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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
5 Stars
I don't usually give 5*s to books that make me suffer, but here we are.
This book is...powerful. If you have ever suffered discrimination of any kind, as a woman, as a minority, Katherine's story will resonate with you. I understood her anger, which at times spiralled into paranoia from being hurt before, all too well. The instinct that you can't just complain when you've been treated unfairly, for you don't believe you would be listened to if you did - you can only use your anger as fuel to prove yourself tenfold. The defensiveness. The feeling society seems to give you as a woman that you can either live for yourself or (preferably) for someone else, and not both.
When I say this book was painful, I mean in the most honest, raw way. I have never been a fan of overly bleak books - they have always felt too emotionally manipulative to me, too obviously trying to make their readers cry. Books like The Tenth Muse and All The Light We Cannot See, on the other hand, are subtler, gentler, and in my opinion all the more heart-breaking for being bittersweet rather than outright tragic..
This book doesn't leave me feeling joyful, but it does leave me feeling seen, even though in my life I have only felt a mere echo of what Katherine feels, as an Asian-American female mathematician in the 60s. This is a book for anyone who has felt the need to prove themselves against those who are automatically accepted by society, in whatever capacity. It's for the people who worked hard, whether they were identified as "gifted" or not, because, to quote Katherine, "It isn't always the dazzling talent who ends up doing the great work. Sometimes people grow into their work, sometimes people burn out, and you never know who will stumble on the right problems at the right time. It's a matter of engaging fully, of persevering." It's for the people who showed exceptional talent, who were then condescendingly told "You did well for a girl/council estate kid/kid with disabilities! etc" as if they didn't do more than well. As if their success was some kind of fluke. This is a book which stands up for all of these people who have been trodden on. It sees us.
So yeah, this book hurt, but beautifully so.
I don't usually give 5*s to books that make me suffer, but here we are.
This book is...powerful. If you have ever suffered discrimination of any kind, as a woman, as a minority, Katherine's story will resonate with you. I understood her anger, which at times spiralled into paranoia from being hurt before, all too well. The instinct that you can't just complain when you've been treated unfairly, for you don't believe you would be listened to if you did - you can only use your anger as fuel to prove yourself tenfold. The defensiveness. The feeling society seems to give you as a woman that you can either live for yourself or (preferably) for someone else, and not both.
Spoiler
God, Henry's story broke my heart. She was my favourite and I was hoping she and Katherine would reconcile in the end, but alas. I'm kind of intrigued why she was so against being friends with Katherine again? A question I'll bring up in the book club, definitely.When I say this book was painful, I mean in the most honest, raw way. I have never been a fan of overly bleak books - they have always felt too emotionally manipulative to me, too obviously trying to make their readers cry. Books like The Tenth Muse and All The Light We Cannot See, on the other hand, are subtler, gentler, and in my opinion all the more heart-breaking for being bittersweet rather than outright tragic.
Spoiler
This book has a happy ending. Katherine is an amazing mathematician who is recognised for her talents - it is a happy ending for her, and for all the woman before her who were not awarded the recognition they deserved. Finally, women have prevailed. But there is also heartache, for what could have been. For what she could have had with Peter, with Henry. She chose herself, and it was the best decision, but the ache is there all the same. Even now, in 2020, though things have improved greatly over the years, there is still that feeling that women must choose, one or the other. We see Henry and Katherine are both happy and sad about where their lives have taken them, two sides of the same coin. Perhaps this is why, in the end, they cannot reconcile.This book doesn't leave me feeling joyful, but it does leave me feeling seen, even though in my life I have only felt a mere echo of what Katherine feels, as an Asian-American female mathematician in the 60s. This is a book for anyone who has felt the need to prove themselves against those who are automatically accepted by society, in whatever capacity. It's for the people who worked hard, whether they were identified as "gifted" or not, because, to quote Katherine, "It isn't always the dazzling talent who ends up doing the great work. Sometimes people grow into their work, sometimes people burn out, and you never know who will stumble on the right problems at the right time. It's a matter of engaging fully, of persevering." It's for the people who showed exceptional talent, who were then condescendingly told "You did well for a girl/council estate kid/kid with disabilities! etc" as if they didn't do more than well. As if their success was some kind of fluke. This is a book which stands up for all of these people who have been trodden on. It sees us.
So yeah, this book hurt, but beautifully so.
