Adeline
3.5 stars Memoir following the author Hua Hsu, a Taiwanese American throughout his years in college and the short but intense friendship he cultivated with Ken, a Japanese American who was tragically killed during a car jacking.
I rarely gravitate towards memoirs but wanted to challenge myself for Goodreads, but alas this was a quick but not incredible read for me. The author might come across as a bit culturally pretentious to some yet his interest for niche and diverse music and other forms of entertainment resonated with me personally. I loved the 90s setting, many of the references I knew about (American college life which I saw on tv shows or movies) or lived through/with them (mixtapes, MTV, alternative music, grunge, rap, etc). It was also an informative and enriching read about Asian Americans experiences and identities.
That being said, I felt the passages on academic (philosophy) and historical subjects were interesting in themselves but not well integrated into his story. The writing itself was good but not incredible as I wasn’t really emotionally devastated like I thought I would especially the passage where his friend died, it lacked something. I felt this was slightly mismarketed, it felt less about the author’s friendship with Ken than his own personal life growing up and going to college, his reflections on topics such as memories, time, grief, friendship, identity etc. I do like how the author was self aware at the end about this. The aftermath of Ken’s death and how the author lived through his memories of their lives together, how he struggled to process his grief, the unique and shared experience of mourning, his depression and morbid thoughts, how our identity change through time and experiences, how his tastes changed were more impactful for me. Overall a mixed read for me, not totally uninteresting but my expectations weren’t totally fulfilled.
3.5 stars Memoir following the author Hua Hsu, a Taiwanese American throughout his years in college and the short but intense friendship he cultivated with Ken, a Japanese American who was tragically killed during a car jacking.
I rarely gravitate towards memoirs but wanted to challenge myself for Goodreads, but alas this was a quick but not incredible read for me. The author might come across as a bit culturally pretentious to some yet his interest for niche and diverse music and other forms of entertainment resonated with me personally. I loved the 90s setting, many of the references I knew about (American college life which I saw on tv shows or movies) or lived through/with them (mixtapes, MTV, alternative music, grunge, rap, etc). It was also an informative and enriching read about Asian Americans experiences and identities.
That being said, I felt the passages on academic (philosophy) and historical subjects were interesting in themselves but not well integrated into his story. The writing itself was good but not incredible as I wasn’t really emotionally devastated like I thought I would especially the passage where his friend died, it lacked something. I felt this was slightly mismarketed, it felt less about the author’s friendship with Ken than his own personal life growing up and going to college, his reflections on topics such as memories, time, grief, friendship, identity etc. I do like how the author was self aware at the end about this. The aftermath of Ken’s death and how the author lived through his memories of their lives together, how he struggled to process his grief, the unique and shared experience of mourning, his depression and morbid thoughts, how our identity change through time and experiences, how his tastes changed were more impactful for me. Overall a mixed read for me, not totally uninteresting but my expectations weren’t totally fulfilled.