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A review by smartcassart
The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies
5.0
My first completed read of 2021 - and what a great way to start the year!
The Fortunes is a collection of 4 stories spanning 150 years to recast "American history from a fresh, unfamiliar angle" by following the lives and destinies of four characters of Chinese descent, in other words, an American story I've been looking for a long time that really resonates with me. Even though the contributions and impacts of Chinese immigrants and the Asian diaspora in North America in general is integral to its history, it is indeed 'unfamiliar' for how under-explored and overlooked it is, so to find a book that not only sheds light on these major events but also through a very nuanced, sensitive lens achieved by representing four different characters from four different time periods, each with their unique purposes and motivations, was a joy. I like that the writer tackles the disparities within the Chinese community as they deal with the external racial pressures from the Whites (as if that isn't enough) - between Chinese men and women, between the Chinese immigrants and the other working-class immigrants who felt they were usurped by this new influx of 'cheap labor', and by the displaced Chinese community formed on the new land and their families back home. The diaspora experience is one that is innumerably complex and painful, and Peter Ho Davies exposes the everyday indignities of being any one of these characters as they struggle with their lives and inner turmoil. Davies is an intelligent and empathic writer, drawing upon real-life events and stories that hundreds of thousands of Chinese had had to face during the four characters' respective time periods to illuminate the issues, but keeping it focused by adapting them into personal, fictionalized narratives that lends each major character their own unique voice, proving through masterful language that we are indeed, even as we deal with the same BS - not all the f**king same. There is A HUGE DIFFERENCE between being a Han Chinese or an ethnic minority (for example, Tanka like Ling from the first story), or being Chinese-born or an America-born Chinese. The prejudices each face differ as a result, but the struggle against stigmatization is universal. Hopefully with more exposure to stories like these, the Chinese race as a whole will stop being so homogenous to people.
The Fortunes is a collection of 4 stories spanning 150 years to recast "American history from a fresh, unfamiliar angle" by following the lives and destinies of four characters of Chinese descent, in other words, an American story I've been looking for a long time that really resonates with me. Even though the contributions and impacts of Chinese immigrants and the Asian diaspora in North America in general is integral to its history, it is indeed 'unfamiliar' for how under-explored and overlooked it is, so to find a book that not only sheds light on these major events but also through a very nuanced, sensitive lens achieved by representing four different characters from four different time periods, each with their unique purposes and motivations, was a joy. I like that the writer tackles the disparities within the Chinese community as they deal with the external racial pressures from the Whites (as if that isn't enough) - between Chinese men and women, between the Chinese immigrants and the other working-class immigrants who felt they were usurped by this new influx of 'cheap labor', and by the displaced Chinese community formed on the new land and their families back home. The diaspora experience is one that is innumerably complex and painful, and Peter Ho Davies exposes the everyday indignities of being any one of these characters as they struggle with their lives and inner turmoil. Davies is an intelligent and empathic writer, drawing upon real-life events and stories that hundreds of thousands of Chinese had had to face during the four characters' respective time periods to illuminate the issues, but keeping it focused by adapting them into personal, fictionalized narratives that lends each major character their own unique voice, proving through masterful language that we are indeed, even as we deal with the same BS - not all the f**king same. There is A HUGE DIFFERENCE between being a Han Chinese or an ethnic minority (for example, Tanka like Ling from the first story), or being Chinese-born or an America-born Chinese. The prejudices each face differ as a result, but the struggle against stigmatization is universal. Hopefully with more exposure to stories like these, the Chinese race as a whole will stop being so homogenous to people.