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Eat A Bowl Of Tea
At the close of the Second World War, racist immigration laws trapped enclaves of old men in Chinatowns across the United States, preventing their wives or families from joining them. They took refuge from loneliness in the repartee and rivalries exchanged over games of mahjong in the backrooms of barbershops or at the local tong. These bachelors found hope in the nascent marriages and future children who would someday grow roots in American soil, made possible at last by the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943.
Louis Chu tells the story of a newlywed couple that inherits the burden of this tightly bonded community’s expectations. Returning soldier Ben Loy travels to China to marry Mei Oi, a beautiful, intelligent woman who then emigrates to New York. After their honeymoon, Ben Loy becomes impotent, and his inability to father a child frustrates both Mei Oi and the Chinatown bachelors. This discontent boils over when Mei Oi has an affair and the community learns of Ben Loy’s humiliation.
Eat a Bowl of Tea remains a groundbreaking and influential work. The first novel to capture the tone and sensibility of everyday life in an American Chinatown, it is an incisive portrayal of Chinese America on the brink of change. A new foreword by Fae Myenne Ng explores the depth and meaning of Mei Oi’s lust and elucidates the power of Chu’s uncompromising writing.
Louis Chu tells the story of a newlywed couple that inherits the burden of this tightly bonded community’s expectations. Returning soldier Ben Loy travels to China to marry Mei Oi, a beautiful, intelligent woman who then emigrates to New York. After their honeymoon, Ben Loy becomes impotent, and his inability to father a child frustrates both Mei Oi and the Chinatown bachelors. This discontent boils over when Mei Oi has an affair and the community learns of Ben Loy’s humiliation.
Eat a Bowl of Tea remains a groundbreaking and influential work. The first novel to capture the tone and sensibility of everyday life in an American Chinatown, it is an incisive portrayal of Chinese America on the brink of change. A new foreword by Fae Myenne Ng explores the depth and meaning of Mei Oi’s lust and elucidates the power of Chu’s uncompromising writing.
296 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1961
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August 8, 2020hard to rate. you ever read a book and can't tell if the misogyny is purposefully written to depict the time and present it as a problem OR if it is because the author really does view women that way?? at times Mei Oi's character DID have a sense of agency and I felt he wrote her in a sympathetic way? but ben loy was abhorrent to me as a character...and certain things ben loy did were so TERRIBLE I could not get on board with rooting for him which I think the author clearly wanted me to do.
hm...yeah decided not to rate this because I did find it to be quite entertaining and a very vivid depiction of bachelor societies in NYC's Chinatown, but a few scenes left me feeling iffy about what the author was really trying to convey.
idk, I think I need to sit with this one (yes - it is a romcom book, but also felt there were larger points that I think the author was trying to make and I'm not sure if it was me as the reader who failed or the author was making some bad points and I'm doing mental gymnastics to try and justify certain choices made)
hm...yeah decided not to rate this because I did find it to be quite entertaining and a very vivid depiction of bachelor societies in NYC's Chinatown, but a few scenes left me feeling iffy about what the author was really trying to convey.
