Radical: A Life of My Own

by Xiaolu Guo

Xiaolu Guo has been lauded as a “voice . . . speaking with full freedom” ( Wall Street Journal ), which has made her one of the most acclaimed Chinese-born writers of her generation. She is the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of  Nine Continents  and a  Granta  Best Young British Novelist. Her new memoir,  Radical , is an exploration of a city, an electrically honest rendering of what it means to be an outsider, and the sojourn that upended her sense of self as a woman, partner, mother, and artist. The world can seem strange and lonely when you step away from your family and everything you have built for yourself. Yet beauty may also appear. In the autumn of 2019, Guo traveled to New York to take up her position as a visiting professor for a year, leaving her child and partner behind in London. What she experienced, however, amidst excursions throughout the city and time spent on her own, was solitude and a destabilizing of self. Her encounter with American culture and people threatened her sense of identity and threw her into a crisis—of meaning, desire, obligation, and selfhood. Radicals, or bushous, are the building blocks of Chinese characters; they are the “root” from which all words get their meaning. In this feminist lexicon, as she threads together her search for creative and personal freedom, Guo illuminates the integral role language plays in forming our sense of self. Radical  is an individual and etymological journey, and an ardent love letter. It is an expression of one artist’s fascination with Western culture and her nostalgia for Eastern landscapes, and an attempt to describe the space in between.

Genres: Memoir, China, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography, Asia, British Literature

352 pages, Hardcover

Published September 12, 2023

About the author

Xiaolu Guo (Simplified Chinese: 郭小櫓 pinyin:guō xiǎo lǔ, born 1973) is a Chinese novelist and filmmaker. She utilizes various media, including film and writing, to tell stories of alienation, introspection and tragedy, and to explore China's past, present and future in an increasingly connected world.

Her novel A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers was nominated for the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction. She was also the 2005 Pearl Award (UK) winner for Creative Excellence.

Reviews

[Hao T · Rating 1 out of 5]

Scattered reflections on a part of Xiaolu Guo's life combined with some semi-related thoughts on Chinese and Western linguistics. Overly distant tone and lack of deeper exploration on any of the events unfortunately makes it really uninteresting

[Harvee Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author left her small and poor village in China, moved to Beijing and Europe (France and London), and traveled for a year to New York City. Her travels and experiences are fuel for her writing, perhaps a symptom of her ongoing desire for freedom of expression, personal freedom, and even domestic freedom

I found it fascinating that she chose etymology as her grounding force -the study of words, their meaning and origin, both Chinese and English words. I also enjoyed her linking the origins of words to their current usage and exploring their cultural significance.

It was interesting that her stated desire for freedom leads her over the years to several romantic partners, the latest one in New York. However, after New York, she returns to London. her child, and the child's father, seemingly still missing the freedom she had there from a domestic life.

An unusual author who is frank about herself and her life, while also being a successful writer and film maker.

[Victoria Tang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Editorially, I found some of the later sections incohesive or rather unbalanced since the first 3/4s focused heavily on the writer's time in New York while the last quarter were more scattered, sometimes about the aftermath of leaving NY, sometimes about life in China, or just passing thoughts. I would have preferred the book to be more scattered and therefore ironically more cohesive or stayed more focused on New York and the impact it had on Guo's life. That being said, reading this book was an absolute delight. I love everything Xiaolu Guo puts out.

[Mai H.]

Memoir March TBR

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Press

[Stephanie Froebel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am indifferent, highly opinionated, and highly invested in this book. Haha! Don't we love contradictions?


I think Xiaolu Guo is onto something with her narrative style, but I'm not sure it translated perfectly to an outside audience yet. Somehow she makes memoir excessively personal and excessively impersonal at the same time. She will look at this book and know exactly how the word she chose to describe reflects a period of her life, but I think her elusiveness is a bit unnecessary.

Sometimes it feels like details are intentionally left out while other times I think the absence of information is proof of mediocre self-reflection, overbearing self-preservation, and pushing away feelings that could be felt and conveyed.

But--- this argument exists under the expectation that as a reader of a memoir, I should be able to exploit her personal sphere and know her as intimately as her own consciousness. A memoir is about sharing one's conscience, is it not?

