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A review by elee2013
The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin
4.0
3.75 ⭐️
I had to marinate on this review a little bit. On initially finishing, I wasn’t super keen on the book. The magical realism felt very convenient in Part 3, and some of the themes were lost. Listening to the book, I was often struck by the language/word choices and descriptions being unusual for the genre (not that I actually read a lot of westerns, but my expectations were for straightforward plain language).
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***
But then, at the culmination of his revenge quest, finally Ming opens his eyes to what was trying to stare him in the face. And then I looked back on the book and I found a lot of justice in Ming murdering everyone who was the least bit racist towards him. Micro aggressions included. Even the death of the ringmaster and the pagan, while technically not Ming, he still had a hand in. And the sheer violence of Ada saying she couldn’t have his kid and that she was so “terrified” of him… I support Ming’s survival. While the title is The Thousand Crimes *OF* Ming Tsu, it could have easily been The Thousand Crimes AGAINST Ming Tsu.
Maybe I’m interpreting too much.
But I read another review that criticized how Ming didn’t empathize with the other Chinese of the story — first, that’s incorrect. He’s well aware of his genetics. No one will let him forget, in fact. But his upbringing is completely different and he cannot relate to them. He even discusses with the ringmaster how they are NOT his countrymen. I think it’s a subtle book on being Asian American, especially if you’ve completely embraced your American-ness. It’s 2023 and still no one will let you forget your appearance.
I had to marinate on this review a little bit. On initially finishing, I wasn’t super keen on the book. The magical realism felt very convenient in Part 3, and some of the themes were lost. Listening to the book, I was often struck by the language/word choices and descriptions being unusual for the genre (not that I actually read a lot of westerns, but my expectations were for straightforward plain language).
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***
But then, at the culmination of his revenge quest, finally Ming opens his eyes to what was trying to stare him in the face. And then I looked back on the book and I found a lot of justice in Ming murdering everyone who was the least bit racist towards him. Micro aggressions included. Even the death of the ringmaster and the pagan, while technically not Ming, he still had a hand in. And the sheer violence of Ada saying she couldn’t have his kid and that she was so “terrified” of him… I support Ming’s survival. While the title is The Thousand Crimes *OF* Ming Tsu, it could have easily been The Thousand Crimes AGAINST Ming Tsu.
Maybe I’m interpreting too much.
But I read another review that criticized how Ming didn’t empathize with the other Chinese of the story — first, that’s incorrect. He’s well aware of his genetics. No one will let him forget, in fact. But his upbringing is completely different and he cannot relate to them. He even discusses with the ringmaster how they are NOT his countrymen. I think it’s a subtle book on being Asian American, especially if you’ve completely embraced your American-ness. It’s 2023 and still no one will let you forget your appearance.