country of anti-Communist influences. Long afterward it was revealed that Chairman Mao unleashed this chaos in order to protect his own political position." (pg. 276) Red Scarf Girl is a moving, well-written story.
The book opens with a prologue, in which Ji-Li tells the reader the single most important lesson in school: "Heaven and earth are great, but greater still is the kindness of the Communist Party; father and mother are dear, but dearer still is Chairman Mao." (pg. 1) The people of China are brainwashed with this mantra, but Ji-Li does not feel it plays a large role in her life until sixth grade. Always a high achiever, she is looking forward to attending Shi-yi, an elite middle school. Then, Chairman Mao nullifies all teacher recommendations and divides children into schools by neighborhood; meaning Ji-Li will not go to Shi-yi. This is only the beginning of Ji-Li's problems. She becomes an outcast in school, her house is searched and Communist officers take everything of value, all because of her family's middle class status. Ji-Li's father is held in prison because his father was the evilest of all men - a landlord. Ji-Li is offered freedom from her "black" (non-Communist) class status by Communist officers. All she has to do is break from her family and testify against her father. No 12 year old should have to make the decisions she did.
Ji-Li Jiang used literary techniques to tell her story effectively. She is very descriptive, for example, "The kitchen, located on the landing and crowded with pots and pans and a two burner stove, was crowded and stuffy. With the heat from the sun outside and the heat from the stove in front of me, I was simply melting." (pg. 90) Ji-Li uses dialogue to make the story more interesting. Though she may not have remembered exactly what everyone said, the dialogue keeps the book moving. Although the book does not tell of her life throughout the entire Cultural Revolution, the book has a satisfying ending; not a fairytale finish, but a hopeful one. All of these storytelling elements enrich Red Scarf Girl.
One of the most important qualities of a hero is selflessness. Ji-Li Jiang showed this repeatedly. A Communist officer offered to let her change her name in order to break from her "anti-Communist" family. She almost does, but then, "I thought of Aunt Xi-wen lying in the alley (being punished for having bad class status), and Shan-Shan (her son, who had "broken" from her) walking right past her. I jumped up and ran out." (pg. 215) Later, people from her father's work unit pulled her out of class and gave her a very serious decision to make. "'As I told you before, you are your own person. If you want to make a clean break with your black family, then you can be an educable child and we will welcome you to our revolutionary ranks'...I saw myself standing in the middle of the stage, facing thousands of people...condemning Dad for his crimes, raising my fist to lead the chant." (pg. 224-5) Ji-Li refuses his offer, which meant that although she would be frowned upon in society, she would remain faithful to her family. It would have been easy for Ji-Li to change her name or testify against her father to save herself. Heroes, however, have the strength to be selfless.
Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang shows how one 12 year old had the strength to be a hero, to be selfless. Ji-Li was not rich, very physically strong, or well-known. She only put others before herself, a truly heroic action. Clearly, Ji-Li Jiang put her best effort into this book. Red Scarf Girl is exceptionally written, and can inspire everyone.
See all 126 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
based on 126 reviews
