mimooo's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
a generous two stars for writing some sustained sentences and there being a story. otherwise i dont want to be rude but personally i strongly hated this book and all it stands for. lmao. gothic, trashy, edgy…. to be fair i get why flowers in the attic was banned and idk, using incest as a major plot point and attaching it to the delusions of a an abusive Crazy Chinese Mother ™️ is so………wild … for the author to do.
so what i got from this book is that the ”good people” are this milky white blonde genius damaged free thinker teen born of true love and her ethereal white blond mother who had to give her up while the evil stepmother is a Taiwanese former Madame’s daughter with her compliant, nerdy, brainwashed mama’s boy hapa son. the former who is mauled to death by a dog and the latter is a piano playing horny manchild. not like thats what white supremacists think about asian male boys but it’s ok for the author to say so because she’s taiwanese. ok.
to me every character and plot decision in this book setup is depraved, orientalist, and misogynist but to make it worse makes a pretense at being against those things thru the feeble lens of “people who are mentally ill perpetuate generational trauma look look look racism and emotional abuse jokerfy women especially immigrant women see??? see???” not to be rude but when the revolution comes the author needs to be placed in a reeducation camp and recant bc the MFA libs programmed her good. sorry for being vitriolic but all you need to write to be lauded as a good progressive novelist of color ™️is a little trauma p*rn
characters’ dialogue is incredibly stilted needlessly twee “my chickadee” and also just offensive tell me the you did not have a taiwanese teen sex worker say “no one happy, yes?” and “you want sex with me?” to an american john. please get a grip. what do you mean “her face looked smudged by a thumb” the CIA really won the culture war because MFAs will write anything and pass it off as a good metaphor.
i also really hated how Daisy/Jia-Hui’s character’s relationship with language was handled. writing her “lack of fluency” and linguistic humiliation by every character was certainly a choice but then it was mad inconsistent . i appreciate the words in chinese to a degree but the device ended up gimmicky bc if you really want to alienate whites (rather than showboat or merely signal to them the limits of their understanding) then commit to the bit and don’t just make half of the chinese words be the names of foods for god’s sake
Awful book, truly deserves a prestige tv remake bc ppl love diverse depictions of suffering and transgression which allow you sickos to vicariously channel your racist perverted sadistic thoughts into feeling like you learned something .
so what i got from this book is that the ”good people” are this milky white blonde genius damaged free thinker teen born of true love and her ethereal white blond mother who had to give her up while the evil stepmother is a Taiwanese former Madame’s daughter with her compliant, nerdy, brainwashed mama’s boy hapa son. the former who is mauled to death by a dog and the latter is a piano playing horny manchild. not like thats what white supremacists think about asian male boys but it’s ok for the author to say so because she’s taiwanese. ok.
to me every character and plot decision in this book setup is depraved, orientalist, and misogynist but to make it worse makes a pretense at being against those things thru the feeble lens of “people who are mentally ill perpetuate generational trauma look look look racism and emotional abuse jokerfy women especially immigrant women see??? see???” not to be rude but when the revolution comes the author needs to be placed in a reeducation camp and recant bc the MFA libs programmed her good. sorry for being vitriolic but all you need to write to be lauded as a good progressive novelist of color ™️is a little trauma p*rn
characters’ dialogue is incredibly stilted needlessly twee “my chickadee” and also just offensive tell me the you did not have a taiwanese teen sex worker say “no one happy, yes?” and “you want sex with me?” to an american john. please get a grip. what do you mean “her face looked smudged by a thumb” the CIA really won the culture war because MFAs will write anything and pass it off as a good metaphor.
i also really hated how Daisy/Jia-Hui’s character’s relationship with language was handled. writing her “lack of fluency” and linguistic humiliation by every character was certainly a choice but then it was mad inconsistent . i appreciate the words in chinese to a degree but the device ended up gimmicky bc if you really want to alienate whites (rather than showboat or merely signal to them the limits of their understanding) then commit to the bit and don’t just make half of the chinese words be the names of foods for god’s sake
Awful book, truly deserves a prestige tv remake bc ppl love diverse depictions of suffering and transgression which allow you sickos to vicariously channel your racist perverted sadistic thoughts into feeling like you learned something .
mushimilda's review
4.0
Un premier roman dur et bien écrit sur une famille dysfonctionnelle, qui recoupe les questions d’immigration, de maladie mentale et d’inceste.
J’ai été un peu déçue par la fin, qui arrivait trop tôt à mon goût dans le développement de l’histoire et qui laisse trop d’éléments sans résolution. Apparemment l’autrice travaille sur un nouveau roman en ce moment, j’ai hâte de continuer à la lire.
J’ai été un peu déçue par la fin, qui arrivait trop tôt à mon goût dans le développement de l’histoire et qui laisse trop d’éléments sans résolution. Apparemment l’autrice travaille sur un nouveau roman en ce moment, j’ai hâte de continuer à la lire.
jaclyn_sixminutesforme's review
3.0
After devouring THE COLLECTED SCHIZOPHRENIAS a few weeks ago for bookclub and loving Esme Weijun Wang’s prose, I wanted to try her fiction. @brittaboehler and I decided to buddyread this one for the booktube readathon this month.