Is distance in memoir a wall that we should accept or should the memoir persist to be invasive, a waterfall of emotions where our eyes are the buckets to capture all of the author's inner expressions?

Xiaolu Guo certainly makes me think about the genre in a new way, considering who we owe by writing and publishing to a public audience. Does she owe me, as the reader, anything? Everything?

I did not receive any catharsis from her book (but again, why should that be expected?). Her story introduces tension and resolves none of them. I just want to know: why E?

[Zahin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very innovative and meticulously crafted memoir. Loved the exploration of how language both expands and narrows our worldview. Loved the themes of form, roots, belonging, separation.

Very academic - it felt like reading an encyclopaedia interspersed with memoir at times which bored me a bit. I wanted to hear more about her horny affair.

[Sam Bakhshalian]

read 4 G.D. class.
can't rate nonfiction but was decent with some good trains of thoughts. however, at times I felt I was the one laying the tracks.

distant and forced at points now looking back on it

[Freddie Tuson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of enchanting, but I don't think it will stay with me like some of her other stuff

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

2.5

I always struggle rating memoirs because it can sometimes feel like you’re rating the author’s life; however, while reading this I often found myself questioning the point of the book.

Xiaolu Guo uses her study of language to relate her life experiences to etymology. The book is broken up into four sections: Encounters, Separations, Enduring, and Impermanence, and within each section there are sections of Chinese radicals that then contain vignettes of words or phrases. I found several of the passages to be written very beautifully but as a whole the book felt too fragmented and disconnected.

She writes about her life in New York, away from her child and child’s father who live in London, and about her relationship with E in NYC. She writes about leaving New York at the start of the pandemic and how the COVID lock down impacted her life. There are also a variety of musings about literature and history and people and places. Personally, I liked the literary and historical sections but struggled through some of her more personal anecdotes.

As a project, I thought it was an interesting framework for a memoir if not the most successful execution.

[Kathy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mostly autobiographical narrative has so many levels, it is difficult to rate and review.
1. Narrative level: Frustratingly unclear as far as her relationships go — two main partners, “E” and “J”, and she remains ambiguous about both of them, committing to neither. She has a child, a daughter, with “J.” “E” lives in NYC, and he takes her under his wing. They have a physical relationship which persists, even after she forms a partnership with “J,”who is in London. E is ambivalent about his sexuality. She seems very detached emotionally from her daughter.
2. The narrative is structured around etymological elements, the roots (radicals), of words in English, German, and Chinese. The words are grouped into four sections (lexicons): Encounters, Separations, Enduring, and Impermanence. The nuances of the words and meanings are the subject of musings about being a woman, a foreigner (alien), and an individual.
3. Very literary explorations of history and philosophy with regard to her own story. This aspect appears to be the most “meaty,” but I confess I opted not to take the bait, though tempted. Goethe, Tolstoy, Virginia Wolfe. Lao Tzu, and many other notories— seemingly endless pantheons of French, German, and to a lesser degree, British and Chinese authors are referenced. (I was pleased to note even the Japanese “Tale of Genjii” was referenced.)

Xiaolu Guo is alive and well, living in England, so this autobiography has no ending. We are left hanging as she makes a futile attempt to pick up the pieces of the life she left in NYC only to return to England empty handed, and, well, just empty.

I felt challenged by the author to pursue with her the literary, philosophical, and existential threads of her life in search of meaning, but I leave that exercise to an academic who is on an equal level with Xiaolu Gao.

NB: The print and Ebook versions of the book are complete with endnotes relating to the etymological, orthographic, and referential aspects of the book, which would be necessary for any exposition of the author’s ideas. These are not present in the audio version.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best word to describe "Radical" by Xiaolu Guo is "reflection."

💬 It is a reflection on language,  with a particular focus of Mandarin Chinese and English. The author delves into the origin of words and idioms, and their evolution, and how certain aspects of language can influence culture and perspectives.

🤝🏻 It is a reflection on relationships and how language and culture affect ways of interacting, expectations, and human connections.

