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Bone
In this profoundly moving novel, Fae Myenne Ng takes readers into the hidden heart of San Francisco's Chinatown, to a world of family secrets, hidden shames, and the lost bones of a "paper father." It is a world in which two generations of the Leong family live in an uneasy tension as they try to fathom the source of the middle daughter Ona's sorrow.
Fae Myenne Ng's portraits of the everyday heroism of the Leongs—who inflict deep hurt on each other in their struggles to survive, yet sustain one another with loyalty and love—have made Bone one of the most critically acclaimed novels of recent years and immediately a classic of contemporary American life.
Fae Myenne Ng's portraits of the everyday heroism of the Leongs—who inflict deep hurt on each other in their struggles to survive, yet sustain one another with loyalty and love—have made Bone one of the most critically acclaimed novels of recent years and immediately a classic of contemporary American life.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
96 people are currently reading
2502 people want to read
About the author
Fae Myenne Ng
10 books71 followersFae Myenne Ng (born December 2, 1956 in San Francisco) is an American novelist, and short story writer.
She is a first-generation Chinese American author whose debut novel Bone told the story of three Chinese American daughters growing up in her real childhood hometown of San Francisco Chinatown. Her work has received support from the American Academy of Arts & Letters' Rome Prize, the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Writers’ Award, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lannan Foundation, and The Radcliffe Institute. She held residencies at Yaddo, McDowell, and the Djerassi Foundation.
She is the daughter of seamstress and a laborer, who immigrated from Guangzhou, China. She attended the University of California-Berkeley, and received her M.F.A. at Columbia University. Ng has supported herself by working as a waitress and at other temporary jobs.
Her short stories have appeared in the American Voice, Calys, City Lights Review, Crescent Review, Harper's. She currently teaches at UC Berkeley.
(from Wikipedia)
She is a first-generation Chinese American author whose debut novel Bone told the story of three Chinese American daughters growing up in her real childhood hometown of San Francisco Chinatown. Her work has received support from the American Academy of Arts & Letters' Rome Prize, the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Writers’ Award, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lannan Foundation, and The Radcliffe Institute. She held residencies at Yaddo, McDowell, and the Djerassi Foundation.
She is the daughter of seamstress and a laborer, who immigrated from Guangzhou, China. She attended the University of California-Berkeley, and received her M.F.A. at Columbia University. Ng has supported herself by working as a waitress and at other temporary jobs.
Her short stories have appeared in the American Voice, Calys, City Lights Review, Crescent Review, Harper's. She currently teaches at UC Berkeley.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 252 reviews
September 3, 2022
the girl writes a dream journal of her life, the life of her parents, the lives of her sisters, one dead and one alive; life in San Francisco's Chinatown, lives before a suicide and lives that must go on after that death.
it is a dream journal: its narrative winds its way backwards and forwards, like a dream does, memories shifting to show characters and places from different times, recollections that don't progress in a tidy order. dreams can be confusing if you try to apply logic to them, if you search for linear narrative rather than emotional truth or unspoken meaning.
it is a dream journal: and so despite the unstable quality of its un-narrative, the girl writes as a journalist would write. the emotions are there but reported on only lightly, carefully. the dry prose does not soar or sing, just as a sweat shop or a visit to a cemetery or a kitchen sink in a Chinatown apartment do not soar or sing. these are just facts of a life and so are reported on matter-of-factly.
perhaps this dream journal is the way that the girl deals with change and with trauma; perhaps that is the way for many of us. we construct stories of our lives that move in and out of memories and plans. we don't reconstruct our reality or our tragedies as things that soar or fall, all highs or lows, an opera, but instead view our lives as events that have happened, some of which we could control but many of which we could not. perhaps we can only control our reactions to such tragedies, to our lives, and sometimes we can only barely do that.
the girl chooses to react as a good journalist would report on a story: perhaps sympathetic but mainly striving for objectivity, and always aware that even a reported story can never fully encompass that story's complete reality nor its characters' complete lives.
it is a dream journal: its narrative winds its way backwards and forwards, like a dream does, memories shifting to show characters and places from different times, recollections that don't progress in a tidy order. dreams can be confusing if you try to apply logic to them, if you search for linear narrative rather than emotional truth or unspoken meaning.
