Scan barcode
brennalr's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Cancer, Sexism, and Death
hilaryreadsbooks's review
5.0
Three Asian Americans grapple with racism, identity, and the perils of representation in sports, media, and entertainment in Matthew Salesses’ latest novel, THE SENSE OF WONDER. Once I started this book I couldn’t put it down. That last chapter! That last chapter!!
A while back I read a snippet by Alexander Chee on the storytelling of Korean dramas—a type of storytelling, as Matthew Salesses discusses in CRAFT IN THE REAL WORLD, that is often overlooked by western writing canons. The K-drama is full of tropes (Salesses lists a couple: body-swapping, gender-bending, ghosts, etc. but my personal favorite has got to be enemies to lovers). And not only tropes, but they also branch out into a web of sub-characters and sub-plots that all tie back together into the drama’s central story. To watch a K-drama is to love the entirety of these interconnected branching ecosystems; it is to suspend disbelief and give in to the K-drama world that breaks rules that strictly enforce ours. And, as Carrie Kang, a studio producer in THE SENSE OF WONDER, says: to love a K-drama is to have hope. Hope defines the frame of reference dramas put us in. In “dramaland,” as Salesses fondly calls it, miracles happen, love triumphs. Most importantly, the main characters experiencing miracles and love are all Asian.
THE SENSE OF WONDER makes us question what the real world, the world the characters in the book struggle in, would look like within this dramaland’s frame of reference. To not be tokenized, to not be cast aside as the Asian sidekick—to write our own Asian American stories that we star in. To let love triumph, to veer close to death and somehow find doors normally shut open so that we can come back again thriving. This type of wonder is different from wonder based in whiteness; it’s different from the wonder of American “representation” of being the only Asian in the room. It’s that wonder when you feel at home. When the story you see could be your story—or at least, you can dream someone who looks like you into that story, because there’s only one Hyun Bin in the world and he’s taken 😂
[Thank you Little Brown & Co for the gifted copy]
A while back I read a snippet by Alexander Chee on the storytelling of Korean dramas—a type of storytelling, as Matthew Salesses discusses in CRAFT IN THE REAL WORLD, that is often overlooked by western writing canons. The K-drama is full of tropes (Salesses lists a couple: body-swapping, gender-bending, ghosts, etc. but my personal favorite has got to be enemies to lovers). And not only tropes, but they also branch out into a web of sub-characters and sub-plots that all tie back together into the drama’s central story. To watch a K-drama is to love the entirety of these interconnected branching ecosystems; it is to suspend disbelief and give in to the K-drama world that breaks rules that strictly enforce ours. And, as Carrie Kang, a studio producer in THE SENSE OF WONDER, says: to love a K-drama is to have hope. Hope defines the frame of reference dramas put us in. In “dramaland,” as Salesses fondly calls it, miracles happen, love triumphs. Most importantly, the main characters experiencing miracles and love are all Asian.
THE SENSE OF WONDER makes us question what the real world, the world the characters in the book struggle in, would look like within this dramaland’s frame of reference. To not be tokenized, to not be cast aside as the Asian sidekick—to write our own Asian American stories that we star in. To let love triumph, to veer close to death and somehow find doors normally shut open so that we can come back again thriving. This type of wonder is different from wonder based in whiteness; it’s different from the wonder of American “representation” of being the only Asian in the room. It’s that wonder when you feel at home. When the story you see could be your story—or at least, you can dream someone who looks like you into that story, because there’s only one Hyun Bin in the world and he’s taken 😂
[Thank you Little Brown & Co for the gifted copy]
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Cancer, Death, Suicide, and Sexual content
low_keybookish's review
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
5.0
“We all have a story like this, an origin story about the first time the world showed us our own reflection.”
I LOVED the authors previous book, The Hundred-Year Flood. So I was very excited that he was writing another book that focuses on a Korean American basketball player (the first Asian Am NBA player) and his partner who writes, creates Kdramas.
Talk about representation in two fields (sports, media)! A lot of Wons experiences are like Jeremy Lins real story… how Asian Americans at the time were so drawn to his story and how he experienced the brunt of racism in his play time and how teams treated him.
I’m not such Jeremy Lin got into such hijinks like Won did lol, but so interested to go back to those feelings. I am not the biggest sports fan but I remember alll of the hype about him and how much Asian Americans were so proud.
“To be a minority in America is to guard what you love against other people's scorn.”
The book breaks down kdramas and the common tropes with even some excerpts from the kdramas that Carrie is creating. She’s trying to also bridge the gap btw Korean and American media.
There were some humorous moments: “She was losing her innocence now, at twenty-eight. Only a white woman could hold on to her innocence for so long.”
I’m all about how the author writes about race and the messiness of interracial dynamics (working with Black athletes for Won, how Carrie deals with the diaspora, diff characters being adopted). The “bad guy” is also Korean Am and has his own issues with jealousy, racial identity, dating white women.
One of the scenes is lifted directly from Jeremy’s life, where a security guard doesn’t believe that he actually is a basketball player when trying to go to the locker room.
This was such a breath of fresh air while trying to process the last few days. I finished it in two sittings and def recommend it with all of its layers. A lot of things happen in this book and loved the vivid plot. (Trying to not give any spoilers.)
I LOVED the authors previous book, The Hundred-Year Flood. So I was very excited that he was writing another book that focuses on a Korean American basketball player (the first Asian Am NBA player) and his partner who writes, creates Kdramas.
Talk about representation in two fields (sports, media)! A lot of Wons experiences are like Jeremy Lins real story… how Asian Americans at the time were so drawn to his story and how he experienced the brunt of racism in his play time and how teams treated him.
I’m not such Jeremy Lin got into such hijinks like Won did lol, but so interested to go back to those feelings. I am not the biggest sports fan but I remember alll of the hype about him and how much Asian Americans were so proud.
“To be a minority in America is to guard what you love against other people's scorn.”
The book breaks down kdramas and the common tropes with even some excerpts from the kdramas that Carrie is creating. She’s trying to also bridge the gap btw Korean and American media.
There were some humorous moments: “She was losing her innocence now, at twenty-eight. Only a white woman could hold on to her innocence for so long.”
I’m all about how the author writes about race and the messiness of interracial dynamics (working with Black athletes for Won, how Carrie deals with the diaspora, diff characters being adopted). The “bad guy” is also Korean Am and has his own issues with jealousy, racial identity, dating white women.
One of the scenes is lifted directly from Jeremy’s life, where a security guard doesn’t believe that he actually is a basketball player when trying to go to the locker room.
This was such a breath of fresh air while trying to process the last few days. I finished it in two sittings and def recommend it with all of its layers. A lot of things happen in this book and loved the vivid plot. (Trying to not give any spoilers.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Racism, and Infidelity
Moderate: Abandonment
More...