China Men

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating jumble of memoir, fable, and reporting
Review: In China Men, Kingston took me on a ride all over the literary landscape. In general, I thought her book was an interesting tossed salad of memoir, fable, reporting, and poetry. As a reader, it reminded me of a scrapbook of family stories, newspaper articles, heritage legends -- all assembled in one place.

Interestingly, Kingston begins the book with two distinctive chapters. Unlike the rest of the book, these two chapters are relatively homogenous, sticking with one form, voice, structure and tone throughout. The first chapter is the fable of the Land of Women. I didn?t understand this chapter until the last sentences, when it seemed as though Kingston was saying that coming to North America emasculated the Chinese men who made the journey to the Gold Mountain.

If Kingston?s main theme is that the journey to North America emasculated the Chinese Men, then from a reader?s perspective I?m not sure if the book delivers on this promise. To put a fable with a very obvious moral at the beginning of the book seems to me to set up a contract with the reader about the subject or theme of the book. Although, Kingston explores many different aspects of the Chinese experience in North America, and even starts to explore the ways that China Men were oppressed, I?m not sure she completely proves her case in my mind. I could be wrong, however.

Interestingly, the second chapter of the book is another short one, this time a nearly pure piece of memoir. Alone, this chapter seems to set up the author?s own relationship with Chinese men. By mistaking another man for her father, she seems to be saying from the beginning of the book that from her perspective Chinese men are nearly interchangeable. But interestingly, she isn?t the only one who makes the mistake. All the children in that scene mistake the strange man for their father. I like this chapter placed here because it contrasts nicely with the fable/story in the first chapter. The first chapter is told at a distance by a storyteller/narrator. The second chapter is told first person from our main narrator?s voice.

Kingston returns to this theme several more times in the book. On page 217, she remarks that one of her Uncles looks just like her father. Interestingly, Uncle Bun is also completely forgotten, erased from her sister?s memory only a few years after he leaves. Kingston often hints at how distant and interchangeable the China Men were to her and to the women of her family. At other times she explores her narrator?s perceptions that China Men have no heart, no emotions.

One of Kingston?s greatest strengths, in my opinion, is her ability to weave in all sorts of other stories into the narrative of her story -- presenting a mosaic of memoirs, possibilities, facts, essays, fables, legends, ghost stories, scenes and reporting -- that all add up to a complete picture of the lives of the China Men who came to the United States. On page 49, she starts one version of a trip to the US with, ?I think this is the journey you don?t tell me:? She then recounts the tale of the father?s arrival in the US as a stowaway. But like The French Lieutenant?s Woman, she (Kingston) also gives us another, more ordinary version of the father?s emigration. I don?t know which one is ?real? and which one is imagined and, frankly, I don?t care. The fact that some Chinese used each of these methods is credible enough to keep my disbelief suspended and keep me in the story.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating jumble of memoir, fable, and reporting
Review: In China Men, Kingston took me on a ride all over the literary landscape. In general, I thought her book was an interesting tossed salad of memoir, fable, reporting, and poetry. As a reader, it reminded me of a scrapbook of family stories, newspaper articles, heritage legends -- all assembled in one place.

Interestingly, Kingston begins the book with two distinctive chapters. Unlike the rest of the book, these two chapters are relatively homogenous, sticking with one form, voice, structure and tone throughout. The first chapter is the fable of the Land of Women. I didn?t understand this chapter until the last sentences, when it seemed as though Kingston was saying that coming to North America emasculated the Chinese men who made the journey to the Gold Mountain.

If Kingston?s main theme is that the journey to North America emasculated the Chinese Men, then from a reader?s perspective I?m not sure if the book delivers on this promise. To put a fable with a very obvious moral at the beginning of the book seems to me to set up a contract with the reader about the subject or theme of the book. Although, Kingston explores many different aspects of the Chinese experience in North America, and even starts to explore the ways that China Men were oppressed, I?m not sure she completely proves her case in my mind. I could be wrong, however.

Interestingly, the second chapter of the book is another short one, this time a nearly pure piece of memoir. Alone, this chapter seems to set up the author?s own relationship with Chinese men. By mistaking another man for her father, she seems to be saying from the beginning of the book that from her perspective Chinese men are nearly interchangeable. But interestingly, she isn?t the only one who makes the mistake. All the children in that scene mistake the strange man for their father. I like this chapter placed here because it contrasts nicely with the fable/story in the first chapter. The first chapter is told at a distance by a storyteller/narrator. The second chapter is told first person from our main narrator?s voice.

Kingston returns to this theme several more times in the book. On page 217, she remarks that one of her Uncles looks just like her father. Interestingly, Uncle Bun is also completely forgotten, erased from her sister?s memory only a few years after he leaves. Kingston often hints at how distant and interchangeable the China Men were to her and to the women of her family. At other times she explores her narrator?s perceptions that China Men have no heart, no emotions.