it is a dream journal: and so despite the unstable quality of its un-narrative, the girl writes as a journalist would write. the emotions are there but reported on only lightly, carefully. the dry prose does not soar or sing, just as a sweat shop or a visit to a cemetery or a kitchen sink in a Chinatown apartment do not soar or sing. these are just facts of a life and so are reported on matter-of-factly.
perhaps this dream journal is the way that the girl deals with change and with trauma; perhaps that is the way for many of us. we construct stories of our lives that move in and out of memories and plans. we don't reconstruct our reality or our tragedies as things that soar or fall, all highs or lows, an opera, but instead view our lives as events that have happened, some of which we could control but many of which we could not. perhaps we can only control our reactions to such tragedies, to our lives, and sometimes we can only barely do that.
the girl chooses to react as a good journalist would report on a story: perhaps sympathetic but mainly striving for objectivity, and always aware that even a reported story can never fully encompass that story's complete reality nor its characters' complete lives.
February 12, 2016
Maybe I should change the 3 stars I gave Bone to 4 stars, because I’m still thinking about this book several weeks later. Set in San Francisco, Bone is a tale of strained relations between Chinese immigrant parents and their Chinese-American offspring (three sisters, one of whom, Leila, is our narrator). This theme might put some of readers in mind of the wildly popular The Joy Luck Club, but I think Amy Tan’s book was a bit more idealized than this one. Bone, to me, is grittier and more vivid, and the characters more real, in both good ways and bad.
I see some reviews here on Goodreads have been hidden for spoilers, although I’m not sure why, because everything is revealed on the first few pages: One of Leila’s sisters committed suicide a while back by jumping off a building. Meanwhile, in the present day, Leila has eloped with her boyfriend to New York City, and is just now breaking the news to her parents. From there the book proceeds backward in time, until eventually we’re at the day when the suicide happens. This is a pretty bold move on Ng’s part—to give us all this information up front, before we really care about anyone or know the import of Leila’s elopement. It seemed gimmicky to me at first, and I had my doubts that the gamble would pay off, but for me it did. I’d say Ng worked some kind of magic trick, but really it’s just plain old-fashioned good writing. I think this book would reward a second reading, particularly since I just realized I have no idea why it’s called Bone.
I see some reviews here on Goodreads have been hidden for spoilers, although I’m not sure why, because everything is revealed on the first few pages: One of Leila’s sisters committed suicide a while back by jumping off a building. Meanwhile, in the present day, Leila has eloped with her boyfriend to New York City, and is just now breaking the news to her parents. From there the book proceeds backward in time, until eventually we’re at the day when the suicide happens. This is a pretty bold move on Ng’s part—to give us all this information up front, before we really care about anyone or know the import of Leila’s elopement. It seemed gimmicky to me at first, and I had my doubts that the gamble would pay off, but for me it did. I’d say Ng worked some kind of magic trick, but really it’s just plain old-fashioned good writing. I think this book would reward a second reading, particularly since I just realized I have no idea why it’s called Bone.
February 4, 2017
This is a story written by the eldest daughter of an immigrant Chinese family in San Francisco. She attempts to please and keep pieces together; imagining - as often oldest children do, that they are responsible for the emotional care and upkeep - of the family - especially in times of crisis. This family sustains the worst kind - the suicide of the middle daughter by jumping off a familiar building.
The tenth day of the Chinese New Year.
“The Day of Thieves. Someone stole Ona. Ona hadn’t wanted to go.”
We can’t believe they wanted to go. Gone before they’d had a chance to ask. To save her. Imagining a fireman’s net, a save in free fall. The truth of these images i know. I was a medical intern, 3000 miles away when a sibling chose suicide, i too spent years dreaming of how i could surgically bring him back, sew his pieces back to life, magically catch his free fall - like this sister loving, flailing and completely without answers, dreams of reconstructing her immeasurable loss.
This book offers sincerity, a look into the struggles of being the first fresh generation closely tied to an intact and powerful Chinatown (or one of several in SF). But what some found “clear” “undecorated” prose i found plodding and arid.
There was also a confusing timeline, well, actually no timeline; so we never quite know where the characters stand with each other. Maybe that’s the point - that those relationships never change, those bonds, that hierarchy, those responsibilities. Maybe. I was hoping for more.
