quirky and charming, 08 Jan 2001
This book comes with an ambitious premise: Chinese-American girl converts to Judaism. Not your everyday coming of age novel, to be sure. And yet from that slightly bizarre concept, Gish Jen has woven a sparkly and charming story that examines issues of race, religion and growing up with a sure touch. Mona is an incredibly likeable character: an intelligent and curious young woman who tackles her heritage and her newly-acquired faith with a disarming honesty. Offbeat, sincere and very readable.
A Cliché-Destroying Look at Identity, 16 Dec 2004
Modern books about families seem to be destined to vilify and undercut family life. They usually follow a predictable path towards dissolution. As a result, I'm usually reluctant to read such books. The stories and characters beg the question, and usually don't add much.
I found The Love Wife to be an effective, original story that defies the clichés of the family life genre.
The book combines one pinch of Amy Tan with one pinch of Charles Dickens in combining two cultures, many cultural perspectives and making many fundamental comments about what and who we are. Having been delighted with the unique perspective, I was even more thrilled when the plot continued to develop in ways that I would never have predicted . . . avoiding the many timeworn techniques that I have grown to loathe.
In reading reviews of the book, I notice that the descriptions are a little off center . . . almost as though the readers didn't notice the subtleties of the plot.
The book develops in an elliptical fashion. You need to be prepared to go forward, backward and sideways in time to appreciate the story's development.
The beginning will cause you to have one set of assumptions about the characters and the flashbacks will give you a totally different view. I found that way of telling the story to be a delightful unsettling of my assumptions.
As the story opens, Carnegie Wong and his blond wife, Jane ("Blondie" to the Wongs), are fully engaged in raising a family including two adopted Asian daughters, the frisky teenaged Lizzy who prefers black and the obedient younger Wendy who's still in pink, and a biological young son of their own, Bailey who looks like Blondie. Both parents have the usual career and family anxieties, complicated by Carnegie's Mom's disapproval.
Mama Wong was an immigrant to the United States who has lived the American dream of rising to wealth and respectability. She has a hard time accepting those who don't share her ethic . . . which includes Carnegie and his family. Blondie's family is an even greater horror to her, not being Chinese and being further away from the work ethic.
When Mama Wong dies, she leaves behind the family genealogy for Wendy, which Carnegie would dearly love to see in order to understand his roots. But there's a catch, Carnegie's family must accept into their household a distant relative, the forty-six-year-old woman Lan, from China for two years. That seems like little enough to do. The entry of Lan into the household sets the family off into a different course than they had planned, but one that Mama Wong would surely have approved of.
In the course of the story, you will learn that a love wife is a mistress. The book's central mystery is "who is the love wife?" and you will find it to be a fascinating one.
The book has a deep heart and a strong sense of multicultural perspective. Lan's views of Communism in China struck me as being as realistic as Blondie's views about socially responsible investing in the United States. When the cultures clash, the author shows genuine sympathy for all concerned. That quality gives the story a nice balance that I enjoyed very much.
If I liked the story so much, why didn't I give it five stars? I almost did, but I then remembered the number of places where I had a little too much trouble following the plot. It's worth the effort, but the effort shouldn't have been required. A little stronger editing would have made this book a modern classic. As it is, the book is an exceptional novel that I would recommend to anyone.
"In the beginning, believe me, was Mama Wong.", 04 Nov 2004
When Carnegie Wong's mother, the outrageous Mama Wong, discovers that Carnegie is going to marry Janie Bailey ("Blondie"), descended from Scottish/German immigrants, she tries, vainly, to bribe Carnegie to change his mind. Fourteen years later, the happily married Blondie and Carnegie now have two adopted Chinese daughters and a biological "half half" son, and Mama Wong has died. Their home life is suddenly turned upside down, however, when Lanlan, a 46-year-old "cousin" from mainland China, previously unknown, arrives at their home through the machinations of Mama Wong--from beyond the grave. Working as their part-time nanny, Lan quickly wins over the children, who respond to the fact that, like a "real" mother (and unlike Blondie), she looks like them.
The life of this racially mixed family is examined in minute detail, and the reader sees Lan slowly undermining their relationship with Blondie. Lan tells stories about life in China, fixes Chinese snacks, and introduces Chinese cooking, and the children try to understand and appreciate their cultural and racial identity. In bright, breezy language, each of the main characters develops the narrative from his/her own point of view and reminisces about the past, revealing his/her own quirky personality, offbeat relationships, and search for personal and cultural identity.
Despite the specific details, minute descriptions, and personal commentary, the characters are not fully rounded, and their motivations are unclear. Carnegie, for example, has protected his marriage against his mother's meddling for years, and his attraction to Lan is both baffling and inconsistent with what we know of his marriage. Blondie is a high-powered executive, an assured and self-confident businesswoman, yet she allows herself to be victimized by Lan, offering virtually no resistance, and we never really know why Lan resents Blondie so much. Neither Lizzy (age fifteen) nor Wendy (age nine) is seriously rebellious, yet they inform Blondie they would prefer a "real" mother "like Lanlan."
