Not simply 'the new Wild Swans', but a travel diary and portrait of China in the 1980s, with glimpses of the terrible legacies of its Cultural Revolution and its tentative changes towards modernity. Ma Jian is a painter, poet and pilgrim, and his haunting descriptions of the landscape are guaranteed to induce itchy feet. It also provides a fascinating insight into the everyday lives of people trying to make the best of things.
(Victoria Grey-Edwards - bwl 16 December 2002 ) |