🕰 It is a reflection on history and how it shaped language and culture.

📚 It is a reflection on literature, the language of writing, the universality of stories, and the power of words.

✈️ It is a reflection on travel and immigrating to a new place, to start new beginnings.

🎒Lastly, it is a reflection on being a nomad and not really belonging to any one place in the world.

For the best experience, I would recommend listening to the audiobook narrated by Rebecca Lam, as well as having a physical/ebook reference copy. There is quite a bit of Mandarin in the text, which I wouldn't have been able to read were it not for the audiobook narration. There are also several photographs and analysis of Chinese alphabet characters that I would have missed had I not looked into the book. So definitely, for the best experience, I would recommend immersing yourself in both.

As for the overall enjoyment, some parts spoke to me more than others, particularly those more personal to the author. My focus started wandering when the book delved more into history or world literature. Still, it was easy to circle back and find my interest piqued again.

I've previously read and loved Guo's "A Lover's Discourse." She's definitely an author that I will be reading more from.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the e-arc. All opinions are my own. "Radical" by Xiaolu Guo has been available since September 2023.

[Irina Herteliu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seemingly based on free association of words and their etymology. These words are what the author describes as an attempt to create a personal lexicon. short chapters. loads of interesting facts - maybe a bit crammed. describing little things that point to big themes. interlacing that with descriptions of her own very intimate emotions. Themes such as roots, culture and cultural differences, plants, philosophies, gardening and love and lust, longing, memories, cities, China, UK, US, covid.
There is no story. Or the story is static, you seem to live in it for as long as she does. It has the same pace as normal life. it doesn't feel rushed or slow. It feels real. And there's a sense of real intimacy that emerges.
Her writing is the type you'd expect from a classical writer. Yet it's so new, (after covid - which for me defines recent). The fact that she also lives in London creates a sense of keenship and relevance for me personally.
She's obviously highly intelligent and educated, however she displays these qualities without alienating the reader (or maybe I should just say - without alienating me). I love that this is one of two random books I've picked up in one of my very rare visits to a book shop, last year: it wasn’t recommended to me and I had no prior expectations. Turned out to be a good book and a lucky choice!

[Răzvan · Rating 5 out of 5]

���Îngerii nu există în China. Zânele n-au nevoie de aripi.” (p.13) Xiaolu Guo, „Radical- A Life On My Own”, Vintage, 2023
M-a frământat mult timp în ce fel pot să te conving că o carte te privește. Și răspunsul mi-l oferă și faptul că Ziua internațională a studenților are date atât de diferite. De la 15 octombrie în India până în ziua de 17 a lunii următoare, în restul lumii, fiecare marcând evenimente diferite. De la nașterea unui pedagog influent, până la confruntarea studenților cu opresiunea în Praga anului 1938. Mai clar îți arată cum vine vorba de ceea ce te privește „Radical- A Life On My Own”. Xiaolu Guo este purtată de sudiile universitare din China în Marea Britanie. Și fiecare termen din care își vede alcătuită existența devine o negociere continuă între ceea ce a trăit și ceea ce i se explică.
„Tăiesc în acest trecut care tot înaintează, deja prezent”. (p.288) Xiaolu Guo, „Radical- A Life On My Own”, Vintage, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNfzg...

[S P · Rating 3 out of 5]

from Head
To have a life of my own, is to have a language of my own. To make this language mine, I have to recover the languages I have lost, weave them into the present. An impossible task, perhaps. Still, here I am, in pursuit of an etymology of myself. (ix)

from Hellblau
'My words are never just words. They are my very physical existence. They are the lexicon of my realities.' (180)

from Language is a Virus
For me, language is everything. It is my means of escape from the story that was already written before my arrival in this world [...] I tried to live the life he showed me was possible. A life based in creation and imagination. To live vividly is to have languages. Not only language in the limited, linguistic sense, but language as an artistic tool, language as art, language as a way to live an authentic life. (327)

[Georgia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have so much to say about this book. I was outraged at it.

But I won't say much as all I have to say is negative, and this is a memoir.

I loved 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth! What on earth happened?

