Red Azalea

Anchee Min’s story starts with a series of jarring and discordant vignettes of her childhood in China.  It’s a childhood filled with the absence of childish indulgences. Intimacy and individual joy are difficult and almost impossible to come by, and fear of death is always lurking. This is a life under Chairman Mao. “Red Azalea” is a powerful account of one woman, who embodies the pain and isolation of the generation growing up in the shadow of the Cultural Revolution, and the struggles of maintaining one’s humanity under such tumultuous and trying conditions.
       

Min’s other works rely heavily on a central theme of independent Chinese women, working against the powers that be. This autobiographical novel is no exception. Min tells the story of her young childhood all the way through the death of Chairman Mao, in her early twenties. In this time, she engages in a dangerous romance and is constantly fighting the battle for life. Her story is one that- on the surface- appears soap opera-esque, but when the gritty details of her adolescence come into play (being forced to kill her pet, causing the gruesome death of a loved one, traumatizing her only friend into a ghost-like existence, to name a few) it reads more like a horror story. Despite these discouraging events, however, there is always an underlying pulse of love in the vein of this narrative. Even in the darkest depths of Min’s life, those she loves serve as a salve and a guide through the tumult.
         

Because of the minor graphic sexual and violent content, I would not recommend this book to anyone under 15 or so (a good test to determine if this book is appropriate for you is to say the name of any human genital out loud without giggling hysterically. If you can achieve that, you should probably be fine), but for anyone who is mature enough to deal with the subject matter, “Red Azalea” is a must-read. This important time period in human history is one of the most horrid, and there seems to be a severe lack of education about it in American classrooms. If I hadn’t read this book, my eyes would still be shut to the terror and desolation of china under Mao and the Cultural Revolution.

Book Review by Kai G.