I'm surprised to see this book about difficult members of an estranged family is only getting 2.8 stars on goodreads. I initially really enjoyed spendI'm surprised to see this book about difficult members of an estranged family is only getting 2.8 stars on goodreads. I initially really enjoyed spending time with these complicated characters. Just being thrown into their relationships and having to figure out the nuances and the history kept me engaged. The author's choice to quickly share intimate details about the characters made them feel real and knowable. There are some surprising reveals of family history that made for perspective-changing twists. Sometimes it was entertaining how horrible they all were. Each character got a few relatable moments that made it easier not to hate them as much as they hated each other. I enjoyed this about as much as the previous book, which surprised me, since the tone is definitely more cynical. Sadly, as with the previous book, there wasn't much depth here. Once I had each character's backstory, their hang-ups and hatreds were pretty one-note. Thsy meant that the characters were able to surprise me early on, but the ending was predictable.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey...more
This book was not good enough that I would have been motivated to review it on its own. There are a lot of complaints about cliched writing in other gThis book was not good enough that I would have been motivated to review it on its own. There are a lot of complaints about cliched writing in other goodreads reviews, but that didn't bother me. There are a lot of cliched things to say about a bunch of older thieves pulling off one last job. We've all seen that movie! So I think some cliches were inevitable, but I didn't think the writing was bad. I thought it was serviceable enough to make for a good book,had the story been more exciting and/or better organized. Parts were repetitive, to the point where entire sentences were repeated twice on multiple occasions. I had a review copy, so it's possible the sentence level repetition was fixed in the final book. I think it's unlikely that the higher level repetition - for example, two sections covering the same character's background - were fixed. That would have required some extensive changes. This repetition may have been the author's attempt to compensate for what was actually a pretty thin story. Although the concept was fascinating, the police quickly figured out who was responsible for the robbery and we spent much of the book on the minutiae of the police eavesdropping on the daily lives of several older men. There just wasn't enough there to sustain a story.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey...more
Summary: The writing in this book was beautiful, but an unbelievable central romance made it an only average read for me.
Late in the 24-hour read-a-thSummary: The writing in this book was beautiful, but an unbelievable central romance made it an only average read for me.
Late in the 24-hour read-a-thon, I was ready for some light, dual-narrative, historical fiction and this fit the bill perfectly. After the death of her grandmother, Marisol visits Cuba to scatter her grandmother's ashes. While there, she learns more about her grandmother Elisa's experience as the daughter of a sugar baron during the revolution against Batista. Elisa's family, having benefited from their connection to Batista, fears the revolutionaries, but Elisa herself has a personal connection to one young revolutionary in particular. In the present day, Marisol finds herself similarly involved with a man whose activities may put him in danger from the new regime.
This book had a few qualities that made me excited about it as soon as I started reading. Cuba and Cuban culture were richly imagined. I could almost believe I was standing on a sea wall, watching the sun set with our protagonists at times. The author also taught me a lot about Cuban history. I like that the story is informed by the author's own life. It makes me hopeful that she's accurately captured the interior lives of her characters. Her descriptions of the way Cuban exiles and people who stayed in Cuba post-Batista feel about their country were particularly moving. I also liked the two main characters. Neither has a lot of agency - a problem I'll talk about more in a minute - but both were admirably willing to have their beliefs challenged.
Now on to the problems that made this only an average read for me. The romance was center-stage in both stories. That's often not my favorite thing in historical fiction. In this case, it was particularly unforgivable because I didn't find either romance convincing. They both felt like insta-love relationships. The women seemed more interested in how passionate the men were for their causes than in who they were personally. I could tell you little about either man except for their political beliefs. As I mentioned above, the women also didn't have much agency in these stories where they're ostensibly our protagonists. They each did take one or two admirable risks for the men they cared about, but they seemed largely free of their own political beliefs. They spend large portions of the story as mere observers of history and/or helpers to the men.
While I find books with passive female protagonists specifically annoying, because of the way they feed into sexist stereotypes, I don't think I'd have loved this had the gender roles been reversed either. The emotional connections simply weren't convincing enough to drive the story and I don't like having a passive protagonist. This book had some real strengths, including the beautiful writing and the informative look at a historical moment I know little about. However, I'd only recommend it if the time period particularly grabs you or if you don't share my narrative preferences. Otherwise, dual-narrative historical fiction is a crowded sub-genre and there's are better examples I'd be happy to recommend.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey...more
Summary: This was a rough one, including some interesting stories that the author did his best to ruin with 'philosophical' musings.
I was a little appSummary: This was a rough one, including some interesting stories that the author did his best to ruin with 'philosophical' musings.
