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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There is a wonderful story here, but there is also anger in this book. Anger about misogyny in particular, and as a female in a male-dominated field, I can certainly understand it... and relate to it, to a degree. It also made me feel strangely uncomfortable at times, and that's something I am going to be reflecting on for a while after reading this book -- whether I've become so accustomed to my path and my story that I have become callous to the still difficult realities.
The Tenth Muse follows Katherine, a girl raised by a Chinese immigrant and a white WWII veteran. She is ostracized at school because of how she looks and her mixed parenthood and that pushes her to pursue her one love - mathematics. Her life becomes tangled with solving the Riemann Hypothesis... and her past.
The first bit of the novel feels like watching a movie that is being fast-forwarded. Many things happen but Katherine remains sort of the spectator - everything impacts her life but nothing really does. And thus it feels more of a slice of life book than anything until she is hit by a revelation. As she realizes her life has been built in lies, she pursues the truth while she attempts to live her own life to her fullest: conquering the Riemann Hypothesis and a romantic relationship. The second part deals with all of these and while I wouldn't say it is fast-paced, there's quite a bit going on for you to keep your interest.
I found the book to be great for what it was. It ticked all the boxes, but ultimately it didn't rock my world nor I necessarily cared about the characters. As a woman in academia, I vibed with a lot she struggled with and when Peter does what he does, I understand why she reacted the way she did. The book carries a beautiful feminist message and proves that women in academia can make it (but then again, it also shows a bit of the internalized 'men will be men' and yada yada).
Not sure who can enjoy this type of book, but if you like historical fiction, a bit of a slower pace, and slice of life stories - go for it. I'd compare this to Lisa See's novels when it comes to pacing and atmosphere, though Catherine Chung did not travel to Asia or Asian communities per se here, she went a different direction.
PS. I don't know who needs to hear this but if you hate maths, it's okay. The book doesn't dwell too much on numbers. I just sort of ignored all the numerical/theoretical mumbo jumbo that would occasionally pop up and it was okay. (My one brain cell struggles with numbers, yes).
The first bit of the novel feels like watching a movie that is being fast-forwarded. Many things happen but Katherine remains sort of the spectator - everything impacts her life but nothing really does. And thus it feels more of a slice of life book than anything until she is hit by a revelation. As she realizes her life has been built in lies, she pursues the truth while she attempts to live her own life to her fullest: conquering the Riemann Hypothesis and a romantic relationship. The second part deals with all of these and while I wouldn't say it is fast-paced, there's quite a bit going on for you to keep your interest.
I found the book to be great for what it was. It ticked all the boxes, but ultimately it didn't rock my world nor I necessarily cared about the characters. As a woman in academia, I vibed with a lot she struggled with and when Peter does what he does, I understand why she reacted the way she did. The book carries a beautiful feminist message and proves that women in academia can make it (but then again, it also shows a bit of the internalized 'men will be men' and yada yada).
Not sure who can enjoy this type of book, but if you like historical fiction, a bit of a slower pace, and slice of life stories - go for it. I'd compare this to Lisa See's novels when it comes to pacing and atmosphere, though Catherine Chung did not travel to Asia or Asian communities per se here, she went a different direction.
PS. I don't know who needs to hear this but if you hate maths, it's okay. The book doesn't dwell too much on numbers. I just sort of ignored all the numerical/theoretical mumbo jumbo that would occasionally pop up and it was okay. (My one brain cell struggles with numbers, yes).
Ugh, this book was GOOD but I made the mistake of reading the synopsis and thinking this was non-fiction. So I was expecting this to be more of a memoir/discovery of family ties and for all of it to be interwoven with the subject of math/academia. This assumption is totally my mistake, but did cause some issues for my enjoyability while reading. About half-way, I thought "this cannot be someone's REAL life!", and... it's not. Despite the main character and the author having the same name. IDK, it's silly but wanted to mention in case anyone else thought it was non-fiction.
Otherwise, I had an OK time reading. I thought the main character was a teensy bit annoying at times and didn't *love* the fact that she is attracted to more than one male colleague/cohort. This is a theme throughout the book, and I guess I get that... just didn't like it. I like how the author decided to tell this story and her writing.
Otherwise, I had an OK time reading. I thought the main character was a teensy bit annoying at times and didn't *love* the fact that she is attracted to more than one male colleague/cohort. This is a theme throughout the book, and I guess I get that... just didn't like it. I like how the author decided to tell this story and her writing.
“Like the world got larger,” I said. “No, like my mind expanded. Like my mind was holding the world, and the world was holding me.”
“Your mind beheld the mind of the world,” my mother said. “And it recognized yours in return.”
Catherine Chung’s “The Tenth Muse” is an engaging, informative, and heart-wrenching novel about an exceptional woman’s life. It is told from the perspective of a much older and wiser Katherine, who speaks of her life from early childhood in post-WWII small-town America, through her years as a Maths major at university, covering her awakening to the wonders of nature and science, her struggle to be respected in a male-dominated field, and her ongoing search for identity and belonging, whilst also giving short introductions to important women in the field of mathematics, and highlighting lesser known parts of WWII history. The scope is mindboggling, but Chung expertly weaves all these strands into a thought-provoking page-turner.
As a child of an interracial relationship (her father is American, her mother Chinese) with an unusual aptitude for maths and science, Katherine experiences a feeling of otherness from early on. From her primary school teacher shaming her for being too quick-witted in the classroom, to being underestimated by professors, both her race and gender only serve to increase the bias people approach her with:
“Even now, I feel impatient when asked about what being these things mean to me—the expectation that because my race and my gender are often the first things people notice about me, they must also be the most significant to me.”
However, Katherine doesn’t get bogged down by this – she is a natural-born fighter, stubborn and proud:
“I began to speak out of turn in classes, not waiting to be called on, but anticipating, jumping in, and asking for clarification. I had learned that if I waited to be called on, my turn would never come.”
Don’t let the theme of maths deter you from picking up this novel: Chung’s descriptions make the field approachable, and even fascinating – and this is coming from someone with barely any understanding of maths. The maths theme aside, this novel covers a wide range of aspects: questions of identity and belonging, abandonment, betrayal, a woman’s place in academia, family secrets, and individual ways of dealing with a difficult historical past. A thoroughly enjoyable read – highly recommended!
Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What started out slow got progressively better as I read on. At first, I didn't like the biography style but once I got to the meat of the story, I was hooked.
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated