H & G

by Anna Maria Hong

Fiction. Asian & Asian American Studies. Women's Studies. In this hybrid novella of trauma and survival, Anna Maria Hong re-imagines and extends the tale of Hansel and Gretel, breaking its received patterns of abandonment and abuse to set G. to wander a world racialized and gendered by power dynamics at every turn. Survivor, artist, hero, G.'s decisive action at the Witch's oven becomes the kernel of a new identity, independent and resilient, capable of transforming cruel stories into a cunning, masterful feminist bildungsroman.

"In H & G, Anna Maria Hong brilliantly re-visions the 'Hansel and Gretel' fairytale for the post-post-modern 21st century. Or explodes it, producing a text brimming with biting wit, feminist insight, psychological incisiveness, and a hybrid narrative daring that turns genre on its head. G., a 'Korean American fraülein' who is 'sick of the high road' is willing to tear the whole fantasy edifice of our illusions down as she journeys toward deeper truths, and thankfully, she and H. take us along for their sometimes-frightening, always enlightening rides." --John Keene

Genres: Fiction, Poetry

59 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Sarah Cavar]

Leaving this unrated, as if suffers from unevenness: moments of incredible insight and arresting sentences, fused with what seems to be an excess of "telling" rather than allowing the myth of Hansel and Gretel to do the work.

This book makes great use of multiple, interlayered forms in order to break narrative conventions, and doesn't shy away from mixing memoir, fiction, poetry, and more in order to get at otherwise-unrepresentable traumas. That said, I wish Hong had been more consistent as a narrator and maintained G's voice across the book's three parts and multiple forms.

[ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading H & G, more than most poetry books I have read. I have some attention issues, so I’ve always had trouble with not zoning out after a few poems when I read a collection of poetry (no offense to the talented poets whose books I’ve read). But I actually managed to read carefully every single word in H & G, without skimming through any poem (?), because they are all so diverse in language and form and perspective. Especially perspective. And I think it’s so clever of Anna Maria Hong to play with possibilities the way she did in H & G, because I feel like she’s picking out the characters and the basic plot of Hansel and Gretel and looking at them from different angles and proposing alternative explanations/endings/beginnings, but the essential story is still there, and the fact that Hansel is the glutton and Gretel has to clean up after her brother’s shit is still intact. And I love and admire how Hong can weave fairy tale elements (the Woods, straw bed, ancient setting, the violence, etc.) with modern terminology and concepts (sexist, therapy, etc.) and the narrative is still so seamless. I really, truly enjoy H & G, and felt very inspired after reading it.

[Carolyn Mae]

I thought this was just ok. Just an FYI, I've never been the biggest poetry fan, but I just thought that the mix of poetry and prose kinda overshadowed the poetry. Normally, after reading a poem, I would sit with it for a bit, but I didn't find myself doing that. I think that the free verse list style of poetry was especially unengaging. It should be considered that I read this for a class so that might have contributed to my review.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way I loved this--fairy tale-inspired, prose poem/micro fiction, semi-autobiographical (?), a world that slipslide between an enchanted forest and plain old reality, timeless creatures, and a jilted pissed off Gretel as its beating heart.

[Sav Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable, very quick read. I do wish it had a more of a linear timeline, because with jumps in time and switching from “alternative endings” to (presumably) the actual story, I was pretty confused about what was going on at times. But overall I liked the story.

[Rebecca Valley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book for form & has some great moments, but overall didn’t thrill me. The philosophy behind it is wonderful, the actual writing leaves me wanting a bit

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was weird and wonderful.

[Sarah L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't say I really enjoyed reading this book but the experimental writing style made it an interesting read