Audiobook13 hours
Heart for Freedom: The Remarkable Journey of a Young Dissident, Her Daring Escape, and Her Quest to Free China's Daught
Written by Chai Ling
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
The dramatic and fascinating story of Chai Ling, commander-in-chief of the student protesters at Tiananmen Square and witness to the massacre of thousands of Chinese civilians. Risking imprisonment and possible death for her leadership role in the student democracy movement, she was on the run in China for ten months while being hunted by the authorities. She eventually escaped to the U.S., completed her education at Princeton and Harvard, found true love, and became a highly successful entrepreneur. But her desperate quest for freedom, purpose, and peace--which she had sought in turn through academic achievement, romantic love, political activism, and career success--was never satisfied until she had an unexpected encounter with a formerly forbidden faith. Her newfound passion for God led to her life's greatest mission: Fighting for the lives and rights of young girls in China.
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Reviews for Heart for Freedom
Rating: 3.477272727272727 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
22 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I abandoned this at the halfway point, it was just too slow. The events that the book claims to be about had only just begun by the time I stopped reading. A lot of authors make this mistake--writing in great detail about their early life, families and childhood when it doesn't have much if anything to do with their subject. Maybe a really famous person or someone with a fascinating life can do this but otherwise their auto-biography may only end up being of interest to their family members or someone studying their life for a history project! One chapter on early life as an intro is okay but beyond that.....zzzzzzz.
The author gives personal details about mistakes she made resulting in at least three abortions. She goes into a lot of the reasons for these and the circumstances. This served to shine a light on the effects of China's laws relating to marriage and family life--one child policy and needing to have a combined age of 48 prior to any marriage...
The book is actually about the author's involvement in leading democratic protests that led to mass casualties in China when the authorities acted to quell the peaceful demonstration. It was one of the first such attempts to challenge the regime. But, as the author waited a number of decades before writing about it, the events in question have probably faded from the vast majority of memories, although I'm sure the families still sadly grieve the tragedy that took so many student lives.
I read elsewhere that the author gave an interview to the media and subsequently tried to prevent its disclosure. She effectively said during the interview which occurred before the uprising that it would take a mass slaughter of students by the government to make their protest heard. There was understandable consternation about her comments as it was suggested by some that the students had deliberately caused the deaths by their actions, turning themselves into martyrs for the cause.
I didn't get as far as reading about the author's conversion to Christianity in 2009.
This book may appeal to those interested in China, communism, activism or with a particular interest in this uprising. I didn't really enjoy it but others might. There was no bad language or sexual content and the violence wasn't graphic, at least up to the halfway point.... - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A moving and inspiring autobiography of one woman's quest for freedom, meaning and significance.