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A review by melodys_library
Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee
1.0
I picked this off of my own shelf at home, asking myself, I own this book for a reason...right? Around the time the main character, Henry Park, began describing his childhood, I remembered why: I thought the main character would be relatable. An Asian-American struggling with identity in America due to strict Asian upbringing...Sounds relatable to me!
Sadly, Henry Park was not just un-relatable, but altogether uninteresting. I kept waiting for the many themes - family tragedy and trauma, immigrant alienation, political scandal - to converge and make a point, but they just didn’t. The climax didn’t happen until way late, and the fallout was just as blah and unmoving as Henry himself. Some reviewers compared this book to Ellison’s novel, hailing it as the Asian Invisible Man, and all I have to say to that is: How dare they?
Sadly, Henry Park was not just un-relatable, but altogether uninteresting. I kept waiting for the many themes - family tragedy and trauma, immigrant alienation, political scandal - to converge and make a point, but they just didn’t. The climax didn’t happen until way late, and the fallout was just as blah and unmoving as Henry himself. Some reviewers compared this book to Ellison’s novel, hailing it as the Asian Invisible Man, and all I have to say to that is: How dare they?