idk, I think I need to sit with this one (yes - it is a romcom book, but also felt there were larger points that I think the author was trying to make and I'm not sure if it was me as the reader who failed or the author was making some bad points and I'm doing mental gymnastics to try and justify certain choices made)
November 7, 2021
Size önce ben bu kitaba nasıl ulaştım, onun yolculuğundan bahsetmek istiyorum. 8-9 yaşlarında annemlerin arkadaşına yemeğe gitmiştik. Büyükler yemek yerken ben de televizyonda içinde Çinliler'in olduğu bir film izliyordum. Annemler yemeklerini bitirip kalkınca maalesef filmin sonunu göremedim. Yıllar sonra evlere internet geldi, sonra google çıktı, ben İngilizce öğrenmeye başladım. Ben tabi filmin adını bilmediğim için google'a filmden hatırladıklarımı yazdım. Yine de filmi bulamadım. Zaman zaman filmi aramaya devam ettim ama yok. Yıllar sonra Amy Tan'ın Joy Luck Club kitabından uyarlanan filmi izledim. Yönetmen kim falan diye araştırırken konusu tanıdık bir filme rastladım. Aha dedim bu film o film olmalı! 25 sene sonra buldum seni. Ancak filmin kopyası falan yok yani. Baktım filmi aynı adlı kitaptan uyarlamışlar, bu sefer birkaç sene de kitabı aradım. Zaman zaman nadirkitap'ı yokladım. Ama yok. Geçen hafta yine nadirkitap'a bakarken 3.5 liraya gördüm bunu. Dedim büyük ihtimal filmin kartpostalı bu ama yine de sipariş ettim. Ve kitabın biraz hasarlı kopyası elime ulaştı. Böyleyken böyle yani; azmin öyküsü.
Neyse gelelim kitaba, kendisi Amerika'da Çinli göçmen edebiyatının ilk örneği kabul ediliyor. Tıpkı bizim Almancılar gibi Amerika'da yaşarken Çinliler'de de Çin'e ve geleneklere bağlılık var. Aynı Almancılar'ın buraya gelip köyden kız alması gibi, baş karakterimiz Ben Loy da Çin'deki köyden bir kız alıp New York'a getiriyor. Sonra biz Ben Loy'un bir türlü ereksiyon olamamasının öyküsünü okuyoruz, kitap boyunca bekliyoruz ki ereksiyon olsun. Cinsel hayatı olmayan karısı da gidip başka bir Çinli'den hamile kalıyor. Ve olaylar gelişiyor.
Burada o kadar tanıdık temalar var ki aslında; kadınlar için saflık ve bekaretin önemi, erkekler için yatakta "iktidar"ın onları "erkek" yapması, ana ülkeye fanatik biçimde bağlılık, başka ülkede kendi toplumun ve geleneklerine bağlı kalma, sıkışmış çevrelerde herkesin birbirini tanıması ve arkasından konuşması, kadınlıklar, erkeklikler, diasporalar. Tüm bunların New York gibi bir şehirde yaşanması.
Göçmenliğe dair kendisi de göçmen olan yazarın başarılı bir ilk ve tek kitabı.
Bu macerayı da böyle sonlandırdığım için mutluyum, artık hikayenin sonunu biliyorum. :)
Neyse gelelim kitaba, kendisi Amerika'da Çinli göçmen edebiyatının ilk örneği kabul ediliyor. Tıpkı bizim Almancılar gibi Amerika'da yaşarken Çinliler'de de Çin'e ve geleneklere bağlılık var. Aynı Almancılar'ın buraya gelip köyden kız alması gibi, baş karakterimiz Ben Loy da Çin'deki köyden bir kız alıp New York'a getiriyor. Sonra biz Ben Loy'un bir türlü ereksiyon olamamasının öyküsünü okuyoruz, kitap boyunca bekliyoruz ki ereksiyon olsun. Cinsel hayatı olmayan karısı da gidip başka bir Çinli'den hamile kalıyor. Ve olaylar gelişiyor.
Burada o kadar tanıdık temalar var ki aslında; kadınlar için saflık ve bekaretin önemi, erkekler için yatakta "iktidar"ın onları "erkek" yapması, ana ülkeye fanatik biçimde bağlılık, başka ülkede kendi toplumun ve geleneklerine bağlı kalma, sıkışmış çevrelerde herkesin birbirini tanıması ve arkasından konuşması, kadınlıklar, erkeklikler, diasporalar. Tüm bunların New York gibi bir şehirde yaşanması.
Göçmenliğe dair kendisi de göçmen olan yazarın başarılı bir ilk ve tek kitabı.
Bu macerayı da böyle sonlandırdığım için mutluyum, artık hikayenin sonunu biliyorum. :)
January 27, 2008
This book is hilarious and very enjoyable - and not just because of old Chinese men telling each other your mom all the time. Exact words, though, are "wow your mother". Wacky!
