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“There is a poverty that makes us all cruel.”
The NYT best book of the century follows the lives and friendships of two girls– Lenu and Lena– who came from a small, impoverished town in Naples. The first book details their lives as children in school from ages 6–17.
The friendship between the two girls are complex. There is fierce competitiveness and jealousy between them but also, a tender, enduring kind of love and care. Most of all, I think this book is an exploration of what happens when children grow up in a cycle of violence and poverty, how kind little boys are made into raging misogynists and intelligent little girls are made into victims.
I can see why this book was named the best book of the century. I finished it quickly and I plan on reading the rest of the series this year. Kind of a spoiler but the last line of the book made me so impossibly sad I had to sit in a long, solemn contemplation after it ended.
“A day well spent is a life well lived.”
This is one of those books that I read at the time of my life when I needed it most, at a crossroad between continuing my studies and going into the workforce, between moving away and staying home. It explores what it means to be successful, to live a good life in the intense capitalist society in South Korea.
Hwang focused on the lives of the different characters of the book who are so different yet had one thing in common– they are taking a break, allowing themselves to live slowly and deliberately, and explore what it’ts like to live a different life from the one they’ve been taught to strive for.
It’s a slow kind of book you can pick up and put down for a chapter whenever you have the time. It’s quite popular right now, and I think it’s worth every bit of hype it’s getting.
“The dirty street urchin who eats dogs and cats and bats raw. the communist spy who wants to kill Americans, the virgin in the schoolgirl skirt that will seduce him and ruin his life.”
This book takes place during the COVID pandemic, our main character a half-Chinese woman living in New York. Her sister dies in the first chapter being pushed in front of the subway, which was something that happened often enough during the pandemic to Asian women that when I moved to Europe I was terrified of standing too close to the tracks and big men who stood too close to me while waiting for the metro. Still, I was surprised to read about it in the book, I thought we’ve collectively decided to forget about that and I am the only person still afraid.
I think this book is an important one. It captures the rage and fear Asian people– especially East Asian women, for whom fetishisation and degradation is two sides of the same coin– felt during and post-pandemic.
Ultimately though, I think the writing fell a little too short for me. All the examples of racism are too explicit and I wish there was more nuances and exploration of more subtle, implicit ways racism can affect an Asian person.
“ ‘A little girl shouldn’t have to worry about her entire family,’ Grandpa says to me one afternoon….
‘What?’ I ask, not because I didn’t hear what he said, but because I’m confused. Of course a little girl should worry about her entire family. That’s what little girls do.”
McCurdy’s memoir was heartbreaking and vulnerable, detailing her experience as a child actress with a narcissistic mother and working with creepy producers. It really exposed me to true evils in the world, aka her mother, who basically gave her a lifelong struggle with eating disorders. Despite the depressing content, the memoir was also filled with humour and a fascinating insight to the workings of tv productions.
I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by McCurdy herself, and I cannot recommend it more. Her reading it added a layer of emotions and reflection to the writing.
The three star is attributed to how although I had a good time listening to it, ultimately, it was a forgettable book.
