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Ten Years of Madness: Oral Histories of China's Cultural Revolution Paperback – February 13, 2007

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

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Ten Years of Madness is a groundbreaking book that draws some parallels to Studs Terkel's "Working" in that it portrays a wide cross section of the Chinese people, but with a harrowing twist: how they survived the disastrous Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. Families were destroyed; an entire generation of artists and intellectuals was lost. These oral histories, expertly conducted and arranged by noted writer and cultural critic Feng Jicai, are essential in preserving the memory of those who survived and those who did not survive China's most calamitous period in its modern history.
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the end of the Cultural Revolution and the 30th of its beginning, Feng conducted extensive interviews with 100 people who lived through that harrowing decade. In 1986, when he placed ads in Chinese newspapers calling for people's experiences, he received over 4000 responses. Those he has selected are disturbing, utterly compelling, seamlessly told and, together, constitute a many-layered and intimate picture. The interviews, which read like monologues, are prefaced by the person's age and occupation in 1966. One man, who was a 16-year-old student at the time, enjoyed destroying churches with the Red Guard, but when a classmate and an elderly man were beaten, he became a "non-participant." "I found that if you want to be a non-participant, the best thing to do is go fishing." A middle-aged housewife was not so lucky. When her husband was falsely charged with counterrevolutionary activity, they were both sentenced to No. 63, a prison camp where inmates were routinely tortured to death. She describes not just the cruelties she miraculously survived but the incidentals like the opera record, The Red Lantern, that the guards played to mask screams. Another woman, a gifted young dancer in 1966, was brainwashed into believing that her father was a "rightist." He died before she recognized the lie, and she now lives with terrible guilt. Feng includes four appendices: a chronology; key figures; an interview with the author; and several dozen short interviews to sample the widely varying attitudes towards the Cultural Revolution of those born after 1976. "What I fear most," says Feng, "is that later generations will adopt a sensationalist attitude towards the suffering of an earlier one."
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Originally published in China in 1991 and brought out in a different form here (Voice from the Whirlwind, Pantheon, 1991), this work by the noted Chinese author Feng (The Three Inch Golden Lotus, LJ 3/15/94) gathers the voices of 19 people from various walks of life who narrate candidly their personal experiences during the calamities of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-76). With a preface translated by famous China expert Howard Goldblatt, Feng has faithfully recorded the interviewees' reminiscences, and it becomes apparent that their hearts and souls have been affected by their painful encounters. Appendixes include an interview with the author, a view of the Cultural Revolution in the eyes of the new generation left intact after the disasters, a chronology of events (1949-79), and the key figures of the revolution. The last two are valued resources for studying the history of modern China. Highly recommended for larger public libraries and the East Asia collection of academic libraries.?Steven Lin, Dallas P.L., Tex.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ China Books; First Edition (February 13, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 290 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 083512584X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0835125840
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.66 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

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Jicai Feng
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
22 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and well-written. They describe it as a good read with varied content about the Cultural Revolution.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

6 customers mention "Narrative quality"6 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the narrative quality of the book. They find the stories from the Cultural Revolution excellent, with good anecdotes and histories of the era. The book is informative about Mao's cultural revolution and part of a sociology study.

"The stories in this book are truly exceptional. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. So much to learn -- so much has been hidden." Read more

"...Ten Years of Madness is a good collection of narratives, but I wish Feng's commentary had been more analytical and less Holy." Read more

"This book has a number of insightful Cultural Revolution stories...." Read more

"...It's both sickening, and informative, about Mao's cultural revolution, and..." Read more

4 customers mention "Readability"4 positive0 negative

Customers like the book's readability. They say it's a good read and excellent.

"The stories in this book are truly exceptional. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. So much to learn -- so much has been hidden." Read more

"Good book." Read more

"...Nevertheless, this is a good read." Read more

"excellent." Read more

3 customers mention "Content variety"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's varied content. They find it an interesting anthology of various Chinese people in different positions during the Cultural Revolution.

"...I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. So much to learn -- so much has been hidden." Read more

"...this collection of oral histories about the Cultural Revolution are varied , well-ordered, and of a good length...." Read more

"An interesting anthology of various Chinese in different positions during the Cultural Revolution...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2009
    The stories in this book are truly exceptional. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. So much to learn -- so much has been hidden.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 1998
    The narratives in this collection of oral histories about the Cultural Revolution are varied , well-ordered, and of a good length. Feng includes victims, perpetrators, "non-participants." Particularly fascinating/ horrifying is the chapter about the infamous #63 torture block. The author also includes some striking, though possibly one-sided, interviews with people born post-1976. Feng himself seems to have a bit of a saviour complex, and his commentary struck me as overdone and interfering - particularly the trite maxims he insists on including after each narrative. He is most interesting in the interview at the end of the book, during which he discusses his methodology and "Documentary Literature".
    Chihua Wen's oral histories of children during the Cultural Revolution (The Red Mirror) is less varied, but has a lighter touch, and therefore comes off as more richly poetic. Cheng Jung's Wild Swans is a good companion to these oral history style books, as it offers a detailed and incisive analysis along with its personal story. Ten Years of Madness is a good collection of narratives, but I wish Feng's commentary had been more analytical and less Holy.
    15 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2017
    Good book.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2013
    This book has a number of insightful Cultural Revolution stories. The stories usually focus on one particular event, and often include what lead up to it as well as the aftermath. If you want someone's story covering a number of years, I recommend Blood Red Sunset or Mr. China's Son: A Villager's Life.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2011
    This book will educate the reader about how easily people are manipulated.
    It's both sickening, and informative, about Mao's cultural revolution, and
    how people were convinced that the tortures, beatings, and cruelties they
    inflicted on the opposition to Mao, was a good thing.
    Read it, and learn. Learn what NOT to become.Ten Years of Madness
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2004
    These are stories collected from interviews the author did with survivors of the Cultural revolution. However, the author is not interested in the tribulation and redemption stoirs commonly published (E.g. Life and Death in Shanghai,Red Azalea). Instead it is more a catalogue of the bizarre, with the author selecting stories that he found uniqe and interesting. Sometimes I also thought that the stories were interesting, but there were several stories where I could not really see the point. The author also inserts a line at the end of each story, I guess to explain each one, but they did not translate well into English and were an annoying distraction.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2010
    "Ten Years of Madness" is a collection of good anecdotes by various people who witnessed the Cultural Revolution. Most are stories about people and families who have been wronged, although there are a few stories about active participants in the Cultural Revolution. "The Story of a Smile" was particularly interesting. It is a tragedy that caused me to chuckle. The author's commentaries at the ends of each anecdote are trivial and unnecessary. Nevertheless, this is a good read.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2016
    excellent.