2024 #8: Four Treasures of the Sky (Zhang)

Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Set against the backdrop of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Four Treasures of the Sky is a heartbreaking story of Daiyu, a young Chinese girl who longs to be a calligraphist, but who encounters the worst of humanity, very far from home. There are moments of extreme beauty, particularly when Daiyu calls upon the lessons of calligraphy to face obstacles: "The inkstone asks for destruction before creation--you must first destroy yourself, grind yourself into a paste, before becoming a work of art." (307) Zhang illuminates Daiyu's "coming of age" within a tragedy, but the saving grace is Daiyu's own growth as a person. It is an important narrative that reflects the experience of far too many Chinese immigrants in the United States, and unearths a history that has been too often squelched.

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2021 #15: A Good Fall (Ha Jin)

 

A Good Fall by Ha Jin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There's a lot here: some whimsy, a lot of dark humor, some heartache...in other words, life. But here Ha Jin captures live with a hyper-consciousness of the experience of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. We are invited into struggles of love and life, often against the backdrop of Flushing in Queens, NYC, and sometimes the understanding is remote, and other times it is more visceral. "A Composer and his Parakeet" hearkens back to an older time of fables, while keeping a modern narrative. Other stories, such as "Choice" and "The House Behind the Weeping Cherry" demonstrate that necessity and circumstance can both blur lines and forge relationships. It is an excellent book for the nightstand, reading one story at a time. To read it cover to cover would likely be rather unwieldy, although it would likely highlight Ha Jin's overall message regarding immigrant experience. That the characters are dynamic and diverse is important unto itself, and this is a great offer to think about the many layers and facets of life that fly under the radar.