Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I wanted to like this more than I did but I'm glad I read it and will look out for more work from this author. The narrative is uneven, at times the storytelling flows with ease and humor and at other times appears stilted and unsure. I feel this scratches the surface of what Alice Pung really wants to tell us or maybe politeness keeps her from sharing too much about her family and her feelings. The most interesting parts to read, for me, were when she was retelling family stories and when she was with her boyfriend once she'd gone to uni. Maybe when focusing on these issues she was able to let go a little as they weren't a critical reaction to her immediate family. I look forward to reading more of her work and seeing her style mature.
'Unpolished Gem' is a story of Alice Pung's life as a migrant coming from Cambodia, an outsider to the new country of Australia. This is a heartwarming and sometimes depressing story about how she grew up to learn that everyone is different.
Having to do this book for a school assignment, we needed to read deeply into it. Alice's interesting life living with foreign parents and family members can be a real eye-opener for people looking from the outside in. Her 'typically Asian' life, she explains, is more than study and behaving like a good daughter for her family. Alice has some tough times in her life and some parts of the book can be confronting. Others are sweet and charming, showing her sense of family pride.
I enjoyed Alice's comical and witty style of writing, making every memory of hers play out through the words. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and how unafraid Alice Pung was to share the memorable and truly solemn parts of her life, always keeping me aware through her somewhat metaphorical way of sharing things.
Having to do this book for a school assignment, we needed to read deeply into it. Alice's interesting life living with foreign parents and family members can be a real eye-opener for people looking from the outside in. Her 'typically Asian' life, she explains, is more than study and behaving like a good daughter for her family. Alice has some tough times in her life and some parts of the book can be confronting. Others are sweet and charming, showing her sense of family pride.
I enjoyed Alice's comical and witty style of writing, making every memory of hers play out through the words. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and how unafraid Alice Pung was to share the memorable and truly solemn parts of her life, always keeping me aware through her somewhat metaphorical way of sharing things.
Alice Pung's Laurinda was one of my favourite books of last year, and because I read that so recently it was a little difficult at first to separate the fictional family of Laurinda from Pung's real family in this book.
Unfortunately, I listened to the audio book instead of reading inside my head, and the narrator was faced with the same problem all audio book narrators are faced with when rendering non-native English speakers: How to make two different voices from the same person sound like the same person? Naturally when Alice's mother and aunties spoke they would have been speaking in their native tongues, so there was really no need to affect on a condescending, lispy foreign accent when rendering their dialogue in English. Do people imagine that immigrants speak pidgin versions of their own native languages just because their English isn't good? As pointed out by Pung, her mother spoke at least 5 languages, though not English.
So this affected my reaction to this book -- I feel that the fictional family of Laurinda was actually rendered in a much more sympathetic fashion than these woman immigrants. I felt I was encouraged to other them at every step, criticising their old-fashioned attitudes and mystical beliefs. And maybe I should be critical of those. It certainly worked to paint a portrait of a difficult bicultural life for first gen immigrant children.
Alice isn't allowed to lie on the grass, and is a little envious of the carefree way in which her first boyfriend lies down and looks at the sky. I had Chinese friends through high school in New Zealand, so wasn't all that surprised when I went to Japan as an exchange student and found that I was breaking some terrible gender taboo by simply sitting in 'agura' position -- only boys are permitted to sit comfortably on the ground with their legs crossed. Girls must sit with both legs together and to one side, bending the spine and making it harder to sit in general, reminiscent of how women were once expected to ride horses in the West. I wonder if anything has changed for Asian immigrant children since the 90s?
By the end of this book I was impressed at how Alice Pung can write in metaphors, and I especially admire the funny connections which are left for readers to piece together ourselves, like the inevitable comparison between virginity and ant-infested easter eggs in the epilogue.