The tenth day of the Chinese New Year.
“The Day of Thieves. Someone stole Ona. Ona hadn’t wanted to go.”
We can’t believe they wanted to go. Gone before they’d had a chance to ask. To save her. Imagining a fireman’s net, a save in free fall. The truth of these images i know. I was a medical intern, 3000 miles away when a sibling chose suicide, i too spent years dreaming of how i could surgically bring him back, sew his pieces back to life, magically catch his free fall - like this sister loving, flailing and completely without answers, dreams of reconstructing her immeasurable loss.
This book offers sincerity, a look into the struggles of being the first fresh generation closely tied to an intact and powerful Chinatown (or one of several in SF). But what some found “clear” “undecorated” prose i found plodding and arid.
There was also a confusing timeline, well, actually no timeline; so we never quite know where the characters stand with each other. Maybe that’s the point - that those relationships never change, those bonds, that hierarchy, those responsibilities. Maybe. I was hoping for more.
June 29, 2016
If you (dare!) read and frame this as an identity piece, you will not only be disappointed, but will be enacting violence on bodily marked history and memory.
"He went into his variation on three or four themes: Going back to China, only a bowl of bitterness to show for his life as a coolie. No one grateful. No one compassionate."
Oof! I know that in pain, pleasure still exists in the interstices. But there is too much in this, and too little at the same time.
"He went into his variation on three or four themes: Going back to China, only a bowl of bitterness to show for his life as a coolie. No one grateful. No one compassionate."
Oof! I know that in pain, pleasure still exists in the interstices. But there is too much in this, and too little at the same time.
April 9, 2017
Let me start off by saying Bone by Fae Myenne Ng is a good novel. The storyline is interesting, the characters are real, and the choice of words Ng uses to convey ideas to the reader are clean and beautiful. I gave the book 3.5 stars out of 5, though on GoodReads, it will show up as 3 for obvious reasons.
This is the story of two generations in a Chinese family in America. The story is told from the point of view of the eldest child, Leila, who recounts the problems/ issues that plague the family. At the start of the story, we are old that the middle child, Ona, committed suicide. That is not a spoiler- that fact literally hits you in the face on the first page, in the first sentence. But Ona is not the only one with issues in this family. Every single one of them has them, and Leila looks back over the years with her family to understand where it all began.
A theme I initially found was the strong desire for the characters to maintain their family. There was the desire to want to impress and feel like family. However, as members took on other members issues, the burdens with time, took their toll and caused each member to “drift apart”. Leila, the eldest, internalized her step- father and mother’s issues. Ona internalized her father’s issues, and Nina, the last -born, felt the burdens and later decided, that her parents’ issues should be their OWN issues, not hers. So there is some character development that is observed later in the novel.
Ng’s style of writing is expressive, yet not cluttered with words. Her succinct descriptions of characters, events and locations paint a picture for readers, but at the same time, allow for readers to draw on their own personal experiences to help them understand what is taking place. One thing I found unique was how Ng allowed readers into some of the personal issues of the characters, and others she left to be private.
Some reviewers noted they were turned off by the narration moving forward and then moving back in history with no warning. I did not have an issue with this and rather saw the transition as a reflection on the current situation. I did not find it distracting, but to each, his own.
This is the story of two generations in a Chinese family in America. The story is told from the point of view of the eldest child, Leila, who recounts the problems/ issues that plague the family. At the start of the story, we are old that the middle child, Ona, committed suicide. That is not a spoiler- that fact literally hits you in the face on the first page, in the first sentence. But Ona is not the only one with issues in this family. Every single one of them has them, and Leila looks back over the years with her family to understand where it all began.
A theme I initially found was the strong desire for the characters to maintain their family. There was the desire to want to impress and feel like family. However, as members took on other members issues, the burdens with time, took their toll and caused each member to “drift apart”. Leila, the eldest, internalized her step- father and mother’s issues. Ona internalized her father’s issues, and Nina, the last -born, felt the burdens and later decided, that her parents’ issues should be their OWN issues, not hers. So there is some character development that is observed later in the novel.
