Scan barcode
taromilkpng's review against another edition
2.0
extremely mid,,, despite some moments of self-reflexivity, this book is q orientalizing in its treatment of asia as the wasian diasporic subject's dreamspace & thus projection screen. worse, this book is profoundly, &, with a shocking abundance that i have yet to behold in another book, guilty of what som-mai nguyen has called a "jazz-hands half-nelson device" in diasporic lit in which writers "extrapolate from orthographic coincidence and sprinkle in non-English words to assert unearned authority." the number of times i had to shout "that is NOT true!!!!" @ "explanations" of chinese etymology/definitions while reading this lol
https://astra-mag.com/articles/blunt-force-ethnic-credibility/
read this article instead of this book ... i'm sry...
https://astra-mag.com/articles/blunt-force-ethnic-credibility/
read this article instead of this book ... i'm sry...
readmayahread's review against another edition
4.0
I actually quite liked this. I think I would have preferred to read a physical book though so that I can underline or tab all the parts that I like.
I love the writing. It's pretty effective in evoking memories of my childhood and helps put my own thoughts in words.
I love the mentions of Mulan and Princess Mononoke. Two strong female characters that I like.
I love the writing. It's pretty effective in evoking memories of my childhood and helps put my own thoughts in words.
I love the mentions of Mulan and Princess Mononoke. Two strong female characters that I like.
paperback_tulips's review against another edition
Language and words are particularly important in this poetry collection. As the author uses a lot of Chinese characters in her poetry, it was pretty difficult for me personally to understand the meaning behind using the specific Mandarin words in specific poems, but also it was impossible for me to even pronounce them. This made me very disconnected from the poems. In the Notes section at the end of the collection, the meaning and pronunciation of the character used in the title (木蘭 - pronounced as 'mulan' and means magnolia) is explained, but I feel like it was too little too late - it should have been explained in the preface. In addition, other Mandarin words used in the poems are not explained. I think perhaps a person who speaks (or at least reads Mandarin) will enjoy this poetry collection, but it was definitely a big miss for me.
victoriathuyvi's review against another edition
5.0
I loved the prose-ness of the poems, but especially the descriptions of color.