It's a quick read - I read it in one night - and well worth it.
I never thought I'd be on the edge of my seat, turning page after page to find out if a character ever achieves an erection again. That's writing skill.
Note: It is out of print, but used copies can be found.
It's a quick read - I read it in one night - and well worth it.
I never thought I'd be on the edge of my seat, turning page after page to find out if a character ever achieves an erection again. That's writing skill.
Note: It is out of print, but used copies can be found.
June 21, 2009
Taking place in New York's Chinatown in the late 1940s, Eat a Bowl of Tea is the story of the marriage of Ben Loy and Mei Oi, arranged by their respective fathers, Wah Gay and Lee Gong, who are two of the many "bachelor husbands" of Chinatown, married men whose wives were left behind in China when they came to America to work. Initially, Ben Loy is reluctant to travel to China to marry, as he has been enjoying a dissolute social life patronizing prostitutes. Yet after meeting Mei Oi, he quickly falls in love and is eager to bring her back to New York and start a family. For her part, Mei Oi had always hoped to marry a gimshunhock (someone who has emigrated to the U.S.) primarily to avoid becoming a farmer's wife in her village of Sunwei, but after meeting Ben Loy, she quickly falls in love as well.
After a blissful first few weeks of marriage in Sunwei, the couple returns to New York, where Ben Loy is suddenly impotent. He assumes the cause is both psychological, the result of trying to sleep with his wife in the same bed where he employed prostitutes, and physical, owing to his many previously treated bouts of VD. Mei Oi alternates between being understanding and nagging, but mostly she feels rejected and unloved. Ben Loy sees both a medical doctor and an herbalist, neither of whom seem able to cure him.
Into this situation comes Ah Song, the seducer. Hearing rumors of Ben Loy's impotence, he contrives to be alone with Mei Oi in her apartment one day and they begin an affair. Mei Oi is initially unwilling (extremely so in that their first time doesn't seem particularly consensual on her part), but soon comes to depend on Ah Song's attention, despite not really liking him all that much.
In short order, Mei Oi becomes pregnant. Although it's assumed by all that Ben Loy is the father (even, oddly enough, by Ben Loy), it's also common knowledge in Chinatown that Mei Oi and Ah Song are having an affair. Ben Loy is strangely passive about the whole thing, but when his father decides to take action, all of their lives are changed.
The novel is satirical, but the comedy is dark. Although the target of the satire is the degree to which reputation and fear of what other people will say guide the actions of these characters, it's also what makes you want to clonk their heads together and tell them to stop ruining their lives. So I found the story more frustrating than anything else. Also, although this is a relatively short book (250 pages) it's broken up into 57 chapters, which gives it a disjointed feel. I think I might have liked it better if I had read it in one or two long stretches, rather than over several days, because the plot sets up early and the second half of the book is just aftermath. I've been hearing about this book for years, so maybe my expectations were too high; I thought it was good, but not great.
After a blissful first few weeks of marriage in Sunwei, the couple returns to New York, where Ben Loy is suddenly impotent. He assumes the cause is both psychological, the result of trying to sleep with his wife in the same bed where he employed prostitutes, and physical, owing to his many previously treated bouts of VD. Mei Oi alternates between being understanding and nagging, but mostly she feels rejected and unloved. Ben Loy sees both a medical doctor and an herbalist, neither of whom seem able to cure him.
Into this situation comes Ah Song, the seducer. Hearing rumors of Ben Loy's impotence, he contrives to be alone with Mei Oi in her apartment one day and they begin an affair. Mei Oi is initially unwilling (extremely so in that their first time doesn't seem particularly consensual on her part), but soon comes to depend on Ah Song's attention, despite not really liking him all that much.
