1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows
by Ai Weiwei · first published 2021
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1recommended by
3HN commenters
2021–2026first – last mentioned
33% recommend33% neutral33% critical
"In his widely anticipated memoir, Ai Weiwei-one of the world's most famous artists and activists-tells a century-long epic tale of China through the story of his own extraordinary life and the legacy of his father, Ai Qing, the nation's most celebrated poet. Hailed as "the most important artist working today" by the Financial Times and as "an eloquent and unsilenceable voice of freedom" by The New York Times, Ai Weiwei has written a sweeping memoir that presents a remarkable history of China over the last 100 years while illuminating his artistic process. Once an intimate of Mao Zedong, Ai We
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…is no space for subtitles but this one is critical: Freedom is not a goal, but a direction - The way Edward Snowden then weaves Ai Wei-Wei's account of his journey through the Cultural Revolution (1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/246165/1000-years-o...) and his own is great: From the time I began studying China’s quest to intermediate the information space of its domestic internet, as…
on “Cultural Revolutions” ↗…posted a couple of days ago and sadly got no traction. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29247018 The way Edward Snowden weaves Ai Wei-Wei's account of his journey through the Cultural Revolution (1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/246165/1000-years-o...) and his own is great: From the time I began studying China’s quest to intermediate the information space of its domestic internet, as…
on “Freedom is not a goal, but a direction” ↗…(4 book set, also a great HBO show adaptation!) * Kitchen Confidential -- Anthony Bourdain (not sure why I hadn't read it till now... I was a huge fan of everything else Tony did) - Currently reading 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows -- Ai Weiwei
on “Ask HN: What book(s) did you love reading this year?” ↗…HK. One of my favourite contemporary artists is Ai Weiwei, who has gone missing in 2011 only to finally reappear four years later. I understand he now lives in Portugal. Got his book on my night stand, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows.
on “Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline” ↗I found reading the first chapter of Ai Weiwei's 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows quite depressing. It describes a woman who gave away or let her child die in order to take care of some more well off people's children, which I remember to be Ai's father or grandpa. Then goes on to…
on “On social reality in China” ↗