4 posts tagged “asian-american”
Obtained: Brooklyn Public Library
Finished: 28-September 2008
Story Synopsis:
Joel hates Korea. Why he agreed to teach there defies his comprehension. He can't wait to return to normal life. His year of teaching is almost over and then he'll finally be free. But Joel's life is about to go from dark dreams to cotton candy kisses and it's all because of Hana. The very sight of this girl sends him flying straight to cloud nine, but won't another year in Korea send him crashing back down?
Commentary:
Young Canadian boy Joel decides that he's had enough of Korea. His job teaching at a Korean english language school is no longer satisfying, and things about the country that formerly amused him are now incredibly annoying. He's decided that he's going to quit his job and go back to Canada -- that is, till he develops an infatuation with the beautiful Hana, who just happens to be the English school's new secretary.
This romance-comedy comic, despite offering to show a portrait of current Korean culture, managed to find every single way to annoy me. I'm not a particularly militant or angry Asian-American, but this book takes all the known stereotypes about Koreans (and Asians) together and lumps it all in what may seem at first glance to be a sensitive book about the difficulties of a cute White boy dealing with this 'quirky' culture. Maybe it's not the Koreans who have a problem, maybe it's you.
I also don't care so much for the romance aspect of it. It's so incredibly shallow. I'm supposed to believe that even though he hates the culture and most everything about it that he's willing to overlook that because of this hot girl? Who doesn't even do or say anything particularly entrancing to convince me, the reader, why she's worthy of his attention in the first place. Is he suddenly hit with an incurable bout of yellow fever?
I had pretty high expectations for this comic since I saw it at MoCCA Fest earlier this year. I thought it was supposed to be something new, something different, something really worthy of all the praise that Oni Press lists on the page. But personally, this is the same old story wrapped up in a gaudy package.
Finished: 28-September 2008
Story Synopsis:
Joel hates Korea. Why he agreed to teach there defies his comprehension. He can't wait to return to normal life. His year of teaching is almost over and then he'll finally be free. But Joel's life is about to go from dark dreams to cotton candy kisses and it's all because of Hana. The very sight of this girl sends him flying straight to cloud nine, but won't another year in Korea send him crashing back down?
Commentary:
Young Canadian boy Joel decides that he's had enough of Korea. His job teaching at a Korean english language school is no longer satisfying, and things about the country that formerly amused him are now incredibly annoying. He's decided that he's going to quit his job and go back to Canada -- that is, till he develops an infatuation with the beautiful Hana, who just happens to be the English school's new secretary.
This romance-comedy comic, despite offering to show a portrait of current Korean culture, managed to find every single way to annoy me. I'm not a particularly militant or angry Asian-American, but this book takes all the known stereotypes about Koreans (and Asians) together and lumps it all in what may seem at first glance to be a sensitive book about the difficulties of a cute White boy dealing with this 'quirky' culture. Maybe it's not the Koreans who have a problem, maybe it's you.
I also don't care so much for the romance aspect of it. It's so incredibly shallow. I'm supposed to believe that even though he hates the culture and most everything about it that he's willing to overlook that because of this hot girl? Who doesn't even do or say anything particularly entrancing to convince me, the reader, why she's worthy of his attention in the first place. Is he suddenly hit with an incurable bout of yellow fever?
I had pretty high expectations for this comic since I saw it at MoCCA Fest earlier this year. I thought it was supposed to be something new, something different, something really worthy of all the praise that Oni Press lists on the page. But personally, this is the same old story wrapped up in a gaudy package.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Obtained: FrugalReader
Finished: 8-February 2008
Story Synopsis:
This was one of those novels where I had no prior knowledge of the book prior to reading it. I think I've seen it on the B&N "recommended fiction" tables a few times, but there was nothing so spectacular about it that made me want to get it then & there.
So, when it was offered on FrugalReader, I just grabbed it merely because I was craving another Asian-themed book (one can only read and re-read Banana Yoshimoto so many times).
Two young men are sent for re-education to the Chinese countryside for re-education during the Cultural Revolution. The narrator and his friend Luo are sons of a doctor and a dentist, respectively, so living among the peasants in a remote mountain area of China is essentially an exile from the world that they've known. They're subjected to humbling tasks, such as transporting fertilizer (okay, pig manure) to the fields and to crawling naked in the mines to collect coal. Eventually, they obtain the 'honor' to be the village's storytellers -- where the commune leader tells them to go to the next big town, watch the movie showing, and then recount the story to the rest of the community back on the mountain.