In short order, Mei Oi becomes pregnant. Although it's assumed by all that Ben Loy is the father (even, oddly enough, by Ben Loy), it's also common knowledge in Chinatown that Mei Oi and Ah Song are having an affair. Ben Loy is strangely passive about the whole thing, but when his father decides to take action, all of their lives are changed.
The novel is satirical, but the comedy is dark. Although the target of the satire is the degree to which reputation and fear of what other people will say guide the actions of these characters, it's also what makes you want to clonk their heads together and tell them to stop ruining their lives. So I found the story more frustrating than anything else. Also, although this is a relatively short book (250 pages) it's broken up into 57 chapters, which gives it a disjointed feel. I think I might have liked it better if I had read it in one or two long stretches, rather than over several days, because the plot sets up early and the second half of the book is just aftermath. I've been hearing about this book for years, so maybe my expectations were too high; I thought it was good, but not great.
August 31, 2016
While the writing is simple in Louis Chu's Eat a Bowl of Tea, the humor surrounding marital infidelity and sexual inadequacy in Chinese-American culture is spectacular. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard reading a book that I had to set it down to catch my breath, but this book delivers those moments with abandon. Of course, knowing a little about Chinese culture, as well as Google searches for phrases and references for the unfamiliar ones, helps the reader understand the multi-level complexity to this very simple story of a young man's past catching up with his present and the gossip that ensues in his community and family.
I highly recommend this book for its historical, cultural, and humorous portrayal of life during the Chinese Exclusion Act.
I highly recommend this book for its historical, cultural, and humorous portrayal of life during the Chinese Exclusion Act.
July 12, 2021
Wait, so "wow your mother" is supposed to be a "your mom" joke?
December 20, 2020
What a thoroughly odd book. I've been finished for about an hour now, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. Rounded down from 2.5 stars.
Edit: After sitting a few days on this, I'm content with my rating. Eat a Bowl of Tea has its moments, but I didn't particularly enjoy reading it. My thesis advisor described it as a book that doesn't really seem pleasant to read; I found that description fairly accurate. I can't really speak to certain qualitative aspects of the novel, like Chu's ability to capture the soul of Toishanese in his English translations, but, for me, the pace of the book was off and the characters grated.
Edit: After sitting a few days on this, I'm content with my rating. Eat a Bowl of Tea has its moments, but I didn't particularly enjoy reading it. My thesis advisor described it as a book that doesn't really seem pleasant to read; I found that description fairly accurate. I can't really speak to certain qualitative aspects of the novel, like Chu's ability to capture the soul of Toishanese in his English translations, but, for me, the pace of the book was off and the characters grated.
August 29, 2016
I had to read this book for my Asian Pacific American Literature class. I liked this book. A lot of the Chinese culture reference, I did not initially get, but once I was told in class, the irony was very prevalent. The story shows the dynamics between the older the generation and the younger generation and how they have either adapted their beliefs or maintained them. One of my favorite parts of the books was when the men would get together in the clubhouse and say their own version of a "your mom" joke by saying, "wow your mother."
May 8, 2019
Read for personal and historical research. Not my cup of tea, but I found this work of some interest.
From New York to San Francisco, I found this book's contents funny in places. - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Overall, this work is also a good resource for the researcher and enthusiast.
From New York to San Francisco, I found this book's contents funny in places. - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Overall, this work is also a good resource for the researcher and enthusiast.
February 19, 2017
I have to say it:
For a book about sex, it's a bit of a snooze fest.
I know the sex isn't the point, and the book is extremely well-written. It's hard to read because it's hard to follow. Perhaps that is the point, but it certainly wasn't my cup of tea.
For a book about sex, it's a bit of a snooze fest.
I know the sex isn't the point, and the book is extremely well-written. It's hard to read because it's hard to follow. Perhaps that is the point, but it certainly wasn't my cup of tea.
November 19, 2017
I read this particular book for class. It's not a book I would have sought out on my own, but it was an enjoyable read and provides interesting historical insight into Chinese immigrants to America during the twentieth century.
