Who's Irish? : Stories

Rating:
Summary: It gets much better as it moves along....
Review: I have truly enjoyed both of Miss Jen's novels--Typical American and Mona in the Promised Land--and I was really looking forward to this collection. I wasn't so thrilled by the time I was into the third story in this collection as I though this book was shaping up to stand as the classic example of someone who can write novels but can't write short stories. Then, suddenly, things improved dramatically. By the end I was convinced that Miss Jen can write short stories but, apparently, needs a much stronger hand in selecting what is working and what isn't, as this book is filled with good examples of both types of story.

Anyway, the second half of the book is much, much stronger than this first half.

The elements that make Miss Jen such a good writer are there throughout-a very gifted ability to render the immigrant experience, a strong writing "voice" and a potent sense of the drama that fills ordinary life combined with a gifted sense of timing. The problem with the first few stories is that they seem incomplete and disjointed. That dissipates quickly as the book moves along.

This is a book that's well worth the read but one has to stick with it and not let the early sections distract and irritate you to the point where you don't truly enjoy the really good parts.

Hopefully Miss Jen will manage any future collections more adroitly.

Rating:
Summary: It gets much better as it moves along....
Review: I have truly enjoyed both of Miss Jen's novels--Typical American and Mona in the Promised Land--and I was really looking forward to this collection. I wasn't so thrilled by the time I was into the third story in this collection as I though this book was shaping up to stand as the classic example of someone who can write novels but can't write short stories. Then, suddenly, things improved dramatically. By the end I was convinced that Miss Jen can write short stories but, apparently, needs a much stronger hand in selecting what is working and what isn't, as this book is filled with good examples of both types of story.

Anyway, the second half of the book is much, much stronger than this first half.

The elements that make Miss Jen such a good writer are there throughout-a very gifted ability to render the immigrant experience, a strong writing "voice" and a potent sense of the drama that fills ordinary life combined with a gifted sense of timing. The problem with the first few stories is that they seem incomplete and disjointed. That dissipates quickly as the book moves along.

This is a book that's well worth the read but one has to stick with it and not let the early sections distract and irritate you to the point where you don't truly enjoy the really good parts.

Hopefully Miss Jen will manage any future collections more adroitly.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven Adventures in the New World
Review: I was reading this book because I was considering using it in the high school class that I teach. Ms. Jen is a well regarded member of the Asian-American writers pantheon.

"Whose Irish?: Stories," is a collection of short stories about the Chinese-American experience. Several of the stories were interesting, well written and enjoyable. My favorites include "Who's Irish?," "Chin,"Just Wait" and " In the American Society." All showed some nuanced understanding of Chinese- Americans chasing the immigrant dream and the pitfalls of assimilation.

The problem with the book is a basic one-- the writing isn't terrible compelling. Many of the remaining stories are dull and listless. The last one in particular, "House, House, Home" was excruciating to get through, which is unfortunate because it is also the longest, clocking in at 65 pages.

I was disappointed overall, but would be interested in reading Ms. Jen's best known novel, "Typical American," to see if she has better luck with the longer format.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven Adventures in the New World
Review: I was reading this book because I was considering using it in the high school class that I teach. Ms. Jen is a well regarded member of the Asian-American writers pantheon.

"Whose Irish?: Stories," is a collection of short stories about the Chinese-American experience. Several of the stories were interesting, well written and enjoyable. My favorites include "Who's Irish?," "Chin,"Just Wait" and " In the American Society." All showed some nuanced understanding of Chinese- Americans chasing the immigrant dream and the pitfalls of assimilation.

The problem with the book is a basic one-- the writing isn't terrible compelling. Many of the remaining stories are dull and listless. The last one in particular, "House, House, Home" was excruciating to get through, which is unfortunate because it is also the longest, clocking in at 65 pages.

I was disappointed overall, but would be interested in reading Ms. Jen's best known novel, "Typical American," to see if she has better luck with the longer format.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: Some of these stories were outstanding, all were good. The title story was great. This book is an excellent commentary on American society, and the experience of being an immigrant. This collection, like many other short story collections explores the theme of "East meets West," for lack of a more politically correct term. It explores some valuable questions in todays society. Jen's writing style is also excellent, and much improved since "Mona in the Promised Land."

