1 00:00:07,133 --> 00:00:10,453 Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast 2 00:00:10,573 --> 00:00:11,733 Speaker 1: from news Talks at be. 3 00:00:12,733 --> 00:00:16,013 Speaker 2: Catherine Rains, our book reviewer, chooses two fantastic new reads 4 00:00:16,013 --> 00:00:18,333 Speaker 2: for us every week. She's here with their picks for 5 00:00:18,413 --> 00:00:22,213 Speaker 2: the weekend. Get a Catherine Morning Jack. Let us begin 6 00:00:22,413 --> 00:00:26,853 Speaker 2: with Fly Wild Swans by Jung Chang So. 7 00:00:27,013 --> 00:00:29,653 Speaker 3: Wild Swans, which was one of her first books, was 8 00:00:29,653 --> 00:00:31,653 Speaker 3: published back in nineteen ninety one, and it had a 9 00:00:31,693 --> 00:00:34,893 Speaker 3: real global impact and sold over thirty five million copies. 10 00:00:34,933 --> 00:00:37,533 Speaker 3: And it so told the story of three generations of 11 00:00:37,573 --> 00:00:41,133 Speaker 3: women in the twentieth century of twentieth century China. It 12 00:00:41,173 --> 00:00:44,053 Speaker 3: was her grandmother, her mother, and herself and then since on. 13 00:00:44,293 --> 00:00:46,213 Speaker 3: Since then she's gone on to write some more books, 14 00:00:46,253 --> 00:00:50,053 Speaker 3: particularly a Biographer of Mile the Untold Story. But in 15 00:00:50,173 --> 00:00:53,533 Speaker 3: Fly Wild Swan, she actually returns to her grandmother's birth 16 00:00:53,573 --> 00:00:56,613 Speaker 3: in nineteen hundred and the binding of her feet and 17 00:00:56,653 --> 00:00:59,853 Speaker 3: her marriage at seventeen to a warlord whose household she 18 00:01:00,093 --> 00:01:03,933 Speaker 3: escaped with her daughter and her arms, and that child 19 00:01:03,933 --> 00:01:07,613 Speaker 3: grew up to join the communist struggle against the ruling 20 00:01:07,653 --> 00:01:11,133 Speaker 3: Kom Tongue Party and married a fellow revolutionary who became 21 00:01:11,173 --> 00:01:13,813 Speaker 3: a senior official in the Communist victory at the end 22 00:01:13,853 --> 00:01:17,173 Speaker 3: of the Civil War. But then Chang's parents both lost 23 00:01:17,173 --> 00:01:19,973 Speaker 3: their faith in communism during the starvation in the early 24 00:01:20,133 --> 00:01:23,413 Speaker 3: nineteen sixties as a result of Males's earlier policies, and 25 00:01:23,453 --> 00:01:26,493 Speaker 3: they began this retreat from political life, and it didn't 26 00:01:26,493 --> 00:01:30,733 Speaker 3: really save them from persecution during the Cultural Revolution. And 27 00:01:30,813 --> 00:01:33,493 Speaker 3: it's just this, you know, she covers that ground, and 28 00:01:33,653 --> 00:01:37,933 Speaker 3: Chang's kind of fourteen at that time, and then weirdly, 29 00:01:37,973 --> 00:01:40,413 Speaker 3: when the book ended in nineteen ninety one, China's gone 30 00:01:40,413 --> 00:01:45,013 Speaker 3: from poverty to prosperity in the world's second largest economy, 31 00:01:45,173 --> 00:01:48,853 Speaker 3: and Chang herself sort of talks about that and Wild 32 00:01:48,853 --> 00:01:52,213 Speaker 3: Swan's being banned in China, and she still went there 33 00:01:52,213 --> 00:01:55,533 Speaker 3: and conducted research for a long time, actually for several 34 00:01:55,613 --> 00:01:58,333 Speaker 3: years because that's where she was started to talk about 35 00:01:58,373 --> 00:02:00,973 Speaker 3: her mild biography as well in the publication of that 36 00:02:01,053 --> 00:02:04,013 Speaker 3: in two thousand and five, and then eventually she's sort 37 00:02:04,053 --> 00:02:07,773 Speaker 3: of placed under the surveillance and these has become more difficult, 38 00:02:07,893 --> 00:02:10,973 Speaker 3: and you know, she's usually accompanied by minders, and in 39 00:02:11,013 --> 00:02:14,013 Speaker 3: this book she really talks about China is that global powerhouse, 40 00:02:14,053 --> 00:02:16,573 Speaker 3: and the impact of their lives on her and her mother, 41 00:02:17,013 --> 00:02:20,173 Speaker 3: and Wild Swans is really about that experience, and you know, 42 00:02:20,173 --> 00:02:22,933 Speaker 3: it's a really intriguing memoir, and you know, she has 43 00:02:22,973 --> 00:02:26,293 Speaker 3: this ability to bring together the Chinese history and politics 44 00:02:26,293 --> 00:02:29,693 Speaker 3: and really bring that to life in a very personal way. 45 00:02:29,733 --> 00:02:32,093 Speaker 3: And it's a really interesting story and a really interesting 46 00:02:32,453 --> 00:02:34,813 Speaker 3: you know what happened after the end of Wild Swans? 47 00:02:35,293 --> 00:02:38,493 Speaker 2: Okay, So fly Wild Swans by Yung Chang is that book. 48 00:02:38,733 --> 00:02:40,773 Speaker 2: Next up, Circle of Days by Ken Folletts. 