Unfortunately, I listened to the audio book instead of reading inside my head, and the narrator was faced with the same problem all audio book narrators are faced with when rendering non-native English speakers: How to make two different voices from the same person sound like the same person? Naturally when Alice's mother and aunties spoke they would have been speaking in their native tongues, so there was really no need to affect on a condescending, lispy foreign accent when rendering their dialogue in English. Do people imagine that immigrants speak pidgin versions of their own native languages just because their English isn't good? As pointed out by Pung, her mother spoke at least 5 languages, though not English.
So this affected my reaction to this book -- I feel that the fictional family of Laurinda was actually rendered in a much more sympathetic fashion than these woman immigrants. I felt I was encouraged to other them at every step, criticising their old-fashioned attitudes and mystical beliefs. And maybe I should be critical of those. It certainly worked to paint a portrait of a difficult bicultural life for first gen immigrant children.
Alice isn't allowed to lie on the grass, and is a little envious of the carefree way in which her first boyfriend lies down and looks at the sky. I had Chinese friends through high school in New Zealand, so wasn't all that surprised when I went to Japan as an exchange student and found that I was breaking some terrible gender taboo by simply sitting in 'agura' position -- only boys are permitted to sit comfortably on the ground with their legs crossed. Girls must sit with both legs together and to one side, bending the spine and making it harder to sit in general, reminiscent of how women were once expected to ride horses in the West. I wonder if anything has changed for Asian immigrant children since the 90s?
By the end of this book I was impressed at how Alice Pung can write in metaphors, and I especially admire the funny connections which are left for readers to piece together ourselves, like the inevitable comparison between virginity and ant-infested easter eggs in the epilogue.
How comes that all the books I read for school assignment I have to struggle through? That was my first thought about Unpolished Gem. That was on page 50 or something. Some pages later I realised the problem about the book; it doesn't have a story. Normally in a book you would know were it's heading, and I don't mean that you know what will happened exactly or that you know the end, couse that just makes the book bad. No, I mean that there is a problem in most books, a quest, or just something that have to be solved. Unpolished Gem doesn't have that.
The book is about Alice, from a little time before she was born until she is about 19 years old. The thing I didn't like about the book is that there is no big problem that starts in the beginning of the book and gets solved at the end. Most of the time I read the book I waited for a story to turn up. The book is from Alice's view and she tells a nice story about her life, but it's never gripping. At some points of the book you actually got a story, it's her grandmother when she was young, her parents before they came to Australia or it's Alice herself having problems with boys. All of these stories catch you for a moment, but not more then a moment. Another thing is that I doesn't really understand all the problems she have. I doesn't understand her thoughts, most of the time I just get annoyed at her.
Sometimes when I read a book I don't like, at the end all the excitement comes and I start to like the book anyway. That's not the case here. The end is just as confusing as the rest of the book. It were a good place to end the book though, but then there's the epilogue. It is really just a continuing of the story, and I don't understand why it's there. Also the epilogue ended kind of weird, just in the middle of a story I thought.
All in all, this was no good book.
The book is about Alice, from a little time before she was born until she is about 19 years old. The thing I didn't like about the book is that there is no big problem that starts in the beginning of the book and gets solved at the end. Most of the time I read the book I waited for a story to turn up. The book is from Alice's view and she tells a nice story about her life, but it's never gripping. At some points of the book you actually got a story, it's her grandmother when she was young, her parents before they came to Australia or it's Alice herself having problems with boys. All of these stories catch you for a moment, but not more then a moment. Another thing is that I doesn't really understand all the problems she have. I doesn't understand her thoughts, most of the time I just get annoyed at her.
Sometimes when I read a book I don't like, at the end all the excitement comes and I start to like the book anyway. That's not the case here. The end is just as confusing as the rest of the book. It were a good place to end the book though, but then there's the epilogue. It is really just a continuing of the story, and I don't understand why it's there. Also the epilogue ended kind of weird, just in the middle of a story I thought.
All in all, this was no good book.
