Customer Reviews
Avg. Customer
Review: 
Write
an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
3 of 6 people found the
following review helpful:
Twilight, the beginning of an end., August 8, 2001
Mr. Johnson's work romanticizes the truth behind the opulence that existed
within the Forbidden City. The vislual feast presented in the book
differed much from what was provided in the film, but, both touched upon
the essence of what the author suggested; there was granduer, there was,
glitter, and, there was truth in what the author saw. The traumatic
changes in the social order of the day happened over years, not minutes.
The book did little to present what was happening outside of the palace
walls, and the film did even less. The film did focus on the attrocities
being committed upon the Chinese people by the invading Japanese during
the war, but, it did not touch upon those committed by the foreign
influences, and, the ruling class itself. Maybe it was a good thing that
this truth was not presented in the film, because,the film would then have
to be called, "The Saga of the Twilight in the Forbidden City."
Sometimes its better if you just read and understand the book in, and, of
itself, then attempt to understand the historical truth being presented by
any ONE the book. Go figure! |
