If I posted reviews about the books I have read, would anyone read/care? Well this here post is a trial to see what would happen, based on the last three books I have read in the last month. [Note: FTC disclosure or whatever: I got these books from the library. And my mom. And no one told me to write about them. The end.]
Over Thanksgiving break, while I sat in the airport as my flight was delayed and delayed and delayed, I finished this little lighthearted romp. Just kidding (not about the flight delay). It was mad depressing. And yet it had a happy and touching ending, so I guess that made up for the 300 pages of heartbreak and physical abuse and soul crushing soul-crushingness? Hmmm... Not really.
Of course the majority of the novel is set during the Chinese-Japanese war and the subsequent take over of the Communists, so it's bound to be hard times for everyone. But most particularly for Winnie, who is married to this UTTERLY MALEVOLENT man and he is so horrible to her that she has to hide her entire past from her daughter, who has grown up in the States and therefore led a completely different life than anything her mother experienced. Thus the silence and the tension, which Winnie decides to break and then boy does she let it all pour out. I think I liked this better than the Joy Luck Club because it was easier to follow and more detailed with just one narrative, but on the other hand it does kind of drag with all the TERRIBLE DEPRESSINGNESS at times.
Let's move on to another tale of China, this one about underpants. That's right. One Kiwi journalist decided to make it his personal mission to travel to China and search out the factories/people/companies that really make up all the components of a single pair of underpants, bought in the Western world but made in China (duh). He falls into the same traps that all journalists do when they write a singular nonfiction work about China: he throws in as much modern Chinese history as possible, even though he has never really studied China except to write this book. Oh well, I just skim over all that because a) I already know it and b) I'd rather just read about the underpants.
So there are some funny bits in here about his struggles with chopsticks and complete lack of mastery over the Chinese language, but most of it just serves as a reminder for how much the Western world (yes ok fine I am extrapolating him to represents all Westerners) just doesn't get China. And doesn't really try to, for that matter. And even when they try, they mostly fail. I enjoyed this book because at least the author is self reflective and realizes these patterns, and comes away with a great deal more respect for the Chinese than he went in with (sort of... since basically he went in with a base prejudicial fear (again, like most Westerners)). Anyway it just made me want to read Factory Girls and get the real dirt on how Chinese workers live out their lives in factory conditions. Oh and it made me want to go back to Shanghai and eat.
Lastly: about as far from China as you can get. Mom gave this to me for the plane ride back to NY but I ended up making it my subway read this week. And got done with it much quicker than anticipated, due to be stuck on the train for 2 HOURS one night on the way home from work. Gahhhhh.
Anyway, what Mom shouldn't have told me was that the author originally wrote a bunch of short stories, realized there was a reoccurring character in these stories, and then decided to string them together into a novel. Because that's all I could think of as I read this! And I like novels and I like short stories (sometimes) but I don't like short story collections masquerading as novels. So I was ultimately left wanting more. Like, if you name your novel after a character then s/he better be all over that novel. (I had this problem with Oliver Twist and now it will never go away). And the chapters I most enjoyed were the ones with Olive... so why was her story interspersed with all these other stories of random people that I didn't care about and who never reoccurred? It kind of disrupted my reading. They all had similar themes of misunderstood relationships and lots of emotional anguish (all very well written, so it was enjoyable to read even though it was quite sad) but sometimes I was just like, meh I could've done without that chapter.
Oh and DON'T READ THE READING GROUP STUFF AT THE END. Why is that there? Obviously any reading group that selects this novel is going to be savvy enough to think of their own discussion questions, and laugh at the silly suggestions in the back. So, fail on Random House. And I'm still conflicted about the format of this one, so overall not a 5/5.
If you've made it this far, congratulations, you get a fingertag. Also you get my advice to watch Community, even though I just referenced 30 Rock. Go! You will not be disappointed, especially by the holiday episode. And in conclusion: I should probably read some happy novels now. Feel free to buy me something humorous for Christmas.
Fortunately the level never rose to 10, which would have meant me packing my bags and moving home and hanging out with Ben & Jerry for quite some time. That would have happened come the end of August, after a summer of interviews and job rejections and not having any money to pay my rent. Fortunately, that crisis was averted.
