balladofreadingqueer's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed this short story collection following the lives of different Vietnamese immigrants and Vietnamese Americans.
These stories were all quite different but themes of family distance and connection, cultural identity, the Vietnam war and misunderstandings.
My favourite stories were those that included queer characters/storylines (obviously) like Love Leather where a Vietnamese immigrant works at a gay BDSM shop and Close to the Bone where the son is gay but his family largely ignored it.
I also enjoyed the stories that focused on the macabre. Like Hunger discussing Cannibalism, Grandma’s Tales with the dead(ish) grandma in the freezer and self-immolation in Birds of Paradise Lost. Would recommend.
These stories were all quite different but themes of family distance and connection, cultural identity, the Vietnam war and misunderstandings.
My favourite stories were those that included queer characters/storylines (obviously) like Love Leather where a Vietnamese immigrant works at a gay BDSM shop and Close to the Bone where the son is gay but his family largely ignored it.
I also enjoyed the stories that focused on the macabre. Like Hunger discussing Cannibalism, Grandma’s Tales with the dead(ish) grandma in the freezer and self-immolation in Birds of Paradise Lost. Would recommend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism, Death, Eating disorder, Racism, Suicide, War, and Xenophobia
bbx's review against another edition
3.0
Superb collection of short stories. I’m consistently amazed at Lam’s ability to write deftly with so many different voices and tell so many different points of view and STILL end up with this thematic anthology. Lam’s stories depicts the agony of displacement, the horrors of what boat people had to go through, the nostalgia-tinged beauty of Vietnam, the agony of family separation, life for the survivors in America (specifically San Francisco, which I appreciated the multiple, very specific references to), and the complex relationships within generations as these traumas and memories are processed. Some of these stories are absolutely heartbreaking and I have to remind myself they’re not real people — only the textual representations of the real horrors that have already passed.
I picked this up on a whim at the library and was not disappointed.
I picked this up on a whim at the library and was not disappointed.
book_club_cat's review against another edition
5.0
How many times is it appropriate to cry reading a single book?
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