One of Kingston?s greatest strengths, in my opinion, is her ability to weave in all sorts of other stories into the narrative of her story -- presenting a mosaic of memoirs, possibilities, facts, essays, fables, legends, ghost stories, scenes and reporting -- that all add up to a complete picture of the lives of the China Men who came to the United States. On page 49, she starts one version of a trip to the US with, ?I think this is the journey you don?t tell me:? She then recounts the tale of the father?s arrival in the US as a stowaway. But like The French Lieutenant?s Woman, she (Kingston) also gives us another, more ordinary version of the father?s emigration. I don?t know which one is ?real? and which one is imagined and, frankly, I don?t care. The fact that some Chinese used each of these methods is credible enough to keep my disbelief suspended and keep me in the story.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Kingston plays with myth and history once again in _China Men_, a follow-up to the memoir, _Woman Warrior_. Storytelling at it's finest. _On Discovery_ is one of many surprising stories Kingston shares with her readers. This book dissects the myth of the "Gold Mountain" that many soujourners hunt for in distant lands, such as America. If you enjoy this book, I'd also recommend Michael Ondaatje's _In the Skin of a Lion_.

Rating:
Summary: An educational and entertaining work.
Review: Maxine Hong Kingston's book "China Men" is a book of many stories. She explains what life was like for the Chinese in America. There are many stories describing what her family (father, grandfather and great grandfather) went through. She talks about the Chinese emigrating to Hawaii and what their journeys were like. In her book, there are historical references and lists of laws to help her readers better understand how life was then for the Chinese.

The book is very well written with the stories extremely detailed. Mrs. Kingston describes all the parts of the character's lives so clearly. In both the melancholy and the joyful sections she makes the reader feel that he or she is actually in the story themselves. Mrs. Kingston wants her readers to particularly understand what life was like back then.

So that the reader has a better feeling for the two cultures Mrs.Kingston uses both English and Cantonese expressions in her book (Mrs.Kingston clarifies everything in English for her readers). The book is neither "Chinese" nor "American" but is balanced between the two cultures.

One thing that I think she should have added was a map of the journeys. That would make it easier to visualize the travels. Besides that I would say that it is an excellent book for learning about Chinese American history and a pleasure to read.

J. Berman

Rating:
Summary: A Chinese perspective of the American History
Review: The book China Men, written by Maxine Hong Kingston, is a book that is written to describing serious of historical events in Kingston's perspective. This book is consists of many short stories about Kingston's relatives that have had the experiences of struggling as new immigrants on the "Gold Mountain". One interesting point about this book is that the incidents described in this book are purely collective information and stories heard and gathered by Kingston. She does not have the experiences of immigrating into America as her father, grandfather and great grandfather did. The stories that she had heard from her relatives are told from the perspectives of Chinese immigrants. Imagine how an event can be depicted through the eyes of a group of ethically raised Chinese, and then the event is then interpreted through the ears of a Chinese-American, and now written as a book for people with any backgrounds to interpret. Kingston has written a novel explaining the situations of Chinese immigrants that are not much different from a history text, and the only difference between them is that Chine Men views the history from a different perspective. The reason why I like this book is because I found this book very humane. In each of the stories with the father going to the Gold Mountain for the gold rush, the grandfather going to Sierra Nevada Mountain to construct the railroad, the great grandfather going to the Sandalwood Mountain to work in the fields and even the brother going to Vietnam during the Vietnam war, personal feelings and insights along with the descriptions of the situation that they had experienced. Each character in this book had to go through many different physical hardships as well as internal obstacles. This book showed how the Chinese immigrants had contributed to the development of the American industries. As grandfather had stated, "No China Men, no railroad"(140). Not only were the significance of the contributions were acknowledge, but the process of how America has shaped the Chinese immigrants as well. Another thing that made become fond of this book is because the terminology and Chinese ethics used do not easily confuse. Between each chapter, Kingston has wisely included additional information or side stories that would supplement to the moralities and ethics discussed in the stories. All in all, China Men is a historical novel that reflects the views and ethics of the Chinese immigrants.

Rating:
Summary: Chinese American Experience
Review: The book, China men, was an unveiling of the life-stories of Chinese men proceeding to the West in the early 20th century. It was a repulsive collision between the eastern worldviews with the West. The East's attempt to blend into the Western society was the main essence of the book. Maxine Hong Kingston revealed details of the men in her family who went to America, the so-called "Golden Mountain."

In the book China men, the book setting switched from time to time, and characters to characters. The book isn't in sequential order or chronological order; it was an attempt to seek order out of disorder. This type of arrangement enhances the reader's thinking to proceed to further complicate intellectual thoughts. The disconnected stories were very confusing but however, all the chapters that seem totally unrelated were interrelated in a sense.

At the beginning of the book, the author, Maxine Hong Kingston gives specific descriptions of various aspects of life in China. It was a symbolism of the eastern worldview. The cultural background is an important part of the life-journey. Each individual has an identity, and the cultural background is a part of a person's search of their true identity. Further more into the story Maxine emphasizes on the Chinese culture and traditions.

