Forbidden City: A Novel of Modern China
Seventeen-year-old Alex Jackson comes home from school to find that his father, a CBC news cameraman, wants to take him to China’s capital, Beijing. Once there, Alex finds himself on his own in Tian An Men Square as desperate students fight the Chinese army for their freedom. Separated from his father and carrying illegal videotapes, Alex must trust the students to help him escape.
Closely based on eyewitness accounts of the massacre in Beijing, Forbidden City is a powerful and frightening story.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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A very graphic and personal account of a Chinese tragedy.,
“Forbidden City” was a powerful and dramatically graphic book which described the personal account of the Chinese tragedy which took place in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in 1989. The story centres around the struggle for freedom which young revolutionaries had during a time when the Chinese government was unstable. Horrifying details illustrate the horrors that the Chinese people coped with. Surprisingly, these horrors were the result of the martial law handed down by the Chinese government to stop the Chinese citizen’s cries for freedom and democracy. This book truly portrayed the horrific and uncivilized side of mankind. Images of bodies being crushed by looming Chinese tanks in the streets of Beijing and the careless bloodshed of innocent people in the centre of Tiananmen Square paint a picture of true brutality and coldness which we as humans take for granted in such times of chaos, not only in China but around the world. This book portrays the delicacy of life and how we all take for granted not only life itself, but our God-given freedom which we as humans consider as a right, which in reality, is a priviledge which we fight for each and every day of our lives. The central theme in “Forbidden City” is similar to the themes in “The Holy Bible” in that struggles for freedom take place throughout the book and involve all cultures. In contrast, “Forbidden City” was a much more personalized account of the tragedy which took place. I was able to explore the mind of a visitor to China who witnessed the brutal images in Tiananmen Square and was deeply affected by what was seen. “The Holy Bible”, similar to “Forbidden City”, provided a sense of hope for those in their stuggles for freedom and the oppressors, which, through over whelming strength and perseverence, broke free of their dictators and retained their identity, living with pride and ostentation. I recommend this book for people who feel as though they are oppressed by others whether it be parents, bosses or teachers who feel the need to break loose of what is holding them back. This truly dramatic and thought-prevoking book will provide you with the inspiration you need to continue on in your own lives having pride in your culture, family, and most importantly, yourself.
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|Vivid details and engrossing story wow reader. By JMM,
This book is a vivid description of the “events” at Tian An Men Square that fateful spring in 1989. This novel is about a seventeen year old boy named Alex who travels with his cameraman father to China, and witnesses the Tian An Men Square massacre.
In this book the author pays good attention to the facts while weaving a story around them. He used a journal format; from the point of view of the protagonist, Alex. William Bell (the author) paints a vivid picture of the horrendous tragedy in Beijing, and brings a realistic quality to his fiction. The characters develop well during the story, but the secondary characters are very one-dimensional.
The author brings a real and personal quality that to many of us is simply a far-off event that happened to a bunch of people we don’t know. Although it is realistic, it is not a historian’s account. Overall, it is a good, compelling, and vividly detailed novel.
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|Forbidden City, quick must-read for all highschool students!,
Overall, William S. Bell does a good job putting a human face on the tragedies that took place in Tiananmen Square. He is refreshingly accurate with regard to factual information. The diary format is easy to read yet leaves the book open to interpretation and discussion. The story of the fictional characters Alex, Ted, Lao Xu, Eddie and Xin hua was created as a way to explain what happened to all sides involved in this tragic event. Bell combines a mixture of powerful emotions and dynamic characters to create a true must read for all highschool students. If highschoolers get anything out of this book at all, it will be that there are people out there who will stand up for what they believe in and that violence shouldn’t be used as the answer to every problem our world faces.
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