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A review by heathcliff
The Unpassing by Chia-Chia Lin
3.0
In no way does The Unpassing reinvent the wheel when it comes to critiquing the American dream and the immigrant struggle. But I think where it lacks in point of view, it makes up in character and I wish we got to spend more time understanding the two other siblings that didn’t really get a lot of “their” own time.
I do find that the reliance on vignettes and the unspoken (making the reader read between the lines) is a little annoying when you’re trying to understand the context of the characters. A lot is suggested/hinted, like Pei Pei’s relationship with the white neighbour, but never explored outright (what was up with Colin’s father?). At times, I wondered if it would actually do better as a movie as then you can tell the story through the character’s facial/body movements as is written in the book and have it actually be visually stark or interpreted as it was intended to be.
I do find that the reliance on vignettes and the unspoken (making the reader read between the lines) is a little annoying when you’re trying to understand the context of the characters. A lot is suggested/hinted, like Pei Pei’s relationship with the white neighbour, but never explored outright (what was up with Colin’s father?). At times, I wondered if it would actually do better as a movie as then you can tell the story through the character’s facial/body movements as is written in the book and have it actually be visually stark or interpreted as it was intended to be.