February 25, 2023
have you ever read a book where you can't tell if the author is kind of just swinging and missing with his social commentary or if he's the most misogynistic person to ever live? yeah, reading this book is getting slapped in the face with that sensation for 270 pages.
October 9, 2007
I really enjoyed this book. I guess it's your basic, first generation vs. second generation, moving to America, cultural mix story, but I think this is one of the best.
November 26, 2009
The story of a marriage (and impotence and infidelity) in Chinatown. Very interesting look at that segment of society. Not sure when it was set, but post-WWII.
January 23, 2011
An excellent look into the lives of Chinese immigrants in the 1950s. Well written, diverting, and true-to-life.
February 1, 2012
Chinese-American....1940s NY Chinatown....newlyweds, adultery, Chinese mob.
June 28, 2012
An interesting book about Chinese-American men living in NYC. More on http://bookwinked.wordpress.com
June 5, 2015
The book kind of rattled on for me, a lot of unnecessary characters and drama, but maybe I missed the point. Anyway, I liked the end and I liked their journey.
August 14, 2016
美爱心理的坦然与Ben Loy的消极默然，逻辑动机是什么?
March 24, 2019
An interesting and engaging Chinatown drama. The movie is also worth seeing.
January 23, 2023
I most appreciated the vibrant, novel language. The men gossiping at the barber, coffee shop, and mahjong table were some of the brightest passages for me. I had to Google several of the unfamiliar phrases, so I learned some new things (green hat, gimshunhook, jook sing, etc).
A lot stayed unresolved by the end and that was disappointing. Chin Yuen's fantasies of Mei Oi take up several pages but lead to nothing. Both fathers move out of NYC, but somewhere else in the US (bruh, why not finally go home to your wife?). Ah Song drops the charges, but does he actually leave NYC or ever acknowledge his potential child? Ben Loy does wonder if the baby is his, but only once and then it's never mentioned again.
Favorite character, Wah Gay: adopting a different persona on paper when he writes a letter to his wife in the first half of the book-- the letter is warm and feeling and uses positive language, though his spoken words are often sharp and blunt and negative. The letter, "Dearly Beloved wife, Lau Shee: I'm writing to you as if we were together and talking face to face. The years passed like the mere closing and opening of the eyes. Another spring has passed... Someday soon I will leave America and come back to you... Boy or girl we shall love and cherish it [grandchild] just the same." vs. his spoken word, "you many-mouthed bird, go sell your ass", "You are not young... If you remain unmarried any longer, you will end up with one of those jook sing girls"
Interesting theme: The characters' obsession with reputation, judging others, and a proclivity for shame -- "thank you for the big face", "I have no face to see my friends", "some women would think nothing of having an illegitimate child", "this young man has ruined his health. Too many girls and too much. Too careless", "Today's women are no good", and on and on
I can see it: "His head spun with pains. Big pains. As big as a boulder. Now this boulder came tumbling out of the sky, like an exhausted satellite, and crash-landed on Wah Gay's head. The basement club house suddenly was dark and empty."
One other favorite: "One's life in this world is but many times ten. It is like a short dream. We just sit down by the roadside and watch the show go by."
Overall, it was an interesting read for the language and the perspective from inside a culturally homogenous neighborhood, but it's unlikely I'll ever read it again. 3/5 stars
A lot stayed unresolved by the end and that was disappointing. Chin Yuen's fantasies of Mei Oi take up several pages but lead to nothing. Both fathers move out of NYC, but somewhere else in the US (bruh, why not finally go home to your wife?). Ah Song drops the charges, but does he actually leave NYC or ever acknowledge his potential child? Ben Loy does wonder if the baby is his, but only once and then it's never mentioned again.