An interesting tale about a Chinese Cambodian family in Footscray, with all the tensions, cultural differences. Her father opened a Retrovision franchise Alice was required to work in, her grandmother thanked Father Govt for free money. Cultish but not compelling.
A wonderfully charming memoir of family and belonging as a second generation Australian. Every time I read Alice Pung I'm completely taken by her voice. This has given me so much inspiration for my own writing.
Was not particularly inspired by the first few chapters - I didn't like the writing from others' perspectives. But it soon became an engrossing story. A fascinating peek at a migrant family and their life and relationships.
Honestly, I was bored at times. The ending was jarring too, because it was so random and sudden. I could sort-of understand why Alice did what she did and I'm glad that she was able to honestly evaluate her relationships, but I think the story should have continued a little after that (the scene should not be cut out because it's a very key scene, but it needed a follow-up).
You may think I despised this book but I didn't. The author has a great sense of humor and she's able to poke fun at the strictness of her parents while still remaining the ideal obedient daughter. Although I am confused by her family's background. Alice's father's mother was definitely Chinese, she immigrated to Cambodia because she was a revolutionary and the government was after her. There she met Alice's father's father and I'm not sure if he's Cambodian or Chinese. She met him at a Chinese school, so I do think he's Chinese but he was way older and a teacher so maybe he was Cambodian and just taught at a Chinese school. I'm pretty sure Alice's mother is Cambodian though, Alice doesn't reveal much about the beginning of her life, her story starts when her mom is thirteen.
Nevertheless, I loved reading about the Chinese-Cambodian culture and Alice's interesting family. There are two things that really stuck me in reading this novel, how Alice and her family call white people "ghosts". I found this quite amusing and smiled to myself every time I read it. I also thought that their definition of gossip/insults was brilliant, "Words with bones in them, my grandmother calls them. Words to make the other person fall flat on their back and die a curly death, my mother says. The sharp ones, the ones you can use if ever you need a weapon to protect yourself." (pg. 36). I also loved the glimpse into Australian culture in general, mainly though vocabulary. For example, an ocker (see summary of the book above) is someone with an Australian accent who speaks and acts in an "uncultured manner" (thanks Wikipedia!). I had no clue what an ocker was but I had fun reading the bits of slang (bugger!) scattered throughout the novel and I was pleased that there was no translation (I'm not even sure if this book was published in the U.S., I don't think it was) you had to use context clues or just go look it up. Alice and her grandmother have a special relationship that was really heart-warming to read abou
Unpolished Gem was a humorous look into the life of an average middle class Chinese-Cambodian family living in Australia. I learned a lot about Chinese-Cambodian and Australian culture. The strong characters, rich history and culture are never sugar-coated which keeps the book interesting and original. I do think the ending could have been way better and the story becomes tedious at times, but the author's light hearted look at things and her way with words, helped me finish the book. I cheered when she said "I wanted to know whether it was only because I was 'exotic' and if so, what that word meant to him. If he told me he liked my almond eyes and caramel skin, I would tell him to buy a bag of confectionery instead, because i was sick of it all-how we always had to have hair like a black waterfall, alabaster or porcelain skin, and some body part or other resembling a peach." (pg. 230)I LOVE this line! I have mixed feelings on this memoir, but I would say if you want to learn about being Asian in Australia then this book is a must-read for you.
You may think I despised this book but I didn't. The author has a great sense of humor and she's able to poke fun at the strictness of her parents while still remaining the ideal obedient daughter. Although I am confused by her family's background. Alice's father's mother was definitely Chinese, she immigrated to Cambodia because she was a revolutionary and the government was after her. There she met Alice's father's father and I'm not sure if he's Cambodian or Chinese. She met him at a Chinese school, so I do think he's Chinese but he was way older and a teacher so maybe he was Cambodian and just taught at a Chinese school. I'm pretty sure Alice's mother is Cambodian though, Alice doesn't reveal much about the beginning of her life, her story starts when her mom is thirteen.
