MedVision ad

Chinese Cinderalla - Adeline Yen Mah (1 Viewer)

funniboi

Active Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2004
Messages
1,224
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
It's a must buy then, after I finish reading Magician.
 

moffat

Yeah. Think about it.
Joined
Aug 26, 2004
Messages
185
Location
where everybody knows your name
Gender
Female
HSC
2005
i've read 'chinese cinderella and the secret dragon society' it's a kinda interesting book and all..with learning about the conditions and context...but i'm pretty sure its aimed at younger reader's, or maybe thats just because it seemed so clear and easy to understand as compared to the other books i've recently read. it was a quick read.
 

mayhemily

Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2003
Messages
344
Location
deep in the jungle
Gender
Female
HSC
2004
yeah i read chinese cinderella and falling leaves a few years back - they were so absorbing and sad, I loved them. But I lent my copy of cinderella to a friend and never got it back.
 

leetom

there's too many of them!
Joined
Jul 2, 2004
Messages
846
Location
Picton
Gender
Male
HSC
2006
Was doing maths in the library and looked up to see the book staring me in the face. Would have borrowed but I try to avoid the librarian as much as possible because he freaks me out. Will borrow when friendly, attractive teacher is acting as librarian.
 

mic

Chronic Burper
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
Messages
571
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
i loved falling leaves and chinese cinderella. so sad and i was close to tears
 

steph@nie

narcissistic whore.
Joined
Mar 18, 2004
Messages
1,678
Location
the floor
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2004
falling leaves is simply the adult version of chinese cinderella. I have a 3rd book by her.. Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society. I haven't read it, but I assume it will be like the other two.
 

ujuphleg

oo-joo-fleg
Joined
Jan 2, 2004
Messages
3,040
Location
Sydney
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2004
I'm gonna turn the tables here and say that Chinese Cinderella, while it touched me, didn't make me cry and i think its poorly written and the author is a whinger.

Why?

Well, many many more in her position have simply been thrown away or abandoned. If she was so unwanted, why was she still taken care of? Her grandfather and her Aunt Baba loved her. If she is so unwanted why was she sent to take medicine in the United Kingdom? That doesn't come cheap and i highly doubt that if parents really didn't want a daughter they would send her all the way to have an English education?

I agree that the way that they treated her was poor, appalling and out of line. However, i think that shes making a mountain out of a molehill....
 

Sarah168

London Calling
Joined
Dec 25, 2003
Messages
5,320
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2004
ujuphleg said:
I'm gonna turn the tables here and say that Chinese Cinderella, while it touched me, didn't make me cry and i think its poorly written and the author is a whinger.

Why?

Well, many many more in her position have simply been thrown away or abandoned. If she was so unwanted, why was she still taken care of? Her grandfather and her Aunt Baba loved her. If she is so unwanted why was she sent to take medicine in the United Kingdom? That doesn't come cheap and i highly doubt that if parents really didn't want a daughter they would send her all the way to have an English education?

I agree that the way that they treated her was poor, appalling and out of line. However, i think that shes making a mountain out of a molehill....
Agreed. I dont mean to sound harsh because she did have an emotionally rough childhood but the tone of whinging really got to me. Call me insensitive if you like :p As I said before :
Sarah168 said:
It was a little sad but my cynicism kicked in when the details became a little melodramatic...
 

jellybeenz

Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2003
Messages
422
Gender
Female
HSC
2004
I absolutely loved 'Falling Leaves'- but I can agree with those criticisms. I thought 'Wild Swans' was a lot more emotionally taxing.
 

daiana

Mmmeo0owwWw
Joined
Jul 27, 2004
Messages
225
Location
bikini bottom
Gender
Female
HSC
2004
i just wanna clear one thing up... Chinese Cinderella is about her childhood. Falling Leaves has Chinese Cinderella in it as well as her life as an adult. Saying that this story is simply 'sad' isn't doing justice to Adeline really. Emotional suffering has to hurt, anytime and pain during anyone's childhood can scar anyone. Think about your own. They may be little things when you tell it to someone else, but in actual fact the experience could be more like a jagger twisting up your body into some pretzel. Ouch.
Although her story isn't particularly rare, it pulls on your strings a bit and gets the tears going (at times) as you absorb some of the pain she felt. Inevitably, her true experience would've done more to her than just made her cry. This book was once my favourite book, but if i read it again, i think it'll be slightly bland and the tears wont come around so easily. This book would certainly make a reader of 15 yrs old or younger cry easily.... but an adult probably won't feel it as intensely.

This book was good, but i felt that her English was a bit clunky. It didn't flow eloquently. It was like too direct... no room for imagination left for the reader. twas once my fav book, but now i'm moving on to Bryce Courtnay's "The Power of One". The similarity between the 2 is that they both capture the reader's heart by telling the time of when their only friend-an animal- dies with much injustice. Then again, how could one ever compare Courtney's wit and eloquence with Mah?
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top