A review by mysta
Vi, by Kim Thúy
2.0
[note: this review is for the English translation by Sheila Fischman]
I found this book to be interesting from a cultural perspective (and, given how similar the author's background is to Vi's, I'm making the assumption that this fictional story is well-grounded in reality). The writing was pretty and well done. But that's really all I can really say. I can't say I was particularly engaged with the story or characters, or particularly cared about any of them (which may have contributed to my getting characters mixed up more than once). I'm writing this review less than a week after reading the book, and have already forgotten how it ends.
It really reads more like a memoir or a diary than a "traditional" piece of fiction, and maybe that contributed to the problem. That style of writing is just a little too removed from the action for me - we never see anything happen in "real time", we never get to actually "meet" any of the characters... maybe it would have resonated with me more if it had actually been the author's memoir. I actually prefer this style in non-fiction, over writing about real events and people in the same manner you would write a fictional novel. But reading about events that you know actually happened, written by the person who actually lived through them, is (to me) a completely different experience than reading the exact same story and knowing it's fictional. I do assume (maybe incorrectly) that much of this story is based on the author's experience, but even still, it just didn't work for me.
That said, I would still recommend this book to others. It didn't work for me personally, but it was well-written, and worth the read.
I found this book to be interesting from a cultural perspective (and, given how similar the author's background is to Vi's, I'm making the assumption that this fictional story is well-grounded in reality). The writing was pretty and well done. But that's really all I can really say. I can't say I was particularly engaged with the story or characters, or particularly cared about any of them (which may have contributed to my getting characters mixed up more than once). I'm writing this review less than a week after reading the book, and have already forgotten how it ends.
It really reads more like a memoir or a diary than a "traditional" piece of fiction, and maybe that contributed to the problem. That style of writing is just a little too removed from the action for me - we never see anything happen in "real time", we never get to actually "meet" any of the characters... maybe it would have resonated with me more if it had actually been the author's memoir. I actually prefer this style in non-fiction, over writing about real events and people in the same manner you would write a fictional novel. But reading about events that you know actually happened, written by the person who actually lived through them, is (to me) a completely different experience than reading the exact same story and knowing it's fictional. I do assume (maybe incorrectly) that much of this story is based on the author's experience, but even still, it just didn't work for me.
That said, I would still recommend this book to others. It didn't work for me personally, but it was well-written, and worth the read.