This is the story of two young men in China during the Cultural Revolution of the 1970's. The sons of doctors, they've been exiled to a remote village to be "re-educated." In this book we hear about a few of the adventures these young men have during their exile. The story is very simple and straightforward, yet charming and engaging. I found the story to be interesting because I don't know very much about China's Cultural Revolution, but this story doesn't do much and there are no surprises. Told almost entirely in the first person from the point of view of one of the young men, there are two chapters rather awkwardly thrown in told from the points of view of the other young man and a village girl. The ending was odd and rather abrupt. But at only 180 pages, this is a very quick, effortless and worthwhile read.