Well, I guess I owe Ms. Ng congratulations for writing a book that has seemed to appeal to so many people. Because despite the positive reviews and internet hype, I wanted to poke out my eyes with spoons after reading “Amazon’s Best Book of the Year for 2014.” You can go ahead and clutch your literary equivalent of pearls in your hands. I remain steadfast in my assessment. This book made me want to scream when I finished it. THESE ARE THE MOST ANNOYING PEOPLE I’VE EVER ENCOUNTERED AND I DON’T CARE ABOUT THEIR LIVES!
EXHIBIT 1: The narrator. Her voice is melodic and lyrical in the most boring way possible. She’s wistful, thoughtful, insightful, on the verge of tears with every word. Her female characters sound weak and fragile. Her male characters, clueless, with a chip on their shoulder. And the one that takes the cake? Her voice for James, our not-cool cool father, who sounds like an SNL caricature. BUT SHES NOT BEING FUNNY.
EXHIBIT 2: The aforementioned James. He has a wife who loves him, three kids he seems to love, a job as a professor…nothing overtly horrible here about his life. And he’s cheating on his wife. Yeah yeah, his daughter died (not a spoiler), I get that. But I call bullshit if that’s the driving force to his infidelity. This coming from a man who refused Chinese food in childhood and never spoke Chinese as an adult. But he finds the only other Chinese person in town who reminded him of his lost heritage with her cha siu bao, oh, and her loins. The irony isn’t lost on me. I’m sure a high school student could write an essay about the reasons for this, but IDGAF! His wife become estranged with her mother because she chose him over any white guy. She post-poned her education and dream of being a doctor to raise his children. Yes, there was…the incident…which is reason enough for him to disconnect emotionally and physically. But still, it grated on me.
EXHIBIT 3: Lydia. the one person we’d like a perspective from and it’s nearly non-existent, like her limp, soft boiled soul. And when we hear from her, it’s about how she has no friends or how she tries to make friends but they politely rebuff her. Her evil mother dotes on her and her horrible father shows a constant interest in her life. When she gets gifts, they’re NOT THE GIFTS SHE WANTS! Even when she gets the gift she wants, it’s NOT WITH THE RIGHT INTENTION! Except she doesn’t yell about anything, she just solemnly thinks these things. Because no one in this book outwardly emotes and their inward thoughts sound like pillows. I just want to smack her until she turns into someone I’m actually sad is dead.
EXHIBIT 4: Nath (Nathe? Nayth? who knows, it was an audiobook). Besides wondering wt actual f this guy’s name was every time I heard it, I wanted to scratch a chalkboard every time he’d misunderstand a situation or make some snarky comment to anyone. Urgh.
Listen, I’m sure this is a good book in a lot of ways, especially for a debut novel, and I’m happy for Ng’s success. Why would you listen to me? I didn’t forgive James for cheating on his wife when his daughter died and his wife did…the thing. I also think carrots go great with peanut butter and bananas with sour cream. So who am I to judge? But when I read something that enables me to see the back of the inside of my head due to extreme eye rolling, I know it’s just not for me.
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This sounds like such a drag. I love reading well written reviews of bad books though! Now I want to smack Lydia.
Awww, thanks. Glad you enjoyed the review, if not the book.
Loved the book, but I love angry reviews more. You win <3
Thank you!
It’s interesting to read another person’s review of a book you feel strongly about. With that said, I wonder whether you reading this story in audiobook form contributed to your interpretation/response to the book.
I am one of those who LOVED this book to the point that it’s the first book I recommend from the ones I’ve read in the past two years. I found Ng’s writing style in this novel to be masterful. The way she wove the narrative voices, the imagery, her sentence structure, all contributed to a story that truly captivated and shook me.
In all, I found the story to be a realistic portrayal of how our hopes, desires, expectations, insecurities shape and impact our interactions with others. I look at this story as a tragedy, one born out of identity and the ways it’s shaped by our own and others’ misconceptions. This story also highlights for me the ways in which the things we do not say can create as insidious a web as those things we do say.
I guess as of now, the only thing we can agree on is that Nath’s name was grating on the nerves. Thanks for sharing! ?
I agree with you completely. I DO think part of it was the audiobook format, which introduces an added element that the author may or may not want. And I agree about Ng portraying life realistically, which was something I liked about the book. She took seemingly mundane events and weaved them into the narrative to show how things build up over time.
Thanks for showing me now Nath’s name was spelled (I never bothered to look it up).
I also loved this book. I thought the writing was beautiful. The author was so clear about the characters’ motivations, and the relationships between the family members was heartbreaking. To each their own, though. With such strong feelings, I doubt your opinion would have changed much, but I do wonder if you would have liked it more in print. I’m so picky about audiobooks. If the narrator irritates me or speaks too slowly, I give up on listening to it entirely. I also have problems focusing on the details when listening.
Just like Orleanas said as well, I agree that the audiobook format might have been an issue. And yes, I don’t devote as much of my attention to the book when I’m listening. I tend to do more multitasking with the audiobooks.