In the last third of the book, the author introduces several new characters and shifts the focus from the limited story of Lanlan's effect on the Wong family to several subplots involving other "cultural" issues--episodes involving physical abuse and violence, the failure of a small business, and prejudice against immigrants in rural Maine. These episodes are highly dramatic, even sensational, but they feel tacked on to provide a climax of greater significance than the domestic issues which have been the focus to this point. With its multiple points of view, eccentric characters, and humor, however, the novel is lively and entertaining, and Gish Jen's emphasis on cultural identity will strike a sympathetic chord with a large portion of the American population. (3.5 stars) Mary Whipple
A Cliché-Destroying Look at Identity, 16 Dec 2004
Modern books about families seem to be destined to vilify and undercut family life. They usually follow a predictable path towards dissolution. As a result, I'm usually reluctant to read such books. The stories and characters beg the question, and usually don't add much.
I found The Love Wife to be an effective, original story that defies the clichés of the family life genre.
The book combines one pinch of Amy Tan with one pinch of Charles Dickens in combining two cultures, many cultural perspectives and making many fundamental comments about what and who we are. Having been delighted with the unique perspective, I was even more thrilled when the plot continued to develop in ways that I would never have predicted . . . avoiding the many timeworn techniques that I have grown to loathe.
In reading reviews of the book, I notice that the descriptions are a little off center . . . almost as though the readers didn't notice the subtleties of the plot.
The book develops in an elliptical fashion. You need to be prepared to go forward, backward and sideways in time to appreciate the story's development.
The beginning will cause you to have one set of assumptions about the characters and the flashbacks will give you a totally different view. I found that way of telling the story to be a delightful unsettling of my assumptions.
As the story opens, Carnegie Wong and his blond wife, Jane ("Blondie" to the Wongs), are fully engaged in raising a family including two adopted Asian daughters, the frisky teenaged Lizzy who prefers black and the obedient younger Wendy who's still in pink, and a biological young son of their own, Bailey who looks like Blondie. Both parents have the usual career and family anxieties, complicated by Carnegie's Mom's disapproval.
Mama Wong was an immigrant to the United States who has lived the American dream of rising to wealth and respectability. She has a hard time accepting those who don't share her ethic . . . which includes Carnegie and his family. Blondie's family is an even greater horror to her, not being Chinese and being further away from the work ethic.
When Mama Wong dies, she leaves behind the family genealogy for Wendy, which Carnegie would dearly love to see in order to understand his roots. But there's a catch, Carnegie's family must accept into their household a distant relative, the forty-six-year-old woman Lan, from China for two years. That seems like little enough to do. The entry of Lan into the household sets the family off into a different course than they had planned, but one that Mama Wong would surely have approved of.
In the course of the story, you will learn that a love wife is a mistress. The book's central mystery is "who is the love wife?" and you will find it to be a fascinating one.
The book has a deep heart and a strong sense of multicultural perspective. Lan's views of Communism in China struck me as being as realistic as Blondie's views about socially responsible investing in the United States. When the cultures clash, the author shows genuine sympathy for all concerned. That quality gives the story a nice balance that I enjoyed very much.
If I liked the story so much, why didn't I give it five stars? I almost did, but I then remembered the number of places where I had a little too much trouble following the plot. It's worth the effort, but the effort shouldn't have been required. A little stronger editing would have made this book a modern classic. As it is, the book is an exceptional novel that I would recommend to anyone.
"In the beginning, believe me, was Mama Wong.", 04 Nov 2004
When Carnegie Wong's mother, the outrageous Mama Wong, discovers that Carnegie is going to marry Janie Bailey ("Blondie"), descended from Scottish/German immigrants, she tries, vainly, to bribe Carnegie to change his mind. Fourteen years later, the happily married Blondie and Carnegie now have two adopted Chinese daughters and a biological "half half" son, and Mama Wong has died. Their home life is suddenly turned upside down, however, when Lanlan, a 46-year-old "cousin" from mainland China, previously unknown, arrives at their home through the machinations of Mama Wong--from beyond the grave. Working as their part-time nanny, Lan quickly wins over the children, who respond to the fact that, like a "real" mother (and unlike Blondie), she looks like them.
The life of this racially mixed family is examined in minute detail, and the reader sees Lan slowly undermining their relationship with Blondie. Lan tells stories about life in China, fixes Chinese snacks, and introduces Chinese cooking, and the children try to understand and appreciate their cultural and racial identity. In bright, breezy language, each of the main characters develops the narrative from his/her own point of view and reminisces about the past, revealing his/her own quirky personality, offbeat relationships, and search for personal and cultural identity.
Despite the specific details, minute descriptions, and personal commentary, the characters are not fully rounded, and their motivations are unclear. Carnegie, for example, has protected his marriage against his mother's meddling for years, and his attraction to Lan is both baffling and inconsistent with what we know of his marriage. Blondie is a high-powered executive, an assured and self-confident businesswoman, yet she allows herself to be victimized by Lan, offering virtually no resistance, and we never really know why Lan resents Blondie so much. Neither Lizzy (age fifteen) nor Wendy (age nine) is seriously rebellious, yet they inform Blondie they would prefer a "real" mother "like Lanlan."
In the last third of the book, the author introduces several new characters and shifts the focus from the limited story of Lanlan's effect on the Wong family to several subplots involving other "cultural" issues--episodes involving physical abuse and violence, the failure of a small business, and prejudice against immigrants in rural Maine. These episodes are highly dramatic, even sensational, but they feel tacked on to provide a climax of greater significance than the domestic issues which have been the focus to this point. With its multiple points of view, eccentric characters, and humor, however, the novel is lively and entertaining, and Gish Jen's emphasis on cultural identity will strike a sympathetic chord with a large portion of the American population. (3.5 stars) Mary Whipple
