My Rating: 4 stars
I’m usually not a huge fan of short story collections,
mainly because I don’t like the “incomplete” nature of short stories and the
feeling I always get that I’m being left hanging. One of the things I detest most when I’m
reading is to get deep into a story and its characters, only to have it end abruptly,
with no logical conclusion to speak of – the ones that annoy me the most are
those that feel like the author stopped in the middle of a thought and the
writing all of a sudden drops off (these are also the ones that always make me
think I am missing pages somewhere and perhaps I got a defective copy of the
book). I guess you can say that I like
my stories with a beginning, a middle section, and an ending, with characters
that I can watch grow and develop over time and maybe even become invested in, which
is hard to do with short stories where the reader is often only offered a
snippet of a character’s story – what’s worse is that we are usually thrown in
somewhere in the middle of the story, which means that it will likely take more
effort to read and understand the nuances and significance behind each story.
Given the above, I was really surprised that I enjoyed
Xuan Juliana Wang’s debut short story collection Home Remedies as much as
I did. This collection is billed as
centering on the Chinese millennial experience and while I’m not a millennial, I
found that I was still able to relate to some aspect of each story. Separated into 3 sections entitled “Family,”
“Love,” and “Time and Space,” the 12 stories in this collection covered
universally relatable themes, yet still managed to hone in perfectly on the cultural
aspects of what it means to be Chinese in today’s society. As a Chinese-American who has lived in the
U.S. practically my entire life, I found the stories about the difficulties of
Chinese immigrant youth having to straddle two worlds and never being fully
accepted into either one especially relatable, as it reminded me of many of the
same struggles I had encountered back in my youth. This collection actually covered a lot of
ground and each story managed to be deeply nuanced, despite the brevity that is
usually expected with short stories. I
was surprised by the depth of the stories in this collection and the cultural
as well as emotional resonance that they evoked in me – as I said earlier, it’s
usually difficult for me to get into short stories, but I dove into this set full
force and found myself completely immersed.
With that said though, I also found it frustrating that the journey with
each character was so brief, with each story dropping off at what I felt was a
significant moment. I wanted each story
to be more complete, wanted to know what would happen to these characters.
One of the things that set this collection of short
stories apart from others is the variety, as each story had a distinctive voice,
not a single one the same, yet the feelings and emotions the stories explored
were often commonly felt ones. I also
loved the writing, which was at times lyrical, at times straightforward,
depending on the story, but was always completely engaging. This is an exquisite collection, one that I
absolutely recommend. If you’re the type
who generally only reads a limited number of short story collections (for me,
it’s due to a preference for the fully fleshed-out stories and characters that
are often only found in novels), this is definitely one that needs to be
included on your list. Personally, I can’t
wait to see what Xuan Juliana Wang has in store for us next!
Lastly, here are a few of my favorites from this
collection:
“Mott Street in July” – about the transformation a Chinese
family undergoes after immigrating to the United States – the opportunities
they gain but also the sacrifices they have to make. As an immigrant myself, this was the story I
was able to relate to the most.
“For Our Children and For Ourselves” – about a rich,
successful business woman arranging a marriage for her special needs daughter
and the implications of that decision for all involved. This one was the most heartbreaking story for
me, not necessarily because of how the story evolved, but the feelings evoked
from what was not said – feelings that felt so familiar to me.
“Fuerdai to the
Max” – about second generation Chinese rich kids who are used to not being held
accountable for their actions and what happens when that day of reckoning
finally arrives. This was an interesting
one and I loved the angle the author took in relaying the events as they unfolded.
“Home Remedies for Non-Life-Threatening Ailments” –
presented as anecdotal advice for various ailments such as ‘boredom,’ ‘self-doubt,’
‘bilingual heartache,’ ‘family pressure,’ etc., this one was both whimsical and
original, which I absolutely loved!
“Vaulting the Sea” – a coming-of-age story about two synchronized
divers on the verge of finding success at the Olympics. This was a beautifully rendered story that I
felt was the most real in the way it dealt with the characters’ emotions and
relationships.
“Algorithmic Problem Solving for Father-Daughter Relationships”
– about a father who uses equations and algorithms to explain his relationship
with his daughter, this was a fun one that depicts what happens when cultures
clash within a family.
“The Strawberry Years” – about a young man named Yang who
is tasked with looking after a famous actress, only to have her refuse to leave
and end up overtaking his life. This one
captured the ubiquitous influence of social media perfectly, which I found
absolutely fascinating.
“Echo of the Moment” – about a Chinese-American girl
living in Paris who finds herself in possession of an entire wardrobe of designer
clothes belonging to a young model who had committed suicide a few days
earlier. The supernatural slant to this
story made for some compelling reading!
Received ARC from Hogarth
via Edelweiss.
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