Karen Chiang
I found myself wanting to get to the end, to know how Josie's story goes and whether she has a happy ending. So I suppose the book was successful in making readers invested in the characters. But there are a lot of unexplained context which I found disorienting. Such as the Sun, being lifted, slow fade, seeing the world through boxes. Resistance and guns? Perhaps the details are meant to be blurry as a literal illustration device. Nonetheless it was an enjoyable read that leaves a feeling lingering in your heart.
I saw some reviews that were not a fan of the writing style, but I believe it's just some things that are bound to be lost in translation — in this case the slightly awkward storytelling style of the Japanese.
I enjoyed this novel despite the writing, as the soul lies within the stories, not the context or the characters.
Reminds me of midnight diner. If you enjoy that you will enjoy this too.
“How can you get very far,
If you don't know Who You Are?
How can you do what you ought, If you don't know What You've Got?
And if you don't know Which To Do Of all the things in front of you,
Then what you'll have when you are through Is just a mess without a clue
Of all the best that can come true
If you know What and Which and Who.”
A charming book that made me smile and chuckle. Easily one of my favourite books - for both getting to know Pooh and the Way.
A book I inhaled and enjoyed - even if it meant speed reading through the last few chapters and not being involved with any of the details. It taught me new perspectives on race and class, grey areas, and also made me a little sad because the characters did not have much growth or realization.
Edit: as I often rely on other reviews to help digest my own (which leads me to agree with others a lot lol), I'm updating my review with a bit more color. I too, did not enjoy the choppy narrative switch. The whole book felt like a bumpy but thrilling ride. Also, none of the characters were very likable to me, apart from Briar and Kelley - whom I felt deserved a little more love and vindication respectively.
While it's a great book about mindfulness practices with great takeaway tips, it doesn't really answer questions like - how should lay people think about money and career? Although the last section begin to touch on Right Livelihood and how one could begin to go about it - ensuring there is happiness at work as well as profit, or working an immoral job mindfully (how???) - it does not directly provide concrete suggestions.
Just like the rich guy who makes warheads, it sounds like he should leave his job, but also how about rent and providing for his family?
Will have to continue to seek answers within or elsewhere.
Being my third Rooney book, I'm no stranger to this style of prose. But it's clear why Rooney's debut was so successful - the book was comparably more fascinating. Although with equally damaged characters and macabre internal dialogues, this book's relationships were more complex and hence did a better job of stringing readers along the classic will-they-won't-they. Perhaps it's simply because it involved a four-way relationship rather than the usual two or three that made it such a dizzying success.
It's a quick, fun little adventure but it reads like a movie script (one's watered down from an actual book), and for what it's worth I think all the scenes lend themselves very well to Hollywood magic. The take-home message is little preachy but I didn't mind it so much because the story moved quickly enough.
Overall, enjoyable but not for those seeking something deep.
As the plane descends in the dark into Hong Kong, I greedily finished the final few pages of Michelle Zauner's Crying in H Mart. (It may also interest you to know that the seat belt sign switched off during the second post-credit scene of Eternals on my out-bound flight... serendipity?) “Heartbreaking” “Fascinating” were adjectives printed on the cover but I found myself not entirely clearing the bars despite trying hard to.
Of course, the visceral moments of grief were indeed gut-wrenching. But when blended with the difficulties of navigating a third-cultured identity, almost seemed too stereotypical — perhaps even spoiled.
On one hand it was a beautiful, raw encounter that would resonate with a lot of halpus or overseas-educated Asians. On the other hand, perhaps it was heartbreaking for some other reason — to witness the facets of filial piety and generational trauma manifesting as “too little too late” in Asian kids.
My favourite thing about the read: it totally made me fall in love with Korean food again, the same way watching David Chang cook with his umma did.
PS one thing that really bugged me was that Myeongdong Kyoja was described two times — but only one mentioned the name. Why?
Edit: read other 1-star reviews to sooth my chicken-self and would also agree that it was kinda boring and her husband seemed like a bit of a convenient tool for her (unless a lot of other things have gone unmentioned). Yes memoirs are not really for other's judgement but I can't really see why it's so highly rated.
I would say this is one of those books that are like vegetables - not very palatable at times, but can be really good for you. Whether you're amping up to lean in or stuck in some kind of slump, Marie will drag you out of that muddy swamp and infuse with you starry-eyed hope and motivation. If you are allergic to mainstream positivity and pinterest quotes, I would advise you to proceed with caution. But if you are able to put your cynicism aside for an afternoon, I think you'll really appreciate the stories (so many of them) and the hope her worldview brings.
A peek into the glimpse future
It breaks the mirage about love and marriage, but also puts together another more realistic and debatably beautiful vision that anyone could learn a lesson from.