Book Reviews: Winter 2021
Most of these reviews have been pulled from my Goodreads account, while two were written for Bookreporter.com.
“The Grammarians” by Cathleen Schine
“The Grammarians” is a beautiful story that intertwines the dramas of family and language. What a perfect way to personify prescriptivism and descriptivism — identical twins! The two are sister ideologies born out of language, after all. Laurel (the descriptivist) and Daphne (the prescriptivist) have always been enamored with words (I can only hope to have a child so excited by receiving a dictionary one day). The two are the classic twins archetypes; they do everything together, until their values begin to change. Daphne, a copy editor, prides herself on being a “language scold” and purist. Laurel, a teacher-turned-poet, finds late success through her poems that “appropriate” older texts, such as war letters between families that don’t use standard English grammar.
The best part about the novel is that you can still see glimpses of both ideologies within the sisters at different points: Earlier in her career, Daphne finds herself writing a piece on fashionable words for Vogue and is interested in overhearing a boy describe his shoes as “tight” (meaning “cool”). Laurel doesn’t want her daughter’s language to be formed by a nanny who might not speak “proper” English.
I saw myself in each of the sisters constantly, and I found fault with each of them as well. By the time the sisters’ feud is in full swing, you can’t help but wonder: Are these two ideologies reconcilable?
Perfect for self-proclaimed grammarians or those flirting with a career in language, “The Grammarians” offers a fresh take on exploring grammar, a take that isn’t in a (nonfiction) grammar or style guide. I love what Cathleen Schine has done here, and so will every other English lover.
“Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee
“Pachinko” is Min Jin Lee’s four generation–long narrative about Korean immigrants in Japan, starting in the 1930s and ending in 1989 (which is also the year when Lee got the idea for this novel). We start with Yangjin, Hoonie, and their daughter, Sunja, who eventually becomes pregnant by a man who cannot marry her. By a stroke of luck, a minister passing through their Korean village proposes to her; they get married and move to Osaka. And thus a chain of events involving a huge cast of characters begins.
Lee’s prose is to the point and beautifully thoughtful. While she prefers description over pages of dialogue, I never felt disengaged during those descriptions. I truly understood each character, no matter how small their role was. The point of this novel was to show reality: “Pachinko” makes you realize how small we are, yet simultaneously important and influential in one another’s lives. The butterfly effect lives strong in this book.
More on reality, I was grateful to learn more about Japan’s imperialist and discriminatory history, which I don’t remember learning much about, especially when it came to the treatment of Koreans, whether on the peninsula or on Japan’s four islands. It’s one of those things you know happened, but you don’t realize what the experiences were actually like. Lee continuously feeds you those experiences to the point where your heart will break repeatedly. You keep rooting for these characters and their collective happiness, but something always gets in the way. It is as Lee said; pachinko itself is a metaphor for these people’s lives — life is a gamble.
The only reason this gets four and not five stars is the final part of the book. The world spread out a bit more, and when I wanted the story to tell me more about Kyunghee, Yangjin, and Yoseb, I learned instead about Haruki, Ayame, Etsuko, and Hana. I appreciated learning more about these characters, but not at the risk of losing scenes with Sunja’s family. Especially when it came to the Haruki and Ayame storyline, it felt strange to have a couple chapters on them, only for them not to be explored again. And at the end of the day, I was a bit sad not to have more closure on Yoseb, a character I had learned to like. Maybe I’m also harsher on the third part of the book just because of its sorrow, which was a different kind of sorrow from the first two parts. The first two parts had sadnesses that were to be almost expected during their times, but even well after the war, it was quite disturbing how the Baek family still endured hardship. And, perhaps, that was Lee’s point.
“Pachinko” is a novel of immigration, family, gray areas, compromise, and sympathy. It is a reflection of life in every way, especially in that it felt too short.
“Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir” by Elizabeth Miki Brina
See review on Bookreporter!
“These Violent Delights” by Chloe Gong
What had attracted me to “These Violent Delights” is the fact that its author is still in college. I instantly knew I had to find out it Chloe Gong would captivate me like she had captivated her previous online following and Simon & Schuster. This girl is no joke! Insane talent here within this debut — the writing is beautiful and more well crafted than many authors with several published books.
“These Violent Delights” is inspired by “Romeo and Juliet,” except it takes place in 1926 gang-run Shanghai — and there’s a new deadly contagion threatening the city. Protagonists Juliette and Roma have an enemies-to-lovers relationship obviously, and I love how Gong has written it. They flow so well with each other; none of it feels forced or cheesy (that can be said of all dialogue and interactions in the book).
Gong also included a trans woman in her main group of characters, as well as two men who clearly love each other. While these three, with Juliette and Roma, all make for amazingly likable characters with more depth we’ve yet to see, I think I prefer our three supporting cast members. They are so interesting, and their potential can only be more explored when the sequel comes out.
If you like exciting plots, “These Violent Delights” is for you; it has great detail and charm, and so many twists and turns. If I haven’t made it clear already, I cannot wait for the next book. There are so many questions left to be answered!
“Tokyo Ever After” by Emiko Jean
I had been looking forward to this for a while and was able to get my hands on an ARC! “Tokyo Ever After” is the story of teenaged Izumi finding out her father is the crown prince of Japan. As someone who’s always liked Japanese culture, I was so excited to read this. Ultimately, the plot and characters were cute, and I was happy with it once I had finished it. Now on the other hand — I might be thinking the following because I don’t read YA a lot — but the writing simply fell short. I’ve read a few YA books where the language feels a bit cringe-y or out of touch (Izumi, in her narration, refers to Noora as her “bestie” unironically. Does anyone use that phrase unironically?). However, it didn’t stop me from reading the whole thing and feeling satisfied, and also wishing it could get turned into a cute film. That would be so fun, which is what this book is, fun — definitely good for a little escape.
“The Upstairs House” by Julia Fine
See review on Bookreporter!
“A Wild Winter Swan” by Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire’s “A Wild Winter Swan” is a charming holiday book, without it being too focused on Christmas. An Italian American Christmas is the setting, but not the main issue in the plot. It’s also a quick read, which makes it perfect to get through even as you might be spending time with family around the holidays.
The novel focuses on 15-year-old Laura who lives with her grandparents in New York City. Christmas Eve dinner is coming, and Laura cannot screw it up—but a boy with one swan wing instead of an arm shows up at her window. Can she keep his presence a secret as she figures out what to do with him?
I started out liking the book, but by the end, I had wished there was more. There’s unexplored potential, and it felt like the story had been cut short. It seemed strange that Laura’s idea for Hans was just to make him another wing in order to fly away, instead of find a way to turn his wing back into an arm. The reason for that choice was never really explained. I liked how Maguire portrayed Hans with both human and animal characteristics, but it was a shame we didn’t get to know him more, as he is the book’s namesake. The story really is just about Laura and her own interpersonal issues; Hans and the Christmas backdrop are simply tools to get through that.
All in all, it was cute, and I’d recommend it, but it wasn’t remarkable.