Favorite character, Wah Gay: adopting a different persona on paper when he writes a letter to his wife in the first half of the book-- the letter is warm and feeling and uses positive language, though his spoken words are often sharp and blunt and negative. The letter, "Dearly Beloved wife, Lau Shee: I'm writing to you as if we were together and talking face to face. The years passed like the mere closing and opening of the eyes. Another spring has passed... Someday soon I will leave America and come back to you... Boy or girl we shall love and cherish it [grandchild] just the same." vs. his spoken word, "you many-mouthed bird, go sell your ass", "You are not young... If you remain unmarried any longer, you will end up with one of those jook sing girls"
Interesting theme: The characters' obsession with reputation, judging others, and a proclivity for shame -- "thank you for the big face", "I have no face to see my friends", "some women would think nothing of having an illegitimate child", "this young man has ruined his health. Too many girls and too much. Too careless", "Today's women are no good", and on and on
I can see it: "His head spun with pains. Big pains. As big as a boulder. Now this boulder came tumbling out of the sky, like an exhausted satellite, and crash-landed on Wah Gay's head. The basement club house suddenly was dark and empty."
One other favorite: "One's life in this world is but many times ten. It is like a short dream. We just sit down by the roadside and watch the show go by."
Overall, it was an interesting read for the language and the perspective from inside a culturally homogenous neighborhood, but it's unlikely I'll ever read it again. 3/5 stars
February 11, 2024
This book takes forever to get going and I think it requires a little bit of background knowledge of Chinese cultural customs and norms to fully understand, but the last 50 pages or so breeze by and the ending makes the beginning slog and the weird translations (I'm no Chinese expert, but the choice to translate 请问你贵姓 to "What is your esteemed surname" instead of just translating it to "What's your last name" and "他妈的“ to "Wow your mother" instead of just either "fuck" or "damn" made the dialogue super formal and not as if people were having a real conversation with each other in the book.
I did appreciate though how Chu very clearly narrates the worry of the characters losing face (one of the few times I think the literal translations in this book do the reader a favor) in difficult social situations (the whole book revolves around an episode of adultery). The experience of belonging to an association of cousins that have the same last name as you (Wang, in this book) that look after legal troubles or debts you may have was a cool insight into the experiences of early immigration of Chinese people to New York City. The generational gaps discussed in the book, where Ben Loy's dad is married to his Mom who has decided to stay in China while Ben Loy returns to the village he was born in to marry someone and bring her back to the United States was something I hadn't learned about before. Chinese filial relationships (father-son, cousin-cousin) come up a lot as well.
It was really cool to read a book that was originally written in 1961 mostly take place in Chinatown here in New York, which is where I live now.
I did appreciate though how Chu very clearly narrates the worry of the characters losing face (one of the few times I think the literal translations in this book do the reader a favor) in difficult social situations (the whole book revolves around an episode of adultery). The experience of belonging to an association of cousins that have the same last name as you (Wang, in this book) that look after legal troubles or debts you may have was a cool insight into the experiences of early immigration of Chinese people to New York City. The generational gaps discussed in the book, where Ben Loy's dad is married to his Mom who has decided to stay in China while Ben Loy returns to the village he was born in to marry someone and bring her back to the United States was something I hadn't learned about before. Chinese filial relationships (father-son, cousin-cousin) come up a lot as well.
It was really cool to read a book that was originally written in 1961 mostly take place in Chinatown here in New York, which is where I live now.
March 5, 2020
I didn't know what to expect but I certainly wasn't expecting what I got!
Eat a Bowl of Tea was very much a ride.
It gave a peek into what life was like for the Chinese community. And boy was it different.
Told mostly from authoritative male perspectives, this novel focused less on the married couple and more on how their actions impacted the people around them, especially their parents.
There were some points when I was genuinely shocked, and other parts that were quite funny.
It bothered me a little that Mei had such little control over her life and failed to realize that what she was doing was wrong and couldn't be justified. But I guess the same could be said for Ben or his father.
There is a struggle between the old ways and the new ways. The old way of thinking and the new "western" way of thinking. It applies to jobs, females, movies, almost everything. America is like the more promiscuous doesn't-have-a-care-in-the-world sister compared to very strict, uptight, and traditional China. There was the enforcement of gender and cultural norms, which I expected but not to the point of domestic violence.
