R. F. Kuang

I have always been interested in the publishing of a novel - the agents, the editors, the politics and those who make the final decision about the worthiness of a book. This novel explores all of that in depth and also the racism that may exist when a person of one culture writes about the culture of another. It also examines the influence of social media, usually anonymous, which many authors feel compelled to read, creating a rollercoaster of emotions.

Caucasian June and Chinese American Athena are both graduates of Yale pursuing their dreams of being published. June's debut novel receives modest interest while Athena becomes the toast of the literary world. Athena has completed an unseen manuscript about Chinese laborers in America during WWII. When Athena dies unexpectedly, June takes her manuscript and makes it her own to huge critical acclaim and great financial gain. What follows leave her shaken that her secret has been discovered.… (altro)

I loved Yellowface but found this Kuang book to be didactic and repetitive with no world-building and mediocre character development. While it feels ambitious - 500+ pages, footnotes, Chinese language characters, word etymologies, and the history of British colonialism and the industrial revolution - the memorable and impactful pieces of the narrative would occupy about 250 pages if they weren't repeated over and over in slightly different ways. The work excels in its depiction of the student experience in an exclusive field of study at a prestigious college. But even that becomes repetitive and tiresome. Translation as a kind of magic is a gorgeous concept but Kuang beats it into the ground instead of nurturing it.… (altro)