Ng’s style of writing is expressive, yet not cluttered with words. Her succinct descriptions of characters, events and locations paint a picture for readers, but at the same time, allow for readers to draw on their own personal experiences to help them understand what is taking place. One thing I found unique was how Ng allowed readers into some of the personal issues of the characters, and others she left to be private.
Some reviewers noted they were turned off by the narration moving forward and then moving back in history with no warning. I did not have an issue with this and rather saw the transition as a reflection on the current situation. I did not find it distracting, but to each, his own.
November 15, 2011
Fae Myenne Ng’s ‘Bone’ explores two generations of a family. There is Mah, the matriarch, simultaneously tied to Salmon Alley (their pocket of San Francisco’s Chinatown) and to her Chinese origins. The patriarch is Leon, who cannot seem to get ahead in the American capitalistic system. Leon takes odd jobs on ships, consistently changing his geographic location. Ona, moving from her mother’s home, appears to have lost all sense of identity before eventually dying by suicide. Resentful Nina escapes Chinatown and Leila is put between the middle of her mother’s world and her own reality. The three daughters react against their parents in different ways, while the narrator Leila is the most complacent.
Most inspiring about Bone, to me, is the way Ng uses location (both physical and “social location”) to tell the story. Each character’s relation to their childhood home, whether far removed or still living in it subtly tells the reader about what that character’s life is like.
Ona commits suicide by jumping off the Nam, a housing project “just before…the shadow [leads] out of Chinatown.” This physical location identifies her social location at the time: she stands on the precipice between her home and the frightening outside world. Leon warned his young daughters that as long as they are “inside Chinatown, it’s safe…outside, it’s different”.
Social location in response to physical location is something I would like to consider as a writer.
Most inspiring about Bone, to me, is the way Ng uses location (both physical and “social location”) to tell the story. Each character’s relation to their childhood home, whether far removed or still living in it subtly tells the reader about what that character’s life is like.
Ona commits suicide by jumping off the Nam, a housing project “just before…the shadow [leads] out of Chinatown.” This physical location identifies her social location at the time: she stands on the precipice between her home and the frightening outside world. Leon warned his young daughters that as long as they are “inside Chinatown, it’s safe…outside, it’s different”.
Social location in response to physical location is something I would like to consider as a writer.
April 1, 2015
Ng's writing is stylistically beautiful, vivid and evocative. I wanted to like this book. But nothing happens. And while I favor character-driven fiction over plot-driven, the characters do have to drive something. A book where nothing happens isn't worth the time. Ng blows her hand by telling us everything in the first few pages; then, when the entire 2nd half of the book is flashback, there's nothing new to learn. She sets up the mystery of why Ona jumped and then gives us nothing to go on. And the hopeful ending isn't all that hopeful when we already know what happens after it. At least, I think we do. The book operates in 3 different timeframes, and knowing which one we're in when is devilishly difficult. A frustrating book made moreso by the promise that seems to be wasted.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2015
Damn, this book took me by surprise. Ng's writing is so clean and spare that most of the emotion lies in what she doesn't say. Several passages had me sobbing while I read them, but when I looked back at those same bare-bones passages out of context, it was hard to see why. It's the same sort of insight that you can only get by being close to a family and its problems--without the proximity and context, small matters seem inconsequential. Only through immersion can we absorb the nuances of the word said, or the phrase left unspoken.
February 29, 2008
Ng's first novel really captures the lives of an intergenerational Chinese American family. Her writing reframes the American dream, complicates it, and reflects more reality than the usual depictions.
February 4, 2022
LOL REVISIONIST HISTORY MOMENT
- This is now 4/5 stars because I read supplemental texts regarding the timeline. Now the backward narrative makes so much sense ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Anyway, shoutout to Chapter 3 of Lisa Lowe's Immigrant Acts for breaking it down. Please check it out. <3
--------------------------------------------
3.5
----
“Remembering the past gives power to the present.”
I'm conflicted as to whether or not to raise the rating of this book to four stars, but as of right now, three and a half feels right.
Bone is a beautifully sad novel, with moving prose, realistic characters, and a compelling storyline. Each family member is strikingly well-rounded, resulting in various dynamic and engaging interactions between the Leongs. I'm particularly drawn to Leon; his schemes and paper trail of lies lead to poignant commentary on cultural assimilation. What defines a "successful" immigrant? What kind of person does American society deem worthy of integration? Is the truth not enough? Must immigrants suffer through, what the narrator Leila deems, the "humiliation" of exhaustive work to ensure the security of future generations?
