In the past month or so, I've read three biographies, which is weird for me. So I was pleased when I picked up Jiang Qisheng's memoir and discovered that it was as accessible and interesting as the others I was reading. Qisheng is a Chinese dissident who was jailed twice, this book covers his second time in prison. Qisheng's memoir seems to be very to the point, he doesn't appear to gloss over anything that happens to him in the two facilities he was held at (a detention center (I believe) and a transition center -- before he was sent to a regular prison).

One of the things I liked about Qisheng's book was that he took time to talk to and about his fellow inmates. I also liked that he didn't seem to take advantage of his position as a political prisoner, compared with the rest of the people he was imprisoned with. Perhaps there are longer, more detailed memoirs (those of non-political prisoners) lurking in the jails of China, but this seems to be one of the closest we'll get to telling their stories.

My only complaint was that Qisheng did not talk about his time in the final prison (the one he spent the most time at). He says, at the end of the book, that compared with the other two facilities, it was much easier to take, which is why he didn't discuss it. I hope that he writes more, as his voice is one that I find interesting and inspiring. ( )