Nevertheless, I loved reading about the Chinese-Cambodian culture and Alice's interesting family. There are two things that really stuck me in reading this novel, how Alice and her family call white people "ghosts". I found this quite amusing and smiled to myself every time I read it. I also thought that their definition of gossip/insults was brilliant, "Words with bones in them, my grandmother calls them. Words to make the other person fall flat on their back and die a curly death, my mother says. The sharp ones, the ones you can use if ever you need a weapon to protect yourself." (pg. 36). I also loved the glimpse into Australian culture in general, mainly though vocabulary. For example, an ocker (see summary of the book above) is someone with an Australian accent who speaks and acts in an "uncultured manner" (thanks Wikipedia!). I had no clue what an ocker was but I had fun reading the bits of slang (bugger!) scattered throughout the novel and I was pleased that there was no translation (I'm not even sure if this book was published in the U.S., I don't think it was) you had to use context clues or just go look it up. Alice and her grandmother have a special relationship that was really heart-warming to read abou
Unpolished Gem was a humorous look into the life of an average middle class Chinese-Cambodian family living in Australia. I learned a lot about Chinese-Cambodian and Australian culture. The strong characters, rich history and culture are never sugar-coated which keeps the book interesting and original. I do think the ending could have been way better and the story becomes tedious at times, but the author's light hearted look at things and her way with words, helped me finish the book. I cheered when she said "I wanted to know whether it was only because I was 'exotic' and if so, what that word meant to him. If he told me he liked my almond eyes and caramel skin, I would tell him to buy a bag of confectionery instead, because i was sick of it all-how we always had to have hair like a black waterfall, alabaster or porcelain skin, and some body part or other resembling a peach." (pg. 230)I LOVE this line! I have mixed feelings on this memoir, but I would say if you want to learn about being Asian in Australia then this book is a must-read for you.
I've obviously come late to this book, which means I could see how influential Pung's memoir-style has been on other writers. Her breezy tone belies the darkness of much of her experiences, which both lets her explore intergenerational trauma without descending into misery porn and to create a book packed with cultural content that is accessible to an audience with little cultural background.
Having said that, coming late to the book also might mean it lacked the sense of fresh voice it carried when first published. I enjoyed the look into Footscray and the deft way that Pung navigates writing about difficult family dynamics. In particular, her relationship with her grandmother balances the depth of adoration of a child, with the knowing eyes of a more critical adult.
The latter part of the book concerns Pung's development of adult identity. This includes a relationship mired in tedium, and I found myself a little disengaged (as to be fair, in some ways did Pung). However, Pung is an interesting and assured writer, and I am quite looking forward now to her subsequent memoir about her father.
Having said that, coming late to the book also might mean it lacked the sense of fresh voice it carried when first published. I enjoyed the look into Footscray and the deft way that Pung navigates writing about difficult family dynamics. In particular, her relationship with her grandmother balances the depth of adoration of a child, with the knowing eyes of a more critical adult.
The latter part of the book concerns Pung's development of adult identity. This includes a relationship mired in tedium, and I found myself a little disengaged (as to be fair, in some ways did Pung). However, Pung is an interesting and assured writer, and I am quite looking forward now to her subsequent memoir about her father.
I’ve read the stories (fictional and non-fictional) of migrants to Australia before, but mostly from the Italian or Greek perspective, not from that of the more recent Asian migrants. This is Alice Pung’s account of her parents journey from Cambodia, as refugees and how they made life in Australia, and how she grows up somewhere in the middle. Although this is nothing like my story, I somehow seemed to relate to her.
I found her account very personal, especially in the final chapters, and I found myself feeling really grateful to her for sharing so much with the reader. I enjoyed it immensly.
I found her account very personal, especially in the final chapters, and I found myself feeling really grateful to her for sharing so much with the reader. I enjoyed it immensly.