Ben and Mei are very weak characters, and the plot doesn't center much around them, so it makes me feel like I don't know them much at all.
Overall, I feel like I have to read this book a couple of times to get the real gist of it, which I'm not against.
Eat a Bowl of Tea was very much a ride.
It gave a peek into what life was like for the Chinese community. And boy was it different.
Told mostly from authoritative male perspectives, this novel focused less on the married couple and more on how their actions impacted the people around them, especially their parents.
There were some points when I was genuinely shocked, and other parts that were quite funny.
It bothered me a little that Mei had such little control over her life and failed to realize that what she was doing was wrong and couldn't be justified. But I guess the same could be said for Ben or his father.
There is a struggle between the old ways and the new ways. The old way of thinking and the new "western" way of thinking. It applies to jobs, females, movies, almost everything. America is like the more promiscuous doesn't-have-a-care-in-the-world sister compared to very strict, uptight, and traditional China. There was the enforcement of gender and cultural norms, which I expected but not to the point of domestic violence.
Ben and Mei are very weak characters, and the plot doesn't center much around them, so it makes me feel like I don't know them much at all.
Overall, I feel like I have to read this book a couple of times to get the real gist of it, which I'm not against.
March 18, 2025
Very readable narrative about post war Chinatown. The older "forced bachelor" generation of Chinese Americans see community somewhat differently than their youngers (who, as veterans, are permitted to bring a wife from China). Tensions abound of saving face, what is family here, and how to navigate a society essentially bereft of any matronly influences - the older set having left their "rice cookers" (a misogynist barbershop/gaming den slur) back in China many years ago.
Treatment of women in this story is rather problematic (sexualized and relegated to very specific role in the broader community), but interestingly the author actually gives the FMC (Mei Oi) a voice (and reader some insight into her thoughts). Given when the story was written, and the time period it portrays - I'm willing to make allowances (and leave with at least the hope of progress in the right direction)
Treatment of women in this story is rather problematic (sexualized and relegated to very specific role in the broader community), but interestingly the author actually gives the FMC (Mei Oi) a voice (and reader some insight into her thoughts). Given when the story was written, and the time period it portrays - I'm willing to make allowances (and leave with at least the hope of progress in the right direction)
May 11, 2021
-Did not enjoy this book
-Universal story. This plot could be placed in any group of people and it would be believable, which is a good thing
-Sexism is very prevalent in this story and not in a thematic kind of way
-It focused more on the father's perspective instead of the people who actually had the problems
-None of the characters are likeable
-The impotence felt like an add-on to connect the beginning and end of the book
-The back/hook of the novel is more interesting than the actual book
-Universal story. This plot could be placed in any group of people and it would be believable, which is a good thing
-Sexism is very prevalent in this story and not in a thematic kind of way
-It focused more on the father's perspective instead of the people who actually had the problems
-None of the characters are likeable
-The impotence felt like an add-on to connect the beginning and end of the book
-The back/hook of the novel is more interesting than the actual book
March 28, 2024
A very interesting read that explores the lives of Chinese immigrants. The blending of Asian culture in an American background really shows the dichotomy of immigrant life, and how it can affect relationships and oneself both physically and mentally.
March 18, 2025
3.5
Good, not great. I heavily dislike how Chu depicts women--he is definitely a product of his age, but in this case it really does affect the art he makes. Loved reading for insight into Chinese-American culture in the 50s and on.
Good, not great. I heavily dislike how Chu depicts women--he is definitely a product of his age, but in this case it really does affect the art he makes. Loved reading for insight into Chinese-American culture in the 50s and on.
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November 11, 2019yikes
June 16, 2021
Not at all what I was expecting - in a good way - a page-turner, well-written, with interesting characters. I wish more was said about the older pseudo-bachelors.
June 21, 2021
These books are totally addictive.
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