Luck, or happiness, or nearly everything in this life, I've found, is largely a matter of perspective. I learned this when my mother left - how one action can shift everything on it's axis. From the moment she was gone, I always saw the past and our family through the lens of her departure. The depth of her unhappiness, her capacity to leave us, how little I knew her - the question of who we even were to each other - coloured everything backwards.
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This book wasn't what I was expecting it to be but I absolutely loved it. It follows the story of Katherine, her love of mathematics and her search for a solution to the Riemann hypothesis. This leads her to Germany, and results in another search, for the truth of her family's history and who she really is.
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The book covers a lot of ground: sexism, especially in academia; the after effects of World War II; grief; guilt; family; relationships; mansplaining... It's all done wonderfully and is a very readable and engaging story.
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Thanks very much to the publisher for sending me a copy for review.
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This book wasn't what I was expecting it to be but I absolutely loved it. It follows the story of Katherine, her love of mathematics and her search for a solution to the Riemann hypothesis. This leads her to Germany, and results in another search, for the truth of her family's history and who she really is.
.
The book covers a lot of ground: sexism, especially in academia; the after effects of World War II; grief; guilt; family; relationships; mansplaining... It's all done wonderfully and is a very readable and engaging story.
.
Thanks very much to the publisher for sending me a copy for review.
I was really drawn into the plot of this novel and didn't want it to end! Give me all of the ladies in fields dominated by men, just trying to figure out how to make it work.
I’ve not really read anything quite like this and I think the novelty and the family mysteries were why in the end I enjoyed this book. My heart was pulled over the various situations of inequality the women faced.
Very nicely written. I recommend it. I might revisit and continue this review at a later date.
emotional
reflective
tense
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
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
At times, it felt like there was too much going on in this story, but, in hindsight, I think it's just the pacing was off. Too much was rushed when the story could have been given more pages. Brevity is all about balance, and sometimes it really shone through. Sometimes, though, there were spots in this narrative where I wish we had dwelled a bit more. Getting family history from her father (not to mention really processing the health concern and its hypothetical impacts that prompted him to tell the truth in the first place)...Actually discovering what happened to family members during WWII...Literally the rest of her career after she comes back from Germany...
Katherine was compelling enough as a character that I would have travelled more pages with her and learned more of her story happily. Chung did an excellent job of presenting the historic struggle of a woman trying to work toward and achieve something that's outside the box of gender norms created by men. While some aspects of this struggle are given to us very straight-forward, other pieces have more duality, and we watch Katherine grapple with what exactly compromise would mean on various levels and how it would affect key relationships.
I liked how some context we had was in the form of two stories from Katherine's childhood: the one about the Tenth Muse, and the other about Princess Kwan-Yin. Those tales and being reminded of them simplified the root of the tension that kept coming up, which was about Katherine having to decide if she should choose herself (her career and mathematical aspirations and whatever else she alone wanted out of life) or if she, for whatever reasons, would be better off making a more "selfless" choice. The power of choice is an intriguing thing to watch a character wrestle with, and I so appreciate that, despite this being a work of fiction where everything could have ended smoothly, we didn't have fluffy results.
A final thought is that the last two pages were very unnecessary, and I think the story would have concluded on a much more solid note had we not switched to an entirely different character's POV and just stuck with Katherine's, who'd been our narrator all along anyway.
Katherine was compelling enough as a character that I would have travelled more pages with her and learned more of her story happily. Chung did an excellent job of presenting the historic struggle of a woman trying to work toward and achieve something that's outside the box of gender norms created by men. While some aspects of this struggle are given to us very straight-forward, other pieces have more duality, and we watch Katherine grapple with what exactly compromise would mean on various levels and how it would affect key relationships.
I liked how some context we had was in the form of two stories from Katherine's childhood: the one about the Tenth Muse, and the other about Princess Kwan-Yin. Those tales and being reminded of them simplified the root of the tension that kept coming up, which was about Katherine having to decide if she should choose herself (her career and mathematical aspirations and whatever else she alone wanted out of life) or if she, for whatever reasons, would be better off making a more "selfless" choice. The power of choice is an intriguing thing to watch a character wrestle with, and I so appreciate that, despite this being a work of fiction where everything could have ended smoothly, we didn't have fluffy results.
A final thought is that the last two pages were very unnecessary, and I think the story would have concluded on a much more solid note had we not switched to an entirely different character's POV and just stuck with Katherine's, who'd been our narrator all along anyway.