Book of the Week

Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin


Recommended by William Gee

 Li Cunxin’s Mao’s Last Dancer is set during China’s cultural revolution in the 1940s and follows the life of Li, who gets scouted from his school to be a professional dancer. On the journey from his peasant family to becoming a world-class dancer and travelling the globe, Li encounters many hardships and challenges. For example, we see that his body is pushed to the limit in a quest for the regime’s perfect body-type, and he faces people who doubt his potential. The story is inspired by Li’s own life and therefore the narrative is extremely moving and continually encourages the reader to relate to him.

Due to the fact that the story is inspired by true events, Cunxin’s characterisation is realistic and engaging. Primarily we grow to empathise with Li as the story is a first person perspective, so we experience his emotions first-hand. Cunxin’s style enables the reader to relate to Li in his proudest moments, such as when he is selected to dance professionally. Comparably, we can also sympathise with Li in times of sadness and mourning, such as when his grandmother dies. Therefore Li is portrayed as three-dimensional because Cunxin provides emotional depth to his character. In general, the plot does not reveal too much as it goes on and so keeps the reader guessing about what is going to happen. This maintains the suspense required to keep the reader interested.

In this book, I especially enjoyed reading about Li’s time in various parts of the world. The contrast between his poor hometown and the places that he visits is incredible and you can see this through Li’s emotions, experiencing all the new things he had never had the chance to. These emotions help the reader understand what Li’s life was like and truly see his life from his own perspective. Many of the sad scenes are particularly detailed, so that the reader gets a clear view of how certain events affected Li.

However, at the beginning of the novel, the reader might find it difficult to understand the elements of the communist Chinese regime, which are alien to western society. For example, in the western world one would apply to become a dancer, gymnast or anything similar; however, in Li’s world, one does not get the opportunity to make the decision for themselves.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys books that uncover unknown aspects of foreign societies. Fans of Adeline Yen Mah’s Falling Leaves, Chinese Cinderella and Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy would enjoy Mao’s Last Dancer, as it also deals with personal struggles from an autobiographical perspective.