Wild Swans

I remember the first time I laid eyes on it. It was love at first sight! I'd been searching for this feeling, that instantaneous click! And I knew it was right for me.

There it was, lying on the dusty old shelf: Wild Swans, a biographical account of three generations of Chinese women.

Alright, so that was completely anticlimatic (at least for you non-book lovers)! So it wasn't as dramatic as I made it out to be, but it was just as special.

I'd been craving to read something great. A lot of books are good, some not so good, but very few are great. A great book is written by an author who's thoughts are in sync with your own, who's words are so powerful they touch your very soul.

'That's it! That's the one I want to read!' I whispered excitedly to a friend who was trailing behind me in an aisle at our school library. I don't believe in love at first sight, but I knew I loved the book even before reading a single word (sounds like a cheesy Savage Garden song doesn't it?).

I took the longest time to finish it, so much so that it became a mark of identification: the girl with the fat green book. I took it wherever I went, soaking in the history and culture of China during those tumultuous decades.

Looking back, however, I don't remember too many details. But I do know that this book is a potent combination of beauty and strength - of the words and the characters that unfold. It's a modern day classic, one that will remain in my collection forever.