Scan barcode
A review by vanreads
Little Gods by Meng Jin
5.0
How do I even begin to review this book? It had a lot of mixed reviews on Goodreads, so I almost dismissed it. I finally put it on my to-read list when I saw it as a recommended book on another Asian American author’s Instagram. What resulted from reading Little Gods is feeling like I’ve found the book I have always been looking for.
Little Gods follows three narratives of different people who knew a woman named Su Lan, as they recollect their memories of her. There’s Liya, her daughter, Zhu Wen, her former neighbour, and Yongzong, Liya’s father who she has never met.
What is beautiful of this book is its dreamlike quality. Su Lan is this mysterious woman who you never quite understand. She’s a product of her cultural history, having lived through the effects of the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The different characters throughout the book speculate into her life, but they can never be sure they have her completely figured out. In life, we can never know what drives another human. I think this is where the dreamlike quality comes in. The only descriptions of her are through the lens of others.
I think the relatable part of this story that seems so distant to others is the realities that a lot of children of Chinese immigrants (and perhaps immigrants from other countries) face in the yearning for an understanding of where our parents came from. What made them leave their home countries? What kind of life did they (and their parents, and so on) live? In Chinese history particularly, it’s this desire to understand what happened, but never having clarity due to the way it was erased by its government. If you have Chinese immigrant parents, you might understand how they refuse to speak of their past. You might understand that absence of understanding your family background. You might never know what happened during the Tiananmen Square massacre (and other historical events in China) and the lingering effects it has had on your parents. You grow up and you know that your parents are different. They’re reserved in areas that other parents are not. They push you in ways that other parents do not. It’s this disconnect between understanding yourself and where you came from, your parents and where they came from, and the larger history of a country that they came from, and ultimately a country of your ancestors. Living with these experiences truly feels like a mirage at times, both unreal in its mystery and real in the way it plays out in your relationship with your family and cultural history, and Little Gods does it SO well.
This book is not a book about racism or a Chinese relationship between America or the western world. It’s a book about the Chinese diaspora and its relationship to China, its place of origin. I wish more who read this book understood this book, but I can see why it may not connect with others. Anyways, here is a review from a child of Chinese immigrants. This book is a story that breathes our experience. If I could, I would give this book 10 stars.
Meng Jin, thank you for writing this book.
Little Gods follows three narratives of different people who knew a woman named Su Lan, as they recollect their memories of her. There’s Liya, her daughter, Zhu Wen, her former neighbour, and Yongzong, Liya’s father who she has never met.
What is beautiful of this book is its dreamlike quality. Su Lan is this mysterious woman who you never quite understand. She’s a product of her cultural history, having lived through the effects of the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The different characters throughout the book speculate into her life, but they can never be sure they have her completely figured out. In life, we can never know what drives another human. I think this is where the dreamlike quality comes in. The only descriptions of her are through the lens of others.
I think the relatable part of this story that seems so distant to others is the realities that a lot of children of Chinese immigrants (and perhaps immigrants from other countries) face in the yearning for an understanding of where our parents came from. What made them leave their home countries? What kind of life did they (and their parents, and so on) live? In Chinese history particularly, it’s this desire to understand what happened, but never having clarity due to the way it was erased by its government. If you have Chinese immigrant parents, you might understand how they refuse to speak of their past. You might understand that absence of understanding your family background. You might never know what happened during the Tiananmen Square massacre (and other historical events in China) and the lingering effects it has had on your parents. You grow up and you know that your parents are different. They’re reserved in areas that other parents are not. They push you in ways that other parents do not. It’s this disconnect between understanding yourself and where you came from, your parents and where they came from, and the larger history of a country that they came from, and ultimately a country of your ancestors. Living with these experiences truly feels like a mirage at times, both unreal in its mystery and real in the way it plays out in your relationship with your family and cultural history, and Little Gods does it SO well.
This book is not a book about racism or a Chinese relationship between America or the western world. It’s a book about the Chinese diaspora and its relationship to China, its place of origin. I wish more who read this book understood this book, but I can see why it may not connect with others. Anyways, here is a review from a child of Chinese immigrants. This book is a story that breathes our experience. If I could, I would give this book 10 stars.
Meng Jin, thank you for writing this book.