At this same time, they make the acquaintance of the daughter of the local tailor, the Little Seamstress. Both are smitten by her beauty and charm, even though Luo takes it a step forward and forms a romantic relationship with her. Around this time, they also obtain a slim volume of Balzac from another boy going through re-education in the next town. Inspired at the effect their storytelling has on the peasants, they decide to 're-educate' the Little Seamstress in their own way, by exposing her to Western literature and thinking.
I never expected to enjoy this novel this much. It's a very slim work, but it achieves its point in its brevity. I know this isn't the first novel that I've read that extols the transformative quality of reading and of literature, but the manner the novel goes about it is beautiful. I think I love the ending sentence most of all.
High recommendations for this novel. I'm sure the original French work has same oomph, if not more.
Obtained: FrugalReader
Finished: 8-February 2008
Story Synopsis:
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is an enchanting tale that captures the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening. An immediate international bestseller, it tells the story of two hapless city boys exiled to a remote mountain village for re-education during China’s infamous Cultural Revolution. There the two friends meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, the two friends find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined.
Commentary:This was one of those novels where I had no prior knowledge of the book prior to reading it. I think I've seen it on the B&N "recommended fiction" tables a few times, but there was nothing so spectacular about it that made me want to get it then & there.
So, when it was offered on FrugalReader, I just grabbed it merely because I was craving another Asian-themed book (one can only read and re-read Banana Yoshimoto so many times).
Two young men are sent for re-education to the Chinese countryside for re-education during the Cultural Revolution. The narrator and his friend Luo are sons of a doctor and a dentist, respectively, so living among the peasants in a remote mountain area of China is essentially an exile from the world that they've known. They're subjected to humbling tasks, such as transporting fertilizer (okay, pig manure) to the fields and to crawling naked in the mines to collect coal. Eventually, they obtain the 'honor' to be the village's storytellers -- where the commune leader tells them to go to the next big town, watch the movie showing, and then recount the story to the rest of the community back on the mountain.
At this same time, they make the acquaintance of the daughter of the local tailor, the Little Seamstress. Both are smitten by her beauty and charm, even though Luo takes it a step forward and forms a romantic relationship with her. Around this time, they also obtain a slim volume of Balzac from another boy going through re-education in the next town. Inspired at the effect their storytelling has on the peasants, they decide to 're-educate' the Little Seamstress in their own way, by exposing her to Western literature and thinking.
I never expected to enjoy this novel this much. It's a very slim work, but it achieves its point in its brevity. I know this isn't the first novel that I've read that extols the transformative quality of reading and of literature, but the manner the novel goes about it is beautiful. I think I love the ending sentence most of all.
High recommendations for this novel. I'm sure the original French work has same oomph, if not more.
What they say:
Sports reporter Michelle Yu and lawyer Blossom Kan introduce a vibrant, irresistible novel set in New York City. Based on personal experience, China Dolls is the story of three best friends from childhood—each an unforgettable Asian woman—tackling their late twenties over drinks, laughs, and dim sum...
Exploring life at the intersection of two worlds—one of Asian grandmothers and red envelopes, and another of career challenges and dating disasters—China Dolls is an exhilarating debut from two sensational new talents.
Commentary:
Okay, this is different. Chick-lit about twenty-something Asian-American New Yorkers written by actual 20something AANY'ers. Or so they'd like me to think.
I knew that I wasn't going to expect anything ground-breaking when the Amazon reviews termed it as a "younger, hipper version of the Joy Luck Club." Glee.
Snarkiness aside, the two authors did manage to capture the insecurities of being an Asian-American female -- from the drive to succeed, the obligations to family, the tensions between cultures and generations. I did actually see a lot of the experiences of me and my peers in their stories.
What I wasn't crazy about was the "Sex and the Cit(y)"-fication of their lifestyles. The three women would always go out to pricey bars and lounges every night, go shopping in expensive boutiques, eat in posh restaurants. Okay, yes, that's what some NY'ers do, but it's entirely deceiving and unrealistic -- those details, which could have been left at the wayside, made the story seem "phony" to me, so instead of seeing the novel as an accurate reflection of the life & times of other Asian-American women of my generation, I just flipped through it like I would any other chicklit.