I have written a huge wall of text about how I felt about this book, but this is the only thing I'll say in public:

Writing memoirs is not easy. It is in itself a narcissistic endeavour. You have to truly believe that your thoughts and experiences are important and unique and meaningful and should be read by other people. The ones who succeed are the ones who are right, the ones who genuinely do have something worth saying. If you are wrong, however, your immense vanity is laid bare across the page. I feel Xiaolu Guo was very, very wrong.

[Rebecc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not expect to both enjoy Xiaoluo Guo's new book & end up feeling concerned for her! I adored her exploration of Chinese & English words & language while she also explored her own varied past starting in rural China, then the UK, then New York & others, she is a wanderer who loves fresh starts & new places, but there is an underlying bittersweetness to the writing that is also interesting as she grapples with being an outsider to the foreign cultures (that she knows so well). Radical is a book to read slowly & dip back into to enjoy her musings on all sorts of words & her writing in this form is just as magical as those of her straight fiction books.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this ARC from Goodreads in exchange for my honest review. The book was published September 12th, so is now available. This is the author's story of a period in her life when she lived in NYC and London. She had been living in NYC when the Covid pandemic happened, and she had to return to London to her child and the child's father. The author basis each small section on a different word - using both the English and Chinese version of the word. While it can be disjointed at times, you do get a good sense of her journey through this time period.

[Book Enchanted · Rating 4 out of 5]

After moving to Beijing, Europe (France and London), and New York City for a year, the author left her small, impoverished village in China. She draws inspiration for her writing from her trips and experiences. She chose etymology as her guiding principle, which is the study of words, their origins, and their meanings, including both Chinese and English terms. I found this choice to be fascinating. Her analysis of word origins, present usage, and cultural importance were all things I found fascinating.

[Eileen Maes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading this book after I finished ‘Babel’ by R.F. Kuang and I so desperately wished I had done it the other way around. Guo explores Chinese etymology in such a tender and mystical way, always linking the words back to her own experiences and emotions, lending them more meaning and beauty.

While ‘Radical’ felt a bit unbalanced and tedious at times, especially near the end (ironically Guo writes about how annoying it is when stories drag on), I still enjoyed it. The structure is unconventional but consistent, Guo’s musings are melancholic and poignant (though a few times pretentious, even anti-climatic), and I felt intensely and wonderfully connected to my Chinese heritage the entire time.

[Jialu Du · Rating 3 out of 5]

A New York that feels entirely familiar, purchased at one of the author’s lectures at Columbia. It’s a relatively easy read, with short pieces throughout. Writing lived experience through the idea of constructing a personal dictionary/lexicon isn’t a new concept, but it is still engaging. However, perhaps because the entries are so brief, many read like surface-level, glossary-style explanations. Quite a few pieces feel scattered, lacking depth or a distinctive voice, which ultimately leaves the book feeling somewhat top-heavy.
#diasporicwriting

[Raphaël · Rating 2 out of 5]

Something in between a dictionary, novel and journal. A dive into a persons personal lexicon. Radical is an interesting read for sure, it tries and succeeds in doing something new and original. It would have really stoud out if it encorporated more plotpoints in the story, I feel.

Nevertheless an interesting read for anyone who feels they have been uprooted from their home and replanted in another part of the world.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

What did I think of this book???
Daft question
This isn’t about a book it’s a life lived. As long as this woman continues to publish I will continue to feel there is beauty in this world. Xiaolu Guo always and forever all the stars

[Uttara · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow.

this is one of the more fascinating books i have read. the author explores the etymology of words and phrases - both eastern and western, while carefully weaving her own experiences, past present and future.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

*2.5
The description of Radical really piqued my interest but overall I found the book a bit to disjointed for me.

[Jago · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A personal lexicon. Probably mostly of interested for die-hard Xiaolu Guo fans.

[mich 🩶]

i don't know half of the chinese characters in this book...maybe it's a good thing i stayed in BSL

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave me Sofia Coppola vibes if Sofia was an author verses a director or Spike Jonze

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Idk if everyone reflects correctly

[Lucy Fu]

Sounds so like me???!

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took so long to read this that the memory of it dissolves like sugar in water