THE BORDER OF PARADISE has a fascinating premise and a focus on mental health and interracial marriage (among many other issues) that I found was really well explored and written. It is written in a series of alternating character perspectives, starting with David in his mid-teens in post-war Brooklyn. He is left in charge of the family piano business as a teen and commands an incredible fortune as a result of some business decisions made early on. He is also afflicted by social anxieties and mental health issues that surface almost immediately in the novel. We progress through David’s life as he marries and starts a family - saying much more about the plot specifically ventures into spoiler territory!
Thematically, we also see the legacy of mental health issues on a family, including inter-generational trauma associated with it.
What I would have appreciated reading in a review of this is some kind of warning or heads up that a significant portion of the plot would be centered around quite an explicit incest narrative. I did not always feel that the symbolism or intent behind its use was explored as fulsomely as it could have been, and given its nature it felt like it was used more for shock value at times.
I have seen a wonderful review by a reader who connected with this novel more favorably so would encourage you to check out @postgradreads review! This was an incredibly well written book, and I will look out for more of Wang’s work going forward.
THE BORDER OF PARADISE has a fascinating premise and a focus on mental health and interracial marriage (among many other issues) that I found was really well explored and written. It is written in a series of alternating character perspectives, starting with David in his mid-teens in post-war Brooklyn. He is left in charge of the family piano business as a teen and commands an incredible fortune as a result of some business decisions made early on. He is also afflicted by social anxieties and mental health issues that surface almost immediately in the novel. We progress through David’s life as he marries and starts a family - saying much more about the plot specifically ventures into spoiler territory!
Thematically, we also see the legacy of mental health issues on a family, including inter-generational trauma associated with it.
What I would have appreciated reading in a review of this is some kind of warning or heads up that a significant portion of the plot would be centered around quite an explicit incest narrative. I did not always feel that the symbolism or intent behind its use was explored as fulsomely as it could have been, and given its nature it felt like it was used more for shock value at times.
I have seen a wonderful review by a reader who connected with this novel more favorably so would encourage you to check out @postgradreads review! This was an incredibly well written book, and I will look out for more of Wang’s work going forward.
dai2daireader's review
4.0
4.5 stars!
The first and most prominent voice in this story is that of David Nowak. David seems to be on a path to destructive behavior but then he meets Marianne and the tide seems to change for him in a positive way. But, his neuroses get the best of him and the reader gets an up close and personal view of how he struggles with his mental health. David has a windfall of cash, travels to Taiwan and finds a girl named Jia-Hui who he exoticizes in a clearly racist way. Then the story switches its focus to Jia-Hui (whose named is switched to Daisy) and her life before David and the life they live afterwards together in the United States.
I could not stop reading this book!! In the beginning of the book you are listening to the self-deprecating voice of David so when Daisy enters the picture, she is a welcome narrator. But, as the story moves along, David and Daisy switch positions in a way. There is a transition that takes place and Daisy's voice becomes one of fear (largely due to David) and she changes. When it comes to their children, Daisy keeps them sheltered from the outside world and she morphes into a character that is quietly diabolical.
The first and most prominent voice in this story is that of David Nowak. David seems to be on a path to destructive behavior but then he meets Marianne and the tide seems to change for him in a positive way. But, his neuroses get the best of him and the reader gets an up close and personal view of how he struggles with his mental health. David has a windfall of cash, travels to Taiwan and finds a girl named Jia-Hui who he exoticizes in a clearly racist way. Then the story switches its focus to Jia-Hui (whose named is switched to Daisy) and her life before David and the life they live afterwards together in the United States.
I could not stop reading this book!! In the beginning of the book you are listening to the self-deprecating voice of David so when Daisy enters the picture, she is a welcome narrator. But, as the story moves along, David and Daisy switch positions in a way. There is a transition that takes place and Daisy's voice becomes one of fear (largely due to David) and she changes. When it comes to their children, Daisy keeps them sheltered from the outside world and she morphes into a character that is quietly diabolical.
lipglossmaffia's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
4.0
dreamofbookspines's review
4.0
Content warning: suicide, incest (brother/sister), sexual assault & rape, physical & emotional abuse
David as narrator is massively boring and seems aimless, but the book picks up once the other narrators chime in. I especially loved Daisy's voice, even while I was horrified at some of the things she did. William gives me the creeps, though is that because he's a product of his upbringing or inherently a creep? Wang deals with horrific subjects as gently as I think she could, with both compassion and depth.
David as narrator is massively boring and seems aimless, but the book picks up once the other narrators chime in. I especially loved Daisy's voice, even while I was horrified at some of the things she did. William gives me the creeps, though is that because he's a product of his upbringing or inherently a creep? Wang deals with horrific subjects as gently as I think she could, with both compassion and depth.
sillybeepboop's review
3.0
I spent a majority of this book breaking out in hives because the content was so deeply disturbing and dismal, but it pulled together gracefully in the end. The multi-perspective chapters were clever in their drawn out portrayals of intergenerational trauma. I wish there was a warning that I was going to read about incest, sexual and emotional abuse though. Necessary information before picking it up.
mhall's review
4.0
Pretty amazing novel, I will be thinking about it for a long time. David Nowak, growing up in Brooklyn in the 1940s, is the heir to the Nowak piano company. He struggles with mental illness his whole life. After his idyllic relationship with childhood sweetheart Marianne ends, he marries a young woman from Taiwan who goes by Daisy. The story is told from his point of view, and then Daisy's, and then from that of their children.
What was really fantastic was how dramatic and gothic things get in the middle - the story becomes so gripping.
What was really fantastic was how dramatic and gothic things get in the middle - the story becomes so gripping.