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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
A quick, well written short story collection. Touching on numerous themes, some passages could be triggers for some readers. Beyond that, watch for the pieces that connect certain stories to others.
love her stuff. thanks for mentoring ricky on his thesis
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
The first story did not hook me, neither did the second one really, and I had to really make myself keep reading. As I went on, I got more and more absorbed by the way Ma tells a short story and the creative premises she builds. By the end, I was sad it was over because I don’t know where I’d find anything like it. I love how she plays with the line between fiction and reality, lived experience as a starting point for all fiction. Favorites were: G, Returning, and Peking Duck.
slow-paced
3.5 stars
This satiric and feministic collection of eight absurd, funny, and disturbing short stories by Ling Ma grabbed my attention a lot. It's following the lives of different Chinese women trying to overcome their problems and situations in their weird (often non-realistic) lives.
I liked most of the stories, but the last one called "Tomorrow" was the weirdest and most disturbing, so that's why I guess I liked it the most. I mean: imagine you're pregnant and your baby child's arm is hanging from your vagina all the time through the pregnancy. Wow.
This satiric and feministic collection of eight absurd, funny, and disturbing short stories by Ling Ma grabbed my attention a lot. It's following the lives of different Chinese women trying to overcome their problems and situations in their weird (often non-realistic) lives.
I liked most of the stories, but the last one called "Tomorrow" was the weirdest and most disturbing, so that's why I guess I liked it the most. I mean: imagine you're pregnant and your baby child's arm is hanging from your vagina all the time through the pregnancy. Wow.
devoured this. Reminded me of the Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury which I love in the way the fantastical realities are finite but also so close to our own. These short stories are brilliant and haunting. Not to mention feminine in a way that is powerful without sacrificing honesty or vulnerability. My favorites were G, Returning, and Peking Duck.
The theme of these stories is "approaching something great, and then stopping." The endings are jarring and seem to happen right as we're about to get answers. I can see doing that once or twice, but I swear it happened with every single story. Short stories don't always have to be satisfying, but you have to give me *something.* I seem to recall having this same feeling with her other book, Severance. I guess Ling Ma just isn't for me.
I already knew within 50 pages that this was a 5 star read. Ma’s post-apocalyptic novel Severance shot up in popularity during the early days of the pandemic, but this was my first encounter with her gorgeous writing. We start strong with “Los Angeles,” where a woman lives with 100 of her ex-boyfriends and a husband that speaks only in dollar signs. Later, in “Peking Duck,” a standout in this superlative lineup, a Chinese American writer grapples with issues of appropriation and authenticity. During a competitive writing program, she recounts a demeaning incident between her mother and her wealthy white employer. After the reading, she is taken to task by the only other Asian person in the class for perpetuating harmful stereotypes. Beginning to end, it’s a masterclass in metafiction.
Some reviewers have pointed out there is not a discernible difference in the voice of each story. This is true, but it added something special to my experience. The unnamed protagonist’s abusive ex boyfriend has the same name in the first two stories. So I pictured the same narrator in every story. And the same, almost supernaturally beleaguered, husband. This mild misreading lent a off kilter dreamy vibe to my impression of the book that really stayed with me.
Some reviewers have pointed out there is not a discernible difference in the voice of each story. This is true, but it added something special to my experience. The unnamed protagonist’s abusive ex boyfriend has the same name in the first two stories. So I pictured the same narrator in every story. And the same, almost supernaturally beleaguered, husband. This mild misreading lent a off kilter dreamy vibe to my impression of the book that really stayed with me.