Born Red: A Chronicle of the Cultural Revolution

"Born Red" is a fascinating and horrifying book recounting one boy's experiences during the Cultural Revolution. As an American, steeped in our culture from birth, I find it is nearly impossible to truly grasp a culture that would permit the kind of reflexive parroting of official party line to take hold as it did in China (and continues today in North Korea).The book does a fine job of painting Mao as a cult leader that succeeded in making himself a virual infallible god in the eyes of the citizenry, pushing one socialistic national program after another that were universally irrational and doomed from the get-go. The book showcases a unique traditional asian culture that promotes/permits this lemming-like following of "the leader", migrating blindly into disaster.To me, one of the most fascinating aspects of "Born Red" is the apparently honest and heartfelt attempts by the citizenry to, at one level, mentally embrace and pursue the communist paradise promised by Mao while, at a much more personal and everyday level, actions that are more practical, rational, pragmatic, selfish, carnal, and capitalistic prevailed. In "Born Red" one sees students memorizing entire books written by Mao, formally criticizing others/themselves endlessly, and violently persecuting those that are PERCEIVED to be even one iota less than 100% loyal to the official party line (as they see it) -- all the while these same students guiltlessly steal, cheat the system, seek and peddle influence, lie, rape, even murder. The contrast is striking and impossible to reconcile.The other horrific lesson one takes away from "Born Red" is how easily these chinese students (representative of the entire nation) could so easily be compelled to completely and quickly alter, even reverse, their allegiances and internal mindsets -- those who were enemies could, overnight, become allies; that which was wrong one day would (upon authorized dictate) be considered right the next day; a political system (Capitalism) that was seen as the greatest evil in the world would, within a decade, be officially lauded as the road to national success -- all of these flipflops seemingly being accepted by everyone without the batting of an eye or otherwise questioning the irrationality of it all. This aspect of the tale is strikingly reminiscent of Orwell's "1984".My biggest single criticism of "Born Red" is the level of detail in which the author recounts his lifestory. Countless conversations are recalled word for word; minute details, complex sequences of events, names & places are described in apparently flawless detail in spite of the decades that have passed. I don't begrudge dramatic reconstructions "based upon factual events" but I do think they should be identified as such."Born Red" is a quick and easy read -- it should be manditory reading for all High School govenment or social studies classes.

Great book about a student being a part of the Red Guards. The Kindle version does not have page numbers however, only location numbers. If you are going to use this e-book for a college course paper like I did, now you know!

Fascinating book, and from all of the other histories of China which I have read, it seems to be accurate. The inside look at the "struggle sessions" that young people inflicted on the old who were deemed politically incorrect is disturbingly similar to aspects of what is going on on college campuses and street demonstrations in the US today. Absolutely worth reading to have perspective on where these things can lead when taken too far.

"Born Red" is not a broad historical account of the Cultural Revolution, but the autobiography of a man who was a young student in an elite "middle school" at the outset of this tumultuous and destructive period of recent Chinese history. The students were urged to ferret out "counter-revolutionaries" and given almost free reign over their decisions and punitive actions. I agree with the prior reviewer that this book brings to mind a real "Lord of the Flies," and would add to that the Salem Witch Trials.Although their actions were encouraged, at the outset, by their teachers, the students quickly turned their attentions to their instructors and "found" counter-revolutionary, "bourgeouis" and other improper behavior. Nearly all the teachers were branded, even after the Communist party instructed the students that most teachers should be considered good or "relatively good." When the students ran out of teachers and local petty officials to attack, they turned on each other, forming alliances which accused their opponents of non-revolutionary behavior. The mounting violence and resulting chaos are, on a certain level, surreal. The author's "postscript," while brief, ties the account to the present with its description of the "where they are now" of his friends, and enemies, during this time.

I was underwhelmed with this book but it is still well-written and descriptive. I did feel that it was exceedingly long and that the book could have been summed up with most of its meanings and dialogue in a third of the text.Perhaps I was unintentionally biased towards the content because I am skeptical of socialist fundamentals. It's not that I staunchly criticize socialism or communism (I try to remain open-minded and not get too political in my reasoning), but I do feel that people in general and their human nature cause these policies to fail, which is the ultimate irony with respect to these ideals. The situations in this book are testament to the shortcomings of human nature and the temperance of individuals to remain fair and just. Other reviewers compare it to Lord of the Flies and that is a very fair comparison. The book is often interesting but as I mentioned, seems to drag on and on without much purpose other than passing time. When the text finally ended, I was rather disappointed, as there was absolutely no resolution unless you read the post-script, which in itself is just a summary of what became of many people described in the texts.I do commend the author and I thank him for his reflection of past tumultuous times, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend the book as a very great story.

fast ship; as described

This is a great book, and the one to read if it's your only book on the subject of the 1968 Great Cultural Revolution in China. It should be called Mao's great self-imposed disaster. I lent someone my copy, and don't remember who, so I bought this as a replacement.

"Lord of the Flies" is OK fiction. This is a story of Chinese middle school students actually living the dynamics. The slightest variances in how different groups recalled Chairman Mao's "Little Red Book" were enough to initiate group vs group battles.