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: Some of these stories were outstanding, all were good. The title story was great. This book is an excellent commentary on American society, and the experience of being an immigrant. This collection, like many other short story collections explores the theme of "East meets West," for lack of a more politically correct term. It explores some valuable questions in todays society. Jen's writing style is also excellent, and much improved since "Mona in the Promised Land."

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Evocation of Chinese-American Life
Review: The collection of short stories titled, "Who's Irish?" by Gish Jen, is a contemporary look at middle class, Chinese-American life in the suburbs. Generally, the stories are about Americanized children in conflict with the traditional Chinese values of their immigrant parents.

In all of her stories, Gish Jen shows an ability to create vivid characters with just a few telling details. He stories have a component that is comic and a component that is sad. Although most the stories are written in a very feminine voice, "Birthmates" and "Duncan in China," have male protagonists, and I am amazed at how authentic her male characters seem, especailly the latter.

The title story, "Who's Irish?" is a picture of cultural differences between America and China. The story is told in broken English through the eyes of an immigrant Chinese grandmother. Her daughter Natalie is banking professional with a three year-old daughter named Sophie. Natalie's husband John is an Irish-American who works only intermittently due to bouts of depression. Natalie and John rely heavily on Natalie's mother to baby sit Sophie. Natalie and John's marriage and child rearing are terminally American. Natalie's mother's attitudes and customs are traditional Chinese. Natalie's mother's comments and criticisms of American child-rearing methods and life in America are absolutely hilarious. The conflict over the granddaughter, Sophie, gets so bad at one point that the parents accuse the grandmother of child abuse and cut off all contact between granddaughter and grandmother. But, I'm not doing the story justice. It is a gem; I'm tempted to call it a masterpiece. It must be read to be appreciated. The only flaw that I can detect is that between the broken English and Gish Jen's use of sentence fragments, I found the rhythm a little choppy. I read this one twice. It was that good. I'm sure I will read it a third time.

John Updike selected the story, "Birthmates," as one of the best stories of the past century, but I don't even think it's one of the best stories in this collection. It's about a middle-aged man, a lost soul named Art Woo, a computer industry professional whose marriage has fallen apart and whose future career is uncertain.

In, "The Water Faucet Vision," the main character is a fifth grade Catholic school student. Her parents fight viciously, and her best friend's father has run off. She and her girl friend deal with it by practicing extremes of Catholic spiritual asceticism. The girls behavior and conversation is highly comic, but is doesn't take a therapist to see their underlying emotional pain.

"Duncan in China," is one of my favorites. Even though I am not of Chinese descent, I identified strongly with Duncan. He is a man in his thirties who hasn't found himself yet. He's gone through all sorts of jobs, careers, colleges, and training programs. He has become fascinated lately with ancient Chinese art objects-vases from the Ming dynasty, and he decides to take a long trip to China. He visits Shantung province where an uncle and nephew lives. His expectations are that he will find the true spirit of China and in doing so, will find himself. He's also hoping to fall in love. I can certainly relate to that. Duncan discovers that his uncle and nephew live in the worst destitute poverty, and they don't show the faintest sign of manners or hygiene. Duncan learns no one in China cares about Ming vases or any other high, cultured aesthetics. Duncan takes up teaching English at a factory. He develops a big crush on a ravishing and sophisticated older woman who is a student in his class (I can really relate to that!).

In, "Chin," the viewpoint character is a white ninth-grade boy in an urban neighborhood. He interacts with a boy named Chin whose parents are recent immigrants. His observations make the family seem peculiar and inexplicable. Although it's not a great story, I liked the idea that the author chose to look at a Chinese immigrant family through the eyes of a white American.

"Just Wait," is centered around a pregnant woman's friends and family gathering for a baby shower. It took her years to get pregnant. The story ends in a mother's joy at having a child. In real life, Gish Jen had great difficulty getting pregnant, and her stories are sprinkled with the hopes and sorrows of women desiring a baby. This is strictly a woman's story.

"In the American Society," is told by Mona, who is in junior high school. He family lives in the suburbs where their father owns a pancake house. Mona's family is invited to a fancy outdoor party, but Mona's father and some of the other guests don't exactly get along.

"House, House, Home," is the story of the daughter of Chinese immigrants who goes to art school and without telling her parents, marries a fruitcake professor who is thirty years older than her. The husband's personality and physical appearance seems to be modeled after the artist Andy Warhol, right down to the white hair. She tells the story of their very bohemian life together. (Very un-Chinese-American!) Her husband is a royal [pain]. You want to scream at her for staying with such a jerk. Her parents, I felt, were relatively tolerant for immigrant Chinese, but eventually they shunned her and cut her off financially.