Needless to say, my Asian-American literature class is having an exuberant time discussing these topical questions. There's so much to be said, truly.
However, Bone's non-linear storytelling is disappointingly frustrating. The narrative's timeline jumps all over the place, constantly switching back and forth between the past and present. While this complements the Leong family's struggle to not allow errors of the past to overwhelm their current lives, the message is partly lost in its flimsy execution. All too often, I had to remind myself which characters are alive or dead, what caused certain events to take place, or where the characters were in their development. These flaws distract from the captivating narrative themes, causing them to constantly be undermined by the confusion from the reader.
There were are few moments of levity. I'm beginning to grow tired of the endless battering rams of sadness present in most contemporary family dramas. Maybe that's just a critique of the genre's conventions as a whole, but these kinds of narratives are starting to run flat for me.
Overall, Bone is a well-written, consistently fascinating novel that serves as a great leaping-off point for important conversations surrounding immigrant identity and culture. The thematic impacts may be dampened by the confusing timeline, but it's still a valuable read nonetheless.
Anyway, here's the meme:
- This is now 4/5 stars because I read supplemental texts regarding the timeline. Now the backward narrative makes so much sense ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Anyway, shoutout to Chapter 3 of Lisa Lowe's Immigrant Acts for breaking it down. Please check it out. <3
--------------------------------------------
3.5
----
“Remembering the past gives power to the present.”
I'm conflicted as to whether or not to raise the rating of this book to four stars, but as of right now, three and a half feels right.
Bone is a beautifully sad novel, with moving prose, realistic characters, and a compelling storyline. Each family member is strikingly well-rounded, resulting in various dynamic and engaging interactions between the Leongs. I'm particularly drawn to Leon; his schemes and paper trail of lies lead to poignant commentary on cultural assimilation. What defines a "successful" immigrant? What kind of person does American society deem worthy of integration? Is the truth not enough? Must immigrants suffer through, what the narrator Leila deems, the "humiliation" of exhaustive work to ensure the security of future generations?
Needless to say, my Asian-American literature class is having an exuberant time discussing these topical questions. There's so much to be said, truly.
However, Bone's non-linear storytelling is disappointingly frustrating. The narrative's timeline jumps all over the place, constantly switching back and forth between the past and present. While this complements the Leong family's struggle to not allow errors of the past to overwhelm their current lives, the message is partly lost in its flimsy execution. All too often, I had to remind myself which characters are alive or dead, what caused certain events to take place, or where the characters were in their development. These flaws distract from the captivating narrative themes, causing them to constantly be undermined by the confusion from the reader.
There were are few moments of levity. I'm beginning to grow tired of the endless battering rams of sadness present in most contemporary family dramas. Maybe that's just a critique of the genre's conventions as a whole, but these kinds of narratives are starting to run flat for me.
Overall, Bone is a well-written, consistently fascinating novel that serves as a great leaping-off point for important conversations surrounding immigrant identity and culture. The thematic impacts may be dampened by the confusing timeline, but it's still a valuable read nonetheless.
Anyway, here's the meme:
January 28, 2025
Well after reading some of the other reviews my thoughts are kinda jumbled cuz I have things to say abt it as both an Asian American Novel and a shmegular book. I actually thought the story was told really well, slow at first but the last sixty pages hit. But if I wasn't Asian I probably wouldnt care about the story and stuff. Because of its relatability I thought it was a great Asian American Novel ...! Only thing was I wish it went deeper in both an emotional sense and broader-social-context sense (ie y is Asian American Life like this) and in the same vein I wish Lei was more of a critical thinker
December 23, 2022
I am rating this a 3 and not a 4 because this book BROKE ME! ugh its good but not amazing, I related way too much to so many little granular aspects of this experience. I think stories of second-gen immigrants like this are so poignant and reflect an often neglected reality where you have your feed dipped into 2 cultures. Its liberating to see how being both is not unwhole or incomplete. I did not expect to see how much Chinese culture is so similar to my own.. and man was some of this a bit too close to home and almost triggering lmaooo
I think its a light non-triggering book for anyone else but for me... i bawlledd
I think its a light non-triggering book for anyone else but for me... i bawlledd
June 19, 2023
Out of respect for Michiko Kakutani I’ll give this 3 stars, but for me it’s only 2 stars. I’m told students really like this book. Maybe I’m too old for this type of thing.
