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A review by mesal
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
> Buddy read with Fiore, Nucu, and Sarah!
In 1711, Joseph Addison launched his periodical The Spectator with an essay describing himself—childhood, education, occupation, literary tastes—to all his future readers. “I have observed,” he wrote, “that a Reader seldom peruses a Book with Pleasure ’till he knows whether the Writer of it be a black or a fair Man, of a mild or cholerick Disposition, Married or a Batchelor, with other Particulars of the like nature, that conduce very much to the right Understanding of an Author.” Readers even today approach texts based on preconceived notions of their authors, a topic R.F. Kuang acknowledges and at times critiques within her latest metafictional novel. The essence of metafiction, though, is that it constantly draws to attention both medium and creator—and the parallels to Kuang’s own authorial career are too conspicuous to ignore.
Yellowface is an unrelenting Juvenalian satire that targets the inequality and racially motivated biases reflected in the publishing industry’s every decision; it makes use of an unlikeable, unreliable narrator to present to the reader the harsh truths about publishing that said narrator is unwilling or unable to discern. Juniper Song, née June Hayward, is a novelist whose debut disappointed her with its lackluster public reception and pitiful sales. Her fellow novelist and sort-of friend Athena Liu, however, made it big with her own. Now a well-known figure in the industry with several award nominations under her belt and a TV show on the way, Athena symbolizes everything June wishes she could be. Understandably, June is jealous of Athena’s success. So when Athena starts choking to death in front of June’s eyes, she does call 911 for help—but she also makes sure to slip the draft of Athena’s unpublished fourth novel into her bag and take it home.
In 1711, Joseph Addison launched his periodical The Spectator with an essay describing himself—childhood, education, occupation, literary tastes—to all his future readers. “I have observed,” he wrote, “that a Reader seldom peruses a Book with Pleasure ’till he knows whether the Writer of it be a black or a fair Man, of a mild or cholerick Disposition, Married or a Batchelor, with other Particulars of the like nature, that conduce very much to the right Understanding of an Author.” Readers even today approach texts based on preconceived notions of their authors, a topic R.F. Kuang acknowledges and at times critiques within her latest metafictional novel. The essence of metafiction, though, is that it constantly draws to attention both medium and creator—and the parallels to Kuang’s own authorial career are too conspicuous to ignore.
Yellowface is an unrelenting Juvenalian satire that targets the inequality and racially motivated biases reflected in the publishing industry’s every decision; it makes use of an unlikeable, unreliable narrator to present to the reader the harsh truths about publishing that said narrator is unwilling or unable to discern. Juniper Song, née June Hayward, is a novelist whose debut disappointed her with its lackluster public reception and pitiful sales. Her fellow novelist and sort-of friend Athena Liu, however, made it big with her own. Now a well-known figure in the industry with several award nominations under her belt and a TV show on the way, Athena symbolizes everything June wishes she could be. Understandably, June is jealous of Athena’s success. So when Athena starts choking to death in front of June’s eyes, she does call 911 for help—but she also makes sure to slip the draft of Athena’s unpublished fourth novel into her bag and take it home.
The Last Front, which June later reworks and publishes under her own name, explores the part played by Chinese laborers in alliance with Britain and France during World War I, a reality buried by the writers of history. Although Athena certainly isn’t a stand-in for Kuang herself—the author has gone on record stating that Athena is one of her “worst nightmares”—The Last Front and Athena herself, though dead, are shown to receive criticisms similar to those faced by Kuang’s debut trilogy, a military fantasy that draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War. When presented in the mode of satire, from the mouths of racist white women or Twitter accounts eager to be a part of the current conversation without ever looking into the full story, such criticisms appear asinine, meant to be laughed at by Yellowface‘s reader. Some of these opinions certainly deserve the ridicule; others are valid critiques regurgitated in satirical format as if to downplay their significance, making one feel like Kuang is occasionally using her novel as a comeback against those of her reviews she disagrees with.
There are already people out there who think I murdered Athena. If the police found me . . . standing overCandice ’s shattered body—how would I explain that?
A small voice whispers: Easily, that’s how.
For the most part, June is an excellent literary device. Her skewed perception of the world around her and her I’m-not-racist racist interpretations of the publishing industry compel readers to see beyond her viewpoint to the truth behind editorial decisions. The writing style—a straightforward, uncomplicated projection of June’s thoughts, a style unique to Kuang’s regular readers—creates a fast-paced, easy read that anyone can get through within a matter of hours. It helps that June’s perspective is so strangely riveting; it is difficult to look away as June insists upon blaming others for her failures, refuses to learn from her mistakes, and descends further and further into a trap that there seems to be no way out of. Sometimes, though, June shows a surprisingly keen awareness of her white privilege—see quote above—that isn’t like her at all, leaving the reader with the impression that such moments are less June and more Kuang, hammering home themes that would not otherwise have fit into June’s willfully blind standpoint at all.
This novel is also a thriller, but not one that’s always very thrilling. Certain parts of it are: the threats to both June’s life and her livelihood; the sightings of ghosts; the ever-present question of whether Athena, perhaps, did not really die. The issue here is that the build-up to the grand reveal and to the final confrontation between June and her challenger is so often disrupted by spiels of information about the industry, or about June’s research into a certain topic, that the atmosphere of suspense and anticipation is perforce dampened, forgotten for several pages at a time. The soft landing of the ending brings to mind important questions about the authenticity of any narrative, and the inevitable result of a he-said-she-said situation in which only one of the two is white, but by the time I was done reading I found myself wishing for more from the novel. There could have been more development with respect to its genre; Kuang could have leaned more into the metafictional aspect of her work, making one question whether June’s unreliability extended even further than one originally believed, perhaps even to the objective “truths” June had so far been directly informing the reader about.
Yellowface is a persuasive satire, oftentimes purposefully unsubtle with its treatment of the subject matter, but as a novel on the whole it leaves much to be desired. If more attention had been given to its medium, if as much care had gone into curating intrigue and crafting a multidimensional narrative as clearly went into critiquing hypocrisy in publishing, it could well have been excellent.