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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
I found the book a little slow at first, but then I found myself really getting into it. Well written and also very well narrated by Angela Lin - I will have to check out more (audio)books by this author and / or with this narrator.
I liked the twists and turns of the two narratives, especially since we knew a little bit about how the "flashback" one of them would end from the very beginning. This gave the ending of that narrative a certain inevitability, while you still couldn't help hoping that some things would turn out otherwise. I also liked the strange effect of hearing the same voice narrating from adult Lilian's perspective, and then referring to Lilian in the third person in the "flashback" narrative. I also really liked that I learned a lot about the history of Chinese-US relations through Gary's narrative.
A couple things that seemed a little strange though - Lilian, who is half-white and grew up in the States, is able to pass herself off as Chinese while teaching and traveling in China, despite both her race and likely having an accent. That just doesn't ring true to me. Also, I was surprised at the lack of mention of racism in Gary's narrative, given that he lived in a largely white community in the States in the 1950's and onward.
I liked the twists and turns of the two narratives, especially since we knew a little bit about how the "flashback" one of them would end from the very beginning. This gave the ending of that narrative a certain inevitability, while you still couldn't help hoping that some things would turn out otherwise. I also liked the strange effect of hearing the same voice narrating from adult Lilian's perspective, and then referring to Lilian in the third person in the "flashback" narrative. I also really liked that I learned a lot about the history of Chinese-US relations through Gary's narrative.
A couple things that seemed a little strange though - Lilian, who is half-white and grew up in the States, is able to pass herself off as Chinese while teaching and traveling in China, despite both her race and likely having an accent. That just doesn't ring true to me. Also, I was surprised at the lack of mention of racism in Gary's narrative, given that he lived in a largely white community in the States in the 1950's and onward.
Disclaimer: This audiobook was provided by the publisher for review.
It took a little while to get into this novel - the characters were complex but not instantly intriguing, and the plot moved slowly. But as the story developed, although the pace didn't pick up immensely, my investment in the story itself grew. The way the narrator switches between the voices of the two main characters is very well done and helps pull the story along. Although you know (or think you know) the end at the beginning, the characters themselves are compelling and the reader becomes invested in their wellbeing and the outcome of all the moving pieces. Very well done, with quite a bit of interesting historical timestamp.
It took a little while to get into this novel - the characters were complex but not instantly intriguing, and the plot moved slowly. But as the story developed, although the pace didn't pick up immensely, my investment in the story itself grew. The way the narrator switches between the voices of the two main characters is very well done and helps pull the story along. Although you know (or think you know) the end at the beginning, the characters themselves are compelling and the reader becomes invested in their wellbeing and the outcome of all the moving pieces. Very well done, with quite a bit of interesting historical timestamp.
Deceptively simple, kind of a fever dream of a book. You're in it before you realize and experiencing a daughter's increasingly complicated questioning of her family's past. Ha Jim is never a flashy writer and his dialogue sounds like words heard through a body of water -- even the Americans sound like characters from a Chinese fairy tale, and all sound exactly the same. There's no real mystery or twist, and there's way, way, way too much straight information (about Sino-American relations, dumped in almost like a magazine piece). Yet the story is able to withstand it, somehow (I confess I skipped most of it).
"A Map of Betrayal" tells the tragic story of a Chinese secret agent through his journals that span from 1949 to 1980 and his American-born daughter, Lilian's, travels to China to reconstruct her secretive father's history. Weimin was a novice in the business of espionage, but his English skills were noticed by his superiors who encouraged him to leave his new bride in the countryside in Shandong and to apply for a job with a U.S. cultural agency. Although Weimin longs to reunite with his bride and the twins who were born after he left in China, he adopts an alias, Gary Chang, and becomes a translator for the CIA. At the prodding of his handlers, Gary settles down in the United States, marrying a white woman and fathering Lilian.
Although Gary was the "biggest Chinese spy ever caught in North America" and was reputed to have been responsible for immeasurable damage to U.S. national security, Ha Jin makes the reader sympathize with a man who is tried and convicted as a traitor. Gary is ordered by his superiors to Americanize himself as thoroughly as possible and to remain a mole in the U.S. despite his desire to return to China. Ha Jin depicts a lonely, divided man torn between his loyalties to his two countries and his two families. Although he grows to love his adopted country, Gary never stops missing China and the family he left behind whom he is repeatedly assured through the years were being cared for by the Communist party in his absence. It is precisely his desire to do right by the American woman who had given him a child and a home that dooms Gary who ultimately dies a traitor, abandoned by the country to whom he slavishly devoted 30 years.
Gary's story is poignant and compelling, but Lilian's present day connections with her relatives in the United States and China is not as successful, and some of the side plots (like the shadowy nephew Ben) are ridiculous and dilute the power of Gary's tale. The novel also suffers from uneven and clumsy writing, but Gary's story is powerful that the novel should not be overlooked.
Although Gary was the "biggest Chinese spy ever caught in North America" and was reputed to have been responsible for immeasurable damage to U.S. national security, Ha Jin makes the reader sympathize with a man who is tried and convicted as a traitor. Gary is ordered by his superiors to Americanize himself as thoroughly as possible and to remain a mole in the U.S. despite his desire to return to China. Ha Jin depicts a lonely, divided man torn between his loyalties to his two countries and his two families. Although he grows to love his adopted country, Gary never stops missing China and the family he left behind whom he is repeatedly assured through the years were being cared for by the Communist party in his absence. It is precisely his desire to do right by the American woman who had given him a child and a home that dooms Gary who ultimately dies a traitor, abandoned by the country to whom he slavishly devoted 30 years.
Gary's story is poignant and compelling, but Lilian's present day connections with her relatives in the United States and China is not as successful, and some of the side plots (like the shadowy nephew Ben) are ridiculous and dilute the power of Gary's tale. The novel also suffers from uneven and clumsy writing, but Gary's story is powerful that the novel should not be overlooked.
Mildly entertaining but so self-righteous and a completely lazy attempt by a man to write a female first-person narrator. Mostly a vehicle for the author's thoughts on China and geopolitics - I could give the analysis itself a higher rating if I didn't take personal offense at the way it was shoehorned into a fiction narrative
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 stars. This read more like a play-by-play summary of events than an actual novel, and came across as extremely dry and a little stilted at times. Certain things were fairly predictable, and the whole book felt like it plodded along most of the time. Plus, the "happy ending" felt a little too cut and dry.
Another Dollar store find. I was a huge “The Americans” fan. Indeed, it was one of those shows that, when it finally finished, I felt like I had lost people I really knew. It was so final. I don’t feel like that about the spy in this book, but it explores the same kind of spy craft. In both cases, the spy slips into American life and fully embraces it while at the same time holding their motherland and everything it stands for in their heart. It’s messy and people get hurt, but it’s a long game. As another reviewer noted, it’s hard to believe that this a novel. It reads like an actual account.