3 posts tagged “chinese”
I don't know why it took me a while to get started on reading Inheritance. It was a fitful beginning (stopping only after reading a couple of pages each day/night when I started the book...dunno why) but having the day off today for Presidents Day, I just started reading and didn't stop until I was finished. The story was somewhat painful to get through...dealt with family dynamics of a Chinese family during the revolutions in 1911 and 1949 and WWII to the 90s...family secrets, a controlling matriarch, bonds betweens sisters and mother and daughters...again...something I can relate to...heh.
Next to read is Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire. I've read all of his other books on the fairy tales, except for Lost which is on my reading list. It's interesting how he weaves the original fairy tale story with his own take on it.
I finished Hunger already. That was a quick read, but like I said, it was a novella with a few short stories. Some of the stories made me tear up a bit...I guess I really related to the stories.
Next is another book by Lan Samantha Chang, Inheritance. This is a full length novel. I'll probably get through this one pretty quickly too.
I really like the photo on the cover of the book. Reminds me of some of my old family photos. Just something about the fashion back then and the hairstyles and make-up. So beautiful.
I finally finished The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It was a long read...well...maybe it just felt long because during most of the story, you are reading letters written by some of the characters in the book. It seems to take a long time to reach certain conclusions, like (possible spoiler ahead!) when I kind of already knew what a special relic was before it seemed these intelligent college professors even knew. But, I think the story had to have all the details and the long circuitous route to make it work in the end. I thought the way vampires and the vampire mythology was handled was very well done...and believable.
Well, on to the next book! I'm currently reading Hunger by Lan Samantha Chang. I guess you can consider this Asian-American literature. It's a novella and a few short stories. I tend to mostly read Asian-American literature that deals with the Chinese experience, since it's something I can really relate to. And I tend to read those written by Asian female writers. I just don't find that many books written by Asian male writers dealing with the Chinese experience, that's all. I have read a few by Asian male writers (I can't remember the authors right now) and I even have a few books in my personal library by Asian male writers. The majority of Asian-American books in my library though are by female writers...and yeah, I have every book by Amy Tan...heh.
