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A review by ladynigelia
Pen America Best Debut Short Stories 2017 by
3.0
LeVar Burton Reads episode 9
There's the important fantasy element of pickling memories, but the story also touches on being torn between two worlds. For the grandmother it's literally China and the US. For Katie, both worlds are in the US, but the cultures are still difficult to bridge. As an Asian American I recognized some of the painful comments made toward her.
Deciding how to deal with painful memories is a difficult balance. We do need to learn from our mistakes and if we forget, how will we learn? But wouldn't it be so much easier to pickle an especially traumatic memory so we could move past them more easily? Who are we if we don't remember our past? This thread also edges toward senility and Alzheimer's. They're not specifically addressed, but the undercurrent is there.
I think I prefer my stories to have clear morals rather than making me think too deeply about the meaning and who I am... This certainly does provoke a lot of questions.
There's the important fantasy element of pickling memories, but the story also touches on being torn between two worlds. For the grandmother it's literally China and the US. For Katie, both worlds are in the US, but the cultures are still difficult to bridge. As an Asian American I recognized some of the painful comments made toward her.
Deciding how to deal with painful memories is a difficult balance. We do need to learn from our mistakes and if we forget, how will we learn? But wouldn't it be so much easier to pickle an especially traumatic memory so we could move past them more easily? Who are we if we don't remember our past? This thread also edges toward senility and Alzheimer's. They're not specifically addressed, but the undercurrent is there.
I think I prefer my stories to have clear morals rather than making me think too deeply about the meaning and who I am... This certainly does provoke a lot of questions.