49 00:02:42,013 --> 00:02:43,973 Speaker 3: So one of my favorite books is actually a much 50 00:02:44,013 --> 00:02:46,053 Speaker 3: older book of Ken Follet's called The Pillars of the Earth, 51 00:02:46,053 --> 00:02:49,733 Speaker 3: which is he just writes historical fiction so well, and 52 00:02:49,773 --> 00:02:52,453 Speaker 3: he's such a great story teller, and he has this 53 00:02:52,533 --> 00:02:56,053 Speaker 3: ability to make something very old and ancient come to 54 00:02:56,133 --> 00:02:59,613 Speaker 3: life and these very relatable characters. So in this he 55 00:02:59,693 --> 00:03:02,733 Speaker 3: imagines how Stonehenge might have come to be, and it's 56 00:03:02,813 --> 00:03:07,053 Speaker 3: told through the intertwining stories of herders and farmers and woodlanders, 57 00:03:07,373 --> 00:03:11,693 Speaker 3: and it paints this really interesting picture of prehistoric life 58 00:03:11,733 --> 00:03:14,133 Speaker 3: and the effort that it would have taken to unite 59 00:03:14,173 --> 00:03:17,453 Speaker 3: these divided tribes and the pewture something actually to build 60 00:03:17,533 --> 00:03:20,493 Speaker 3: something that was greater than themselves, and so you introduce 61 00:03:20,573 --> 00:03:22,773 Speaker 3: to these characters from each tribe and you follow them 62 00:03:22,773 --> 00:03:26,053 Speaker 3: throughout the story, and seef It and joe are central 63 00:03:26,093 --> 00:03:28,533 Speaker 3: to the story. And see if it's a flint miner 64 00:03:28,613 --> 00:03:32,053 Speaker 3: and he lives in this brutal home, but he's blessed 65 00:03:32,053 --> 00:03:35,173 Speaker 3: with this really great talent for what he does and 66 00:03:35,213 --> 00:03:38,333 Speaker 3: a very quiet resolve and personality. And then he meets 67 00:03:38,333 --> 00:03:41,133 Speaker 3: this woman Nine who's a herder, and she opens his 68 00:03:41,213 --> 00:03:43,653 Speaker 3: eyes to this really different kind of life, you know, 69 00:03:43,733 --> 00:03:46,693 Speaker 3: one built on love rather than dominance. And then there's Joa, 70 00:03:46,773 --> 00:03:49,733 Speaker 3: whose Nien's younger sister, and she has this fascination with 71 00:03:49,853 --> 00:03:53,773 Speaker 3: priestesses and ancient knowledge. And so the whole herder community 72 00:03:53,853 --> 00:03:56,253 Speaker 3: meets together on a quarterly basis where they gather to 73 00:03:56,293 --> 00:04:00,053 Speaker 3: trade and feast and participate. And then the drought ravages 74 00:04:00,093 --> 00:04:03,133 Speaker 3: the land and the tensions build and conflict swimmers, and 75 00:04:03,173 --> 00:04:05,973 Speaker 3: then you know, Joea has this dream of building this 76 00:04:06,053 --> 00:04:09,853 Speaker 3: sacred circle to bring unity. And Follett's managed to fill 77 00:04:09,893 --> 00:04:12,413 Speaker 3: the story with these great characters, as I said before, 78 00:04:12,413 --> 00:04:15,053 Speaker 3: and some you like and some you despise, and is 79 00:04:15,173 --> 00:04:18,653 Speaker 3: really interesting in explanations of how the stones perhaps came 80 00:04:18,693 --> 00:04:21,453 Speaker 3: to be and the world and society here imagines and 81 00:04:21,533 --> 00:04:24,653 Speaker 3: I really like it as great ancient history and that 82 00:04:24,773 --> 00:04:28,213 Speaker 3: mystery of Stonehenge, and it's, you know, this simple but 83 00:04:28,373 --> 00:04:30,893 Speaker 3: powerful towel. It's a bit slow in places, but actually 84 00:04:30,933 --> 00:04:32,893 Speaker 3: it's slow on a reason and it kind of builds 85 00:04:32,933 --> 00:04:34,693 Speaker 3: the story and it really makes it work. And it's 86 00:04:34,693 --> 00:04:36,573 Speaker 3: seven hundred pages. It's not a small book. But I 87 00:04:36,653 --> 00:04:38,973 Speaker 3: found myself flicking through it quite quickly, to be honest, 88 00:04:39,013 --> 00:04:40,173 Speaker 3: because it's such a great story. 89 00:04:40,453 --> 00:04:43,293 Speaker 2: Great. Okay, cool. So that's Circle of Days by Ken Follett, 90 00:04:43,493 --> 00:04:46,733 Speaker 2: Catherin's first book again fly Wild Swans by Yung Chang. 91 00:04:46,813 --> 00:04:48,893 Speaker 2: We'll have all the details for both of those on 92 00:04:48,933 --> 00:04:50,733 Speaker 2: the news Talk ZEDB website. 93 00:04:51,333 --> 00:04:54,453 Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, Listen live 94 00:04:54,533 --> 00:04:57,853 Speaker 1: to Newstalk ZEDB from nine am Saturday, or follow the 95 00:04:57,853 --> 00:04:59,333 Speaker 1: podcast on iHeartRadio.