Started listening to the audiobook a few days ago and I'm enjoying it even more than I was expecting to. The writing style is very vivid and engaging, and the narration by Pik-sen Lim is very good.
My (vivid) lasting mental image of Cixi is from the film The Last Emperor of China, when she was very old and the scene and her styling were very dramatic. Besides that I didn't know much about Cixi except for some general tidbits, so I'm finding it very interesting not only to find out about her but about many aspects of 19th century China, especially among the royals and upper class.
The same film has also made it very easy for me to picture more intimate locations from the Forbidden Palace, such as when the sexual procedures for the emperor were mentioned regarding his bedrooms, and there were similar scenes in similar (the same?) bedrooms in the film. On a side note, I never even knew about this "hunting lodge" where Cixi's husband died!
And on a very side note, listening to the book, I can't help but notice that her name is pronounced very similarly to Cersei from Game of Thrones, and I wonder if she was an inspiration for Martin, as their names and certain aspects of their positions are very similar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
...Getting to the actual book I am starting to re-read, some of it you may have to take on faith in Jung Chang (not spiritual faith, just faith than she is reasonably using sources). Is it really certain that Cixi (or whatever her real/original name was) loved her Ministry of Punishments father? I just accept it as plausible and proceed.
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I agree with this; there are many small assumptions on the author's part throughout. This sort of thing normally makes me wary in factual non-fiction, but before voting I'd read a sample and didn't find it bothersome. I think her skill at writing an engaging story and her thorough research more than make up for it - or, at least, that's what I think from the part I've gotten through so far anyway.