Although the story is slow and drawn out in parts, the descriptions of pregnancy, nursing and raising kids is very vivid, touching and close to home. Ironically, what kept me going was the lack of credibility of the story. Children of Chinese immigrants do not major in art, and they certainly don't marry fruitcake white art professors! The part with the most credibility was when the parent's cut off contact. What kept me going was that I felt sooner or later the story had to burst.

Rating:
Summary: Read it because the author went to Harvard.
Review: The title story written in pidgen English of a Chinese grandmother was cute, but too stereotypical. It reminded me of the movie Joy Luck Club. I am also a 1.5 generation Asian-American like the author, but I must have had a different experience of the United States, regarding growing up as an Asian among a white society, that makes me hard to connect with the stories. Even though I studied Confucianism and East Asian History at Harvard, I didn't realize we Asians were so pessimistic and dour in our outlook of American Society. I did enjoy the last story of the professor and his young wife. This one could be made into a full fledge novel. I did enjoy reading the whole book because I could understand the author's experience in Cambridge. I gave the book with favorable recommendations to my younger sister who may connect better with the stories written by Gish Jen. Look forward to more books. JL

Rating:
Summary: This Sucked
Review: This book is incredibly slow to read. If I didn't have to read it for English class, then I wouldn't have read it at all. Don't read it if you have a choice, well, unless you're in a "I am of so-and-so-ethnicity-and-I-hate-myself-because-of-it".

Rating:
Summary: Don't Call It a Beach Book!
Review: Unfortunately, the experience (or should I call it trauma?) of taking high school English leads most people to believe that serious literature can't be any fun. That "serious literature" is either turgid debates about the place of evil in a benevolent God's cosmos (Dostoevsky), or else allegorical whaling adventures with encyclopedic discursions (Melville). Give us something a bit more quotidian in subject matter and write it up in a style that's both elegant and witty, and some people assume it can't possibly be literature. Hence the reviewer who paid this fine collection of short stories (as well as Jen's second novel- was it the same person?) the decidedly back-handed compliment of calling it a "a great beach book!"

I suppose "Who's Irish?" could be read at the beach, but just because most of its stories go down so easily, please don't lump Gish Jen in with the John Grisham's, Ann Rice's, and Thomas Harris's of the world. Dig beyond the humor (which is just one aspect of Jen's talent) and you'll also find probing psychological insights as well as some truly tender, elegiac moments. I think the best example of these three strengths coming together is "House, House, Home", the collection's last, longest, and best story. Ostensibly about the slow disintegration of a callow young woman's marriage to a much older art history professor, "House, House, Home" is also a paean to early motherhood as well as an exploration of ethnic identity. Though some might be taken aback by Jen's seeming kowtows before the altar of multi-culti racial essentialism (a hunky Hawaiian keeps reminding the main character of "how she had been wifed, how she had been fetishized, how she had been viewed as Orientalia"), a fair-minded reading suggests that this is in no way a privileged viewpoint. For how else to explain the bemused incomprehension with which a "children of color" picnic for kindergarteners is described at the story's beginning, or the fact that the "fetishizing" art history professor is no emblem of the White Male Patriarchy(TM), but instead a crusty relic of the 60's New Left. If there's one place Jen goes wrong, it's in naming the professor Sven and titling one subsection "Sven Heads North". The latter I found just a little too cute.

As for the other stories in "Who's Irish?", "Duncan in China" is nearly as strong and most of the others are nothing if not enjoyable. When Jen tries to be naughty she still can't keep from being very proper and lady-like ("'Could it have been the penile suggestion that piqued you?' Then he would have maybe suggested some piquing himself."), but coming from a Philip Roth background, I find this turn from the clinically explicit a refreshing one. The only things stopping me from giving five stars are "Just Wait" and "Chin". The former is a rather pointless baby shower vignette while the latter finds Jen trying to write- commendablely, if not successfully- from the viewpoint of a white-ethnic teenager. That her graceful style often leaves her here ("we're talking someone who would sooner puke on the Pope than cut across two lanes of traffic") indicates that this is a writer in whom style and substance are happily joined and that her future successes should be no less pleasurable to read than this one.