I was a little apprehensive when I grabbed this book off my to-read pile. I got it a long time ago and at this point, I wasn't sure I wanted to learn about China from the perspective of a 22 year old American who was travelling internationally for the first time. However, I'd just read Without You, There is No Us (review to come) and it seemed like a good time to pick up another memoir by an American English teacher abroad. This book interspersed his time teaching with a subsequent backpacking trip. I have to admit this was the first of many complaints I had with the book. The time jumps didn't add anything to the story for me and I'd have preferred a linear narrative.
My main problem was not entirely unanticipated. The author just seemed so young. In particular, he tries to imbue every moment with far too much meaning. I've never liked this in travelogues and it's done extremely poorly here. What he probably thinks are philosophical points about 'the now' and opening up to others just sounded like he was high. The good parts of this story were strictly observational, interesting because they gave me a glimpse of people and places in China. He didn't add any thoughtful commentary; shared little about the history and politics of the region; and seemed ignorant of even global American history.
I learned way more about his sex life and the objectifying ways he thought about women than I ever wanted to know. It felt like women were interchangeable to him. They solely featured in his story as impetus for his own internal transformations. He casually tosses around the word love with almost every beautiful woman he meets. His portrayals of his students were much better. They sparkle with personality. His affection for them was clear and I loved getting to know them. If this had been a novella about his time teaching, you'd be reading a much more glowing review. As is, I'm afraid this is another book that I mostly want to warn you away from.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey...more
Summary: This was an informative and personal look at the lives of the most privileged students in North Korea.
Like Double Happiness, this was theSummary: This was an informative and personal look at the lives of the most privileged students in North Korea.
Like Double Happiness, this was the story of an American English teacher abroad and one of the high points of the book was getting to know the students. Like the teacher in Double Happiness, author Suki Kim also clearly felt a lot of affection for her students. I'm sure that contributed to their strong characterizations. Since im was teaching in North Korea, it was also particularly fascinating to get a glimpse of her students' knowledge base and their perspective on the world. The similarity between these books largely ends there though, to the benefit of this book. Although both authors describe their experiences in the countries they visit, Kim's time studying North Korea enabled her to provide a lot more context for her experiences. She is also able to draw on her family's history in South Korea, fleeing an attack during the Korean War, to give a personal look at the history of both countries.
Even in this book, I didn't initially enjoy the personal sections as much as those about North Korea and the students. As the story progressed, though, Kim's experience living with the restrictions in place in North Korea became an interesting window into that world. Her experience of living there was surely much different from that of someone who grew up there, but it was still fascinating to hear about how it felt to live in such oppressive circumstances. She also faced challenging ethical dilemmas every day as she struggled to achieve a balance of honesty and safety when answering her students questions. This look at the closed society of North Korea was absorbing and informative. It was a good blend of the personal and political. I'd definitely recommend it as one of a few opportunities to learn more about North Korea.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey...more
Summary: An engaging, informative, personal story, enlivened by the author's close involvement in the events she describes.
"Nearly three years ago, joSummary: An engaging, informative, personal story, enlivened by the author's close involvement in the events she describes.
"Nearly three years ago, journalist Lauren Hilgers received an unexpected call. Hello, Lauren! a man shouted in halting Mandarin. We might be seeing you in New York again soon! The voice belonged to Zhuang Liehong, a Chinese man who had been arrested in his home country for leading a string of protests, and whom Hilgers had met the previous year while reporting a story. Despite zero contacts and a shaky grasp of English, Zhuang explained that he and his wife, Little Yan, had a plan to escape from their American tour group and move to Flushing, Queens, to escape persecution back home. A few weeks later, they arrived on Hilgers's doorstep."(source)
To an extent, what I have to say about this book feels like what I have to say about every good work of narrative nonfiction. It had all of the elements I look for - lots of detail, strong characterizations, and an engaging story. However, I think there are a few things the author did particularly well that deserve more description. One of the main strengths of this book was how embedded the author was in the lives of Zhuang and Little Yan. The level of detail she's able to provide is clearly only possible because she was often with them for the events she describes. She's able to give us a close perspective on their personal feelings, even about intimate topics such as how their relationship was strained by immigration-related challenges. Even when Zhuang is overly controlling, the author is able to show his perspective fairly and with empathy, but without justifying his treatment of Little Yan.
The author also did a good job creating a clear story arc here. Everything doesn't become perfect for Zhuang and Little Yan by the end of the book, but they definitely adjust to their new lives over time. Where the story wrapped up felt like a reasonable end point. The combination of Zhuang's background as an activist with his immigration story was handled well too. I was equally invested in both stories. It was clear that the author had managed to speak to many of the people involved in Zhuang's earlier life, when she wasn't present. This provided valuable context and made it easier to understand Zhuang's choices around immigration and establishing a new life.
Of course, another major reason I enjoyed this story was because it showed me a part of life in the US that I knew nothing about. I've been wanting to learn more about the immigration experience. For anyone else also looking to learn, I'd recommend this personal perspective as a great place to start.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey...more
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