Asia
My tenth-grade English teacher had no idea what she was doing to my taste in reading when she forced her reluctant students to read The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. Though I was really too young to understand all the emotional intricacies involved in the tale (I was 14 and never been kissed, what did I understand about marital slavery?) I was captivated by plight of O-lan, the hardworking farm wife who was so terribly abused and neglected by her husband.
That small taste of China has shaped a good portion my reading life. My trips to the bookstore always involve a stop along the literary shelves to see if there are any interesting new American-Asian books on the shelves. I'm willing to forgo a happy ending just to experience a taste of a life that I can barely imagine. The lives of women in historical China, Japan, and other Asian countries are so foreign to me that I can barely comprehend I'm reading stories based on reality instead of fantasy books that spring forth from too-fertile imaginations.
By now you've probably guessed at least one of the authors I want to make mention of in this review.
Amy Tan.
How can anyone not love her honest, magical writing style? If you are interested in "literature" at all, you've probably at least seen the movie Joy Luck Club. Personally, that particular book is not my favorite since I'm not a fan of short stories. I much preferred The Kitchen God's Wife and The Bonesetter's Daughter, two full length novels that left me completely satisfied with the breadth of the stories. I especially like the way both novels intersperse old China with modern America. The juxtaposition provides just the right touch of reality.
A couple of months ago I discovered a "new" Tan on the shelves, The Opposite of Fate. I did my little book-dance-of-joy while my husband slowly backed away and pretended that he didn't know me. I obsessively read about two-thirds of it, before losing interest. I'd like to say I cherished every word, but frankly I found it to be very repetitive. It's a collection of essays and articles by Tan, reflecting on her life as a writer. Since they were all written separately many of the essays repeat information. Also, the mystique of Amy Tan is laid bare and that disturbs me even though it shouldn't. I'm old enough to know better, but I still like to hero-worship my favorite authors and this book doesn't allow me to do that with Amy Tan anymore. She'd probably be pleased.
In my continuing quest for good Asian-American literature, I picked up Gish Jen's Mona in the Promised Land, a story that was supposed to explore the assimilation of a Chinese girl into a very Jewish community in New York in the 1970s. Given my love for all things Chinese, I found the book somewhat interesting and I might even recommend it to anyone who grew up in the early 1970s. However, as much as I love stories of Chinese immigrants, it was impossible for me to fall in love with book. The plot was hyperactive, with lots of ideas but very little story. It takes Jen almost 300 pages to examine one summer of teen angst. For me, the Chinese roots of the main character, Mona, are not explored in enough depth. Instead, a whole chunk of the story is spent on the problem of African-American race discrimination. It felt like Jen was trying to tackle too many issues in this small novel. When she allowed Mona to interact with her typical Chinese mother things flowed well, but most of the time Mona was off behaving like a typical American teen of the early '70s. Boring.
More exciting is the tale of Koly, a thirteen-year-old Indian girl who must face an early marriage to a man she's never met. Gloria Whelan won the National Book Award for her short, poignant, yet hopeful Homeless Bird. This sweet, simple little book brought tears to my eyes as I read about the plight of a young girl thrust into the cold, cruel world of her new in-laws. Even more distressing is the truth in the book. I'd like to imagine children aren't treated this way in the year 2005, but unfortunately India (among other countries) still follows brutal dowry laws. Books like this help educate those who can work for change.
Along those same lines is Anita Desai's Fasting, Feasting. The book straddles modern-day India and New England, told from the point of view of a mentally-disabled Indian woman and her brother, a student in the United States. This book explores the complexities of human relationships no matter the culture or locale. Overall it's very enjoyable and enlightening, though it can be a hard read at times. This book introduced me to the horrific tradition of bride-burning in India, an issue every woman should be aware of. The book ends rather abruptly, which irritates the happy-ending lover in me, but it is well written and thought-provoking.