Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah

Quote from the back cover of the book:

A Chinese proverb says, “Falling leaves return to their roots”.

And then, the cheeky side of me thought; what if the fallen leaves are picked up by someone and carried far away from its roots? :-P
Will it grow anew like jade plant which grows right from its leaves?
Perhaps growing up beside the parent tree might not be a good idea after all eh?
Don’t mind me, sometimes my mind wanders…

Sometimes I wonder how often we look back to our childhood reminiscing about the bygone era in which we lived a carefree life without being saddled with endless bills, expectations and so on.

While some will whine, some, like this book entitled “Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah”, captures the essence of a childhood trapped in a never-ending home politics is a gem to be savored.

In this open hearted, tell-all book (which is almost none-existence in Asian culture), Adeline exposes the underbelly of the home politics when her biological mom passed away after giving birth to her. Her dad remarried to a “sophisticated lady” and with her stepping on the wrong side of the shadow, she was labeled as the black sheep of the family.

From thence onwards, she was often subjected to countless exclusion and not to mention humiliation during her growing up years. She literally paved her own road away from the family despite being deprived from what she craved the most; love and acceptance as part of the family.

I will not dwell in the methods she used to “break” from the family but in my opinion, the book is readable but the portrayal is rather one sided.

That is to say that Adeline’s depicts herself as victim from start until the end of the book. I’m not to judge an autobiographical book like this but readers should be neutral-minded when they read this book so as not to pass any judgment without hearing both sides of the story.

Short book review eh? :-)
I can’t comment nor review too much on people’s autobiography right?
Later I kena “tembak” for commenting on other people’s life. :-P

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

A Thousand Pieces of Gold by Adeline Yen Mah

Once in a while we stumble upon a gem of an author with refreshing twist to his/her storytelling and Adeline Yen Mah is one of such author.

In this book entitled "A Thousand Pieces of Gold", she managed to bring the art of storytelling to greater heights by linking Chinese proverbs into her life while explaining the history, significance and meaning behind those proverbs in short and concise chapters.

Being English educated, I don't know much about Chinese proverbs and it is indeed an eye opener to see that it is alive and well in use even now; literally and practically peppered into daily usage as summary or to spice conversation/writings.

Quoting from the book:

"British poet Philip Larkin once described Chinese proverbs as "white dwarfs" of literature because each was so densely compacted with thoughts and ideas."

I wouldn't have known all these proverbs if not for Adeline Yen Mah. Now thanks to her, I can proudly say that I am "ren xin gui han" (the heart of the people belongs to Han).

Personal rating: 10 out of 10 (definitely a worthwhile read)

Cons:
1) None

Pros:
1) Proverbs are explained in simple and direct story telling style.
2) Chapters are written in short and concise paragraphs with examples and stories infused to achieve greater effects.