May 10, 2025
Simply goated. Ng is an academic, but Bone transcends the increasingly bourgeois cut-fruit cliche that is endemic in the Asian American canon. Written in spite of the tireless quest we seem to be faced with today to establish/re-establish definitions/center/re-center ourselves. Straight for the tender dark meat as it were. None of that overcooked chewy shit. Blistering, aching, and still a feast.
October 11, 2025
Absolutely beautiful read as an eldest daughter
September 26, 2016
It was funny to re-read "Bone" for an ethnic literature class that I am teaching, while simultaneously reading Foer's "Here I am," which also could be included in this class. While Foer's novel was bloated with excess, Ng's work is minimalism as its finest in recounting the story of a second-generation family of girls, living in San Francisco's Chinatown. While students are sometimes put off by the non-linear narrative. . .going back and forth in time with no apparent ordering of events, Ng has said that it is her tribute to water, central to the old-time immigrants' experience, as waves move water forward and, then, also recede. Perhaps what I appreciate most about this book is Ng'g bittersweet reflection of her native Chinatown, both its claustrophobic intensity but also the communal devotion and camaraderie among the residents, who work incredibly hard to stay afloat. The spareness of prose almost has a Haiku feel to it at times, but the story is contemporary in every way--people who are living in two different worlds trying to figure out how to honor the past and forge an independent life from previous generations. A loving tribute to her own family, who she has said cannot read the novel due to their limited English, but she knows they are proud nonetheless.
January 19, 2019
2.5 stars (rounded up)
Short review:
I had to read this short novel for one of my English classes and even though I didn't like it very much, I thought it could still count towards my reading goal!
This novel is told by the protagnosit, Leila, whose family has dealt with a tradgedy. She swtiches from past to present and tells us the sotry of what happened and how their family was affected.
To me, it didn't really have much of a plot it felt like she was just telling the sotry and nothing else. There wasn't much happening in the novel, it was almost like a flatline, very bland. Maybe it's because I'm into thrillers (although I do enjoy the occasional fiction novel), but it really did feel as if she was just telling the story of her family, there wasn't much to it.
Wasn't my cup of tea, but still a short sad novel about how a tradgedy could affect a family.
Short review:
I had to read this short novel for one of my English classes and even though I didn't like it very much, I thought it could still count towards my reading goal!
This novel is told by the protagnosit, Leila, whose family has dealt with a tradgedy. She swtiches from past to present and tells us the sotry of what happened and how their family was affected.
To me, it didn't really have much of a plot it felt like she was just telling the sotry and nothing else. There wasn't much happening in the novel, it was almost like a flatline, very bland. Maybe it's because I'm into thrillers (although I do enjoy the occasional fiction novel), but it really did feel as if she was just telling the story of her family, there wasn't much to it.
Wasn't my cup of tea, but still a short sad novel about how a tradgedy could affect a family.
November 7, 2015
this one stayed with me .
March 3, 2021
I don't like stories where it's pure mishap or tragedy. This includes comedies where everything continually goes awry. All I think is: who's going to clean that up? How will this be remedied? How are they still okay? I find it more frustrating than amusing. This novel is not a comedy, but its unending poverty, misfortune, and heartache really wore me down. The only thing that kept me mildly interested was the perspective of Chinese immigrants and their children in San Francisco around the 1980s (no actual dates are given). There is no real plot, and the novel came across as a jumbled mess of excerpts fading in and out of multiple timelines. It makes sense that sections of this were first published in a different format in magazines, and I think I would have enjoyed them more as small bites of a fictional family's story, knowing there was no overarching plot.
September 19, 2025
An incredibly detailed book that takes you right to Chinatown, San Francisco and the complexities of an Asian immigrant household. The author did a wonderful job painting the picture of the environment and the relationships. In fact, it was so detailed that some of the chapters were difficult to get through due to the graphic nature of the moments.
