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lattelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
“Culture is not fate; it only offers templates, which individuals can finally accept, reject, or modify, and do.”
Gish Jen's discussions about the intersections of art, culture, and how one views one's self made for a beautiful introspective work in which she dissects her father, her own literature, and her place as an author who straddles two very different cultures. I've been intrigued for a long time in the idea of identity as self and what that means, and I found that Jen's book has made for solid landing ground.
This book is almost half-memoir, half-academic nonfiction, filled with countless artifacts, including her own father's memoir. Combined, it creates both a thoroughly engaging read that had me chewing on my thoughts as I read it on the subway.
Gish Jen's discussions about the intersections of art, culture, and how one views one's self made for a beautiful introspective work in which she dissects her father, her own literature, and her place as an author who straddles two very different cultures. I've been intrigued for a long time in the idea of identity as self and what that means, and I found that Jen's book has made for solid landing ground.
This book is almost half-memoir, half-academic nonfiction, filled with countless artifacts, including her own father's memoir. Combined, it creates both a thoroughly engaging read that had me chewing on my thoughts as I read it on the subway.
kfan's review against another edition
4.0
A lot I didn't understand but loved the stuff about her father and her writing. Very sweet ending.
lishiyo's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of things to chew. As a Chinese American woman, there were so many observations that ring true to me both about my motherland and the country I grew up in, especially the comment that my American generation recognizes in independence a flipside that is loneliness and a lack of community, while I see my relatives in China determined to cultivate more Western values like independent thinking and individuality in their children. I've always felt that both orientations, independence and interdependence, are important for societies to thrive even if their average temperatures for comfort falls more on one side of the spectrum or the other - it's not that one is better or worse than the other, that yin is better than yang, that the mountain is better than the sea; they have their own strengths and weaknesses and nurture their own ecosystems, ones that invariably have some species more or less suited to it than others but a great variety nonetheless.
rlbasley's review against another edition
3.0
I love Gish Jen's book but for some reason I just wasn't able to get in this book. It was well written but I think it was just not a subject I could get into right now. I'm going to get a copy (my copy is from the library) and keep it around to read more throughly later
rick_sam's review against another edition
3.0
I took this book to expand my horizon on West vs East. The Book is dry, with personal anecdotes.
The Core idea of the book:
Independent: “individualistic self – stresses uniqueness, defines itself via inherent attributes such as its traits, abilities, values, and preferences, and tends to see things in isolation."
Interdependent “collectivist self – stresses communality, definites itself via its place, roles, loyalties, and duties, and tends to see things in context.”
Imagine having narratives, communication between these two?
If you are interested in Cross-Cultural context, Immigrants, East-West differences.
Deus Vult,
Gottfried
The Core idea of the book:
Independent: “individualistic self – stresses uniqueness, defines itself via inherent attributes such as its traits, abilities, values, and preferences, and tends to see things in isolation."
Interdependent “collectivist self – stresses communality, definites itself via its place, roles, loyalties, and duties, and tends to see things in context.”
Imagine having narratives, communication between these two?
If you are interested in Cross-Cultural context, Immigrants, East-West differences.
Deus Vult,
Gottfried
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