Sports reporter Michelle Yu and lawyer Blossom Kan introduce a vibrant, irresistible novel set in New York City. Based on personal experience, China Dolls is the story of three best friends from childhood—each an unforgettable Asian woman—tackling their late twenties over drinks, laughs, and dim sum...
Exploring life at the intersection of two worlds—one of Asian grandmothers and red envelopes, and another of career challenges and dating disasters—China Dolls is an exhilarating debut from two sensational new talents.
Commentary:
Okay, this is different. Chick-lit about twenty-something Asian-American New Yorkers written by actual 20something AANY'ers. Or so they'd like me to think.
I knew that I wasn't going to expect anything ground-breaking when the Amazon reviews termed it as a "younger, hipper version of the Joy Luck Club." Glee.
Snarkiness aside, the two authors did manage to capture the insecurities of being an Asian-American female -- from the drive to succeed, the obligations to family, the tensions between cultures and generations. I did actually see a lot of the experiences of me and my peers in their stories.
What I wasn't crazy about was the "Sex and the Cit(y)"-fication of their lifestyles. The three women would always go out to pricey bars and lounges every night, go shopping in expensive boutiques, eat in posh restaurants. Okay, yes, that's what some NY'ers do, but it's entirely deceiving and unrealistic -- those details, which could have been left at the wayside, made the story seem "phony" to me, so instead of seeing the novel as an accurate reflection of the life & times of other Asian-American women of my generation, I just flipped through it like I would any other chicklit.
A 23-year old Columbia grad heads off to Beijing to try her luck in life. By some odd twist of fate, she ends up being one of the lead actresses of a primetime Chinese soap opera. This book details her life as a "foreign babe" -- which isn't always as glamorous as the cover would like us to think.
Rachel DeWoskin's interest and knowledge of Chinese culture prior to arrive in Beijing really helped her define her experience, which would not have been the case if she were just a regular girl from the American midwest who thinks that going to China is going to be a mythical & magical ride. But, even with all these, there were aspects of Beijing life that weren't all sunshine and rainbows. As an Asian-American myself, I could imagine how much easier her China experience would have been compared to mine -- being a white American female kinda helps sometimes. Her salary is higher than her other colleagues merely because she's white, she gets additional attention because she's white, heck, even the role was offered to her (a person with no acting experience) because's white. Sure, this is unfair, but the author realizes this as well. This is the point of the book, in essence: even in the modernity that is racing across China (most especially Beijing), the Chinese people are still struggling in redefining the roles of women, foreigners and Chinese alike.
DeWoskin starts off well, but in the end, I think she was starting to get preachy. I would have liked to read more about her own personal experiences in China, but instead, we got vignettes about Anna, Kate, the boyfriend, and the painter. I didn't mind the female anecdotes, but the chapters on the males were a bit heavy-handed. Otherwise, still an okay read. I personally get a kick in reading non-Asian accounts of life & culture in Asia.
Rachel DeWoskin's interest and knowledge of Chinese culture prior to arrive in Beijing really helped her define her experience, which would not have been the case if she were just a regular girl from the American midwest who thinks that going to China is going to be a mythical & magical ride. But, even with all these, there were aspects of Beijing life that weren't all sunshine and rainbows. As an Asian-American myself, I could imagine how much easier her China experience would have been compared to mine -- being a white American female kinda helps sometimes. Her salary is higher than her other colleagues merely because she's white, she gets additional attention because she's white, heck, even the role was offered to her (a person with no acting experience) because's white. Sure, this is unfair, but the author realizes this as well. This is the point of the book, in essence: even in the modernity that is racing across China (most especially Beijing), the Chinese people are still struggling in redefining the roles of women, foreigners and Chinese alike.
DeWoskin starts off well, but in the end, I think she was starting to get preachy. I would have liked to read more about her own personal experiences in China, but instead, we got vignettes about Anna, Kate, the boyfriend, and the painter. I didn't mind the female anecdotes, but the chapters on the males were a bit heavy-handed. Otherwise, still an okay read. I personally get a kick in reading non-Asian accounts of life & culture in Asia.