Later on in the book, Kingston continues to the call to adventure. This is a very important turning point of the book. Baba, the father, became bored of grading papers at school one night and went to attend a talk meeting with people from the village. People of the village were talking about stories on the "Golden Mountain" in the meeting. The more they talked, the more interested the people got. At the end, they all decided to go to the "Golden Mountain" and bring riches back to China. They viewed America as a land of gold, the country of opportunities. All the stories that the men brought back to China were exaggerations and it created a "Golden Illusion". It gave the Chinese the wrong sense of what America really is. It is very normal to be tricked by the mask. The wrong interpretations of America were in a way a mask that disguised America. It made the Chinese believe in something that was not true. Anyway, the Chinese gave into it and went to America. Maxine then further emphasizes on how the Chinese traveled half the planet to get to America. There were rough times. The Chinese went through lots of trouble to get to America.

The book progresses to a totally unrelated story. It began talking about characters called Ed, Woodrow, Roosevelt, and Worldster. I doubt the validity of this section of the book. In the book, these people were characterized as Americanized people. They were people that had American names. They drove cars, danced with American women, shop for hundred-dollar clothing, and flew an airplane. These are almost impossible things that could've happened for the early Chinese immigrants. I believe that this section of the book is strengthening the golden illusions of the Chinese. At the same time, it could also be providing a secondary illusion of America to the reader.

Throughout the book, Kingston gives stories of the men of her family that went to America. Kingston emphasizes on the awkward feeling of Kau Goong (Grandfather's) burial. After the burial ceremony, mother burned Kau Goong's clothes and shoes. She gave the pallbearers red paper with money inside it to the kids. It was meant to end the death and begin the luck again. This is a type of Chinese tradition that Chinese still follow nowadays. But this is a significant act. It is a symbolism of the death and rebirth experience. This could be suggesting that the Chinese Americans, had spiritually been rebirth to become Americans. Although they may carry hope all the way from China, but there are Americans. That is when they were eating in the restaurant and everyone was behaving in a way as if there was no funeral a moment ago, which is the American way. While in China, the people would be crying and making religious offerings to the person whom pasted away.

Is Kao Goong an American? What is his identity? The true identity of an individual doesn't necessary have to be determined by the place that they were born. For example, in Greek myths, often times the hero searches for the identity in his journey rather than that he was given the identity at birth. I believe that Kao Goong found his true identity in America and that he is truly a "man of the golden mountain". This cemetery incident is a really symbolic part of the book that is rich in psychic energy. It integrated the historical content and the mentality of Chinese Americans and it was expressed in the form of fiction. This incident symbolized a very important part of the Chinese experience in America.

At the end of the book, the heroes looks back at his journey and realizes that everything was just an illusion. All the hard work, all the sweat and heart that's been putted in were for nothing. Although they were Americans inside their heart, but they feel the sense of non-acceptance because of their Chinese descent and physical appearances. They realized that it was all a "deterioration of the golden illusions". But the hero, unstoppable with his passionate heart, will continue in the divine cycle of the journey and keep walking down the path of life. That is just how the China Men from Kingston's family kept on coming and coming, thus they will never give up to whatever obstacles may stand in their way.

Rating:
Summary: An Experience To Remember...........
Review: The China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston was a very interesting book. It contains stories of Chinese men traveling to America in the 1800's and working on the transcontinental railroads, in Sierra Nevada. The author shares a lot of details in the stories about her family traveling to America. She retold the story from a male's perspective of what hardships they've been through to get to America, in search for the Golden Mountains. A rich country that they about which is full of riches. As they reach to America what they thought was the Golden Mountains was just a land of hard labor and low paying jobs. Some of them regretted coming to America, but they couldn't go back to their country because they had no money.
Some part of the story made me feel like I could relate my family to the characters that Kingston has written about. My family immigrated to the United States in 1984. Like the characters in Kingston's book they heard about the Golden Mountains that's why they came to America. All they found was low paying jobs which are similar to the characters in Kingston's book. Is this really what they thought of as the Golden Mountains? It was for sure not what they had thought of. Like many Chinese family my parents thought that the Golden Mountain was really a place to find gold, but all they found was their own blood, sweat, and tears that they shed of all the hard work that they did.
This book is also very educating because in one of the chapters, Kingston listed a list of laws that were set against Chinese in the 1800's. It gives the reader more information of what the Chinese immigrants had went through to come to America and to work for the country. Overall, this book is very good and very detailed. I strongly recommended this book, if you're interested in learning more about the experiences of Chinese men traveling to America and their stories. This is also one of the best book that I've read.

Rating:
Summary: Must Read for all serious readers
Review: This is an amazing book, wrought with heartwrenching love and pain over the wiping out of Chinese Americans in American history. I disagree with people who say it can be confusing for a non-Chinese reader, because it is certainly accessible. The plot is made up of several stories from different eras of history, along with beautifully narrated myths that are symbolic of America's inhospitability. It made me reaccess my understanding of an America that is not covered in textbooks and really to see how it feels to not feel at home in one's own country.

Rating:
Summary: Good combination of history and entertainment
Review: This is an entertaining book telling about the author's family. It was disconcerting at first because of the disconnected stories, but once I caught on to how the book was written, it was very enjoyable. There should be a preface put in telling how the separate stories work. Maxine Hong Kingston works the myths and legends into her book very well. I enjoyed these as much as the stories themselves.