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sinogaze's review
5.0
there is a certain hopefulness within the desperation of growing up chinese american and a need to prove something and a beautiful integration of distant traditions and myths woven into contemporary life….. love wittman love his beatnik vibe and the coalition he builds despite being genuinely insane
adum_'s review
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
epounders13's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Two stars because, 1- it is a book and 2-it had potential. But the litany of banter from the main character, sometimes spoken, sometimes just his thoughts were so mind-numbing. For the first time in my life, I could not finish the book due to the writing.
illymally's review
4.0
There is so much to take from this book its probably not possible on just one time through. Alternately vivid and clever, and labyrinthine and dreamy, and consistently hilarious, it can be disorienting. I found myself skating through the nearly-nonsensical parts taking them for ambiance and enjoying the trip, and circling underlining copying some one-liners and paragraphs that were so crisp and wise.
howattp's review
1.0
One of the worst books I've ever read. I think it's because I hate the main character more than the plot.
It's a trippy hippy stream of consciousness narrative with a hyper racist man who is paranoid about everyone else being racist against him.
It's a trippy hippy stream of consciousness narrative with a hyper racist man who is paranoid about everyone else being racist against him.
karenchiarajo's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
melanie_reads's review
3.0
Really want to give this a 3.5 - there are quite a few long-winded passages that don't necessarily go anywhere. But the redeeming quality of this book has to do with the Chinese American experience and the racism faced by people who have been in America for generations.
markcdickson's review
5.0
“The extent of the soul is from oneself to wherever living beings are.”
A stream-of-consciousness story of a Chinese American struggling through his own internalised hatred.
Wittman Ah Sing is pursuing what he’s told himself he needs to do to find comfort in a country that insists on making him as uncomfortable as possible. As he begins to achieve, he then rages against the fact that nothing will ever actually be enough.
This is a depressingly contemporary-feeling book with a prose and astuteness that I can only aspire to create. Wittman is an insufferable, misogynistic human being that I couldn’t stand to be around for more than a minute in real life, but goddamn is he a fascinating character brought to life so vividly.
After not enjoying “China Men”, I was ready to write off Hong Kingston as an author who I only enjoyed a single book from. This book has fully changed my mind into making her someone who I can’t wait to read everything from.
Just don’t make me ever watch Wittman’s play in real life because oh good lord did it sound absolutely terrible.
A stream-of-consciousness story of a Chinese American struggling through his own internalised hatred.
Wittman Ah Sing is pursuing what he’s told himself he needs to do to find comfort in a country that insists on making him as uncomfortable as possible. As he begins to achieve, he then rages against the fact that nothing will ever actually be enough.
This is a depressingly contemporary-feeling book with a prose and astuteness that I can only aspire to create. Wittman is an insufferable, misogynistic human being that I couldn’t stand to be around for more than a minute in real life, but goddamn is he a fascinating character brought to life so vividly.
After not enjoying “China Men”, I was ready to write off Hong Kingston as an author who I only enjoyed a single book from. This book has fully changed my mind into making her someone who I can’t wait to read everything from.
Just don’t make me ever watch Wittman’s play in real life because oh good lord did it sound absolutely terrible.
emilyjackson's review
1.0
Who am I kidding? I'm not wasting my time finishing this book, especially since we're not being tested on it.
frankkasell's review
4.0
The question: is Wittman Ah Sing a) Chinese, b) American, c) a beatnik, or d) all of the above. The answer is, of course, d) all of the above, but that leads very naturally into the next question: which comes first? Is he an American of Chinese heritage? Is he a Chinese beatnik? Is he a Chinese man who happens to live in San Francisco? I suspect these are the sorts of questions about primary identity that many immigrants and children of immigrants ask themselves. Wittman was born in the U.S. and was named after Walt Whitman, but he grew up (and is still connected to) the Chinese community in Northern California. Parts of this community function essentially as an exclave of China...they follow their own laws, customs, culture, etc. rather than integrate into the culture of the United States. It is important for Wittman to allow both parts of himself to flourish naturally. Wittman is preoccupied with the question of identity. How does one retain his or her cultural heritage (i.e. not allow it to be melted into the great melting pot of the United States) but also integrate into American society? How does one avoid becoming a novelty or exotic attraction without totally assimilating? Wittman is disgusted by Chinese people who have seemingly abandoned their heritage (e.g. some female characters in the book had eyelid surgery to create Western-looking eyelid folds), but he is equally offended by Westerners who try to pigeonhole him into stereotypical "oriental" roles.
It seems perfect to me that Maxine Hong Kingston chose to set this book in the time that she did (the 1960s). Being a part of the beatnik movement allowed Wittman to comfortably straddle both worlds--the free-flowing jazz poetry of the beats has similar roots to the type of Chinese epic story Wittman longs to tell. Additionally, the sometimes-mentioned-but-rarely-focused-on war that we all know was going on at that time provided an interesting backdrop to the similarly Asian vs. American war that was going on within Wittman's soul.
Fittingly, this exploration of identity had equally insightful things to say about 1960s San Francisco culture and Chinese culture. Both facets of the book were written with verve and vigor, and deserve a wider audience than they apparently have. Therefore, I hereby heartily recommend this book to you (assuming you are interested at all in the topics this book covers).
It seems perfect to me that Maxine Hong Kingston chose to set this book in the time that she did (the 1960s). Being a part of the beatnik movement allowed Wittman to comfortably straddle both worlds--the free-flowing jazz poetry of the beats has similar roots to the type of Chinese epic story Wittman longs to tell. Additionally, the sometimes-mentioned-but-rarely-focused-on war that we all know was going on at that time provided an interesting backdrop to the similarly Asian vs. American war that was going on within Wittman's soul.
Fittingly, this exploration of identity had equally insightful things to say about 1960s San Francisco culture and Chinese culture. Both facets of the book were written with verve and vigor, and deserve a wider audience than they apparently have. Therefore, I hereby heartily recommend this book to you (assuming you are interested at all in the topics this book covers).
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