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halfmanhalfbook's review
3.0
In 1958 at the age of 23 Xianliang was imprisoned for being a poet and an intellectual.
Two years later he was allowed to keep a small notebook and a pen, and began to keep a diary. Almost all his notes and camp records were destroyed in front of him but the authorities allowed him to keep his notebook, from that he wrote of his experiences in the camp, deciphering the cryptic notes.
It is a heart wrenching tale. He was treated harshly, like all the others in the camp, but never brutally. They were expected to do hard labour, and would graduate onto other tasks for good behaviour. The food was a thin, barely nutritious grass soup, made from thinning from beet or rice.
He suffered this for 22 years before the authorities saw fit to release him. He had been regularly dismissed as a capitalist for any minor infringement, and even though he suffered greatly, he never lost his humanity. It is a fascinating book, and timely too as the Chinese authorities announced this week that they would be closing these camps. Finally.
Two years later he was allowed to keep a small notebook and a pen, and began to keep a diary. Almost all his notes and camp records were destroyed in front of him but the authorities allowed him to keep his notebook, from that he wrote of his experiences in the camp, deciphering the cryptic notes.
It is a heart wrenching tale. He was treated harshly, like all the others in the camp, but never brutally. They were expected to do hard labour, and would graduate onto other tasks for good behaviour. The food was a thin, barely nutritious grass soup, made from thinning from beet or rice.
He suffered this for 22 years before the authorities saw fit to release him. He had been regularly dismissed as a capitalist for any minor infringement, and even though he suffered greatly, he never lost his humanity. It is a fascinating book, and timely too as the Chinese authorities announced this week that they would be closing these camps. Finally.
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