I was surprised with the lack of dialogue. The book was mainly narrative and descriptive, where it felt like a memoir at times. It took me some time to get into the flow of the book because of this, but once I did, the book was incredibly touching.
I enjoyed that the story wasn’t in chronological order and was reflective, as well.
A touching read.
I was surprised with the lack of dialogue. The book was mainly narrative and descriptive, where it felt like a memoir at times. It took me some time to get into the flow of the book because of this, but once I did, the book was incredibly touching.
I enjoyed that the story wasn’t in chronological order and was reflective, as well.
A touching read.
February 18, 2018
Excellent novel of a Chinese American family from the view of the second generation first born daughter. Ng provides a sense of place (San Fransisco), time and experiences of being a Chinese immigrant (through Mah and Leon) and the responsibilities/obligations of being the first daughter. The struggles of learning a new language, translating for parents limited English, finding jobs as immigrants and cultural practices all swirl around a tragic incident with the second daughter Ona. The story is told in an extremely non-linear fashion that some readers will not care for.
January 12, 2025
Love the detail and many of the characters, it’s vivid and often claustrophobic immigrant story - with a backwards structure to the plot that is usually an interesting idea. But the plot is a bit sluggish, the moments meandering - and then kind of rushed in the final chapters - and even that backwards structure isn’t used for too much. Still, an important one to keep in mind despite its flaws.
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February 11, 2020Sadly, this is a DNF. My attention was held during the beginning but lost me somewhere in the middle. So no rating for now for a book I didn't finish.
March 3, 2022
This book presents a vivid picture of post-immigrant life in Chinatown in San Francisco. I had a difficult time placing the time period, only doing so late in the book when a specific political reference was made (1975 ish). The central tragedy of the plot is made known within the first 2-3 pages, so the rest of the book discusses its impact. Bone is a book about how a family and a microsocioety deals with death in a new world. Sadly, it doesn't truly make me understand what led up to the tragedy, despite trying to do so.
I wanted more out of this book. It held a great deal of promise, but I felt like it unraveled toward the end. The ending brought little clarity to the beginning and middle of the story. Still, I would read more by this author.
I wanted more out of this book. It held a great deal of promise, but I felt like it unraveled toward the end. The ending brought little clarity to the beginning and middle of the story. Still, I would read more by this author.
June 5, 2024
Exploration of grief that is both universally relatable and undeniably unique to the characters. The emptiness that arises in the midst of tragedy is explored to near perfection.
October 23, 2025
pretty good but i almost wish it had been longer .... lots of loose ends.
December 2, 2021
"maybe true comfort came only from the arms of other women"
November 12, 2023
i get it but i do not get it
September 24, 2020
I hate annotating while I read. It might be helpful in class but for a book I’m trying to read for enjoyment?? No thanks. But that’s what happened with this book T_T. Four days of continuous headaches. The book was kind of all over the place; it wasn’t chronological so I was constantly confused whether this or that had happened yet. But it goes through the journey of Leila from a young age to a grown woman facing the loss of her sister and her dysfunctional family. She’s trying to let go of her past and move forward but she’s so rooted within it that it’s an endless circle of leaving and returning. The same things everyone in her family does. The story touched a string near my heart dude it was tough getting through some things oh man. A lot of things related to my life, a lot of things didn’t. It’s amazing to see the struggles and the difficult journey that may not look like much from afar. Eek. Yo this book gonna bring back some traumatic memories if I ever pick it up again B’)
August 30, 2009
If you read the Asian section of Ronald Takaki's A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, this would be the perfect book to read. Understanding the history of an Asian's life in the United States during the early 1800s to the late 1900s, you would see why this book's family is portrayed the way it was. This historical fiction book is in a confusing order but it is mainly about the family dealing with the death of Ona, who jumped off the thirteenth floor while on drugs. The sorrows and sufferings of the Leong family can be reasoned with the historical facts of how Asians were treated and viewed in San Francisco, California in the time period written above.
I really liked this book because it really connected to my history assignment and one of the books I also recently read. RECOMMENDED to all those who read Ronald Takaki's book above.
I really liked this book because it really connected to my history assignment and one of the books I also recently read. RECOMMENDED to all those who read Ronald Takaki's book above.
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