I stumbled upon Lan
Samantha Chang a couple years back, and I reviewed her novel, Inheritance. I have now picked up her first book, Hunger¸ which consist of a novella and
five stories. Normally, I don’t care
for, what I call “ethnic fiction,” but a friend urged me to try Chang. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel of seven
generations of women, who lived, struggled and survived through all the turmoil
in 20th century China. I
hardly knew it was set in China, I felt that comfortable there. Hunger does
the same thing for me.
According to the
author’s bio, Chang was born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin. She graduated from Yale University and the
University of Iowa. She has been awarded
a National Endowment for the Arts grant and fellowships from Stanford
University. She divides her time between
Northern California and Princeton, New Jersey, where she is a Fellow in the
Humanities. Hunger has won numerous awards.
The collection
begins with the title story, and it certainly deserves top billing. Min leaves what was then the comfortable
environment of her native land, China, at the urging of her mother who wants
her daughter to have a better life in America.
She struggles to learn English, but she never really masters the
language. Nin works in a Chinese
restaurant, and one day, a handsome man, Tian, walks in, but leaves without his
hat. Min hides it, so she can be the one
to return it. She decides she will marry
this man. They get married and move to
Brooklyn, where Tian teaches music at a local college. He hopes for a professorship so he can
adequately support his family. They have
two children, Anna, who turns out to be a disappointment, and Ruth, who, while
a talented violinist, is also a rebel.
The family struggles to adapt to their new land, but pitfalls
abound. The story is about memory,
loyalty, separation, and respect for elders, but their new homeland conspires
against the old ways.
The family “hungers”
for more than food. Min narrates, “[Ruth]
stayed in public school with Anna, and continued after Anna left for
college. She kept practicing with
Tian. But she had developed a sudden and
brilliant talent for upsetting him. So
many years of pleasing him had given her this ability. With me she remained obedient. I prided myself on this, until I recognized
it as an emblem of indifference. My pale
love would never interest her. Tian was
her true opponent, and I was only a moth that fluttered around the brilliant
bulb of her rebellion” (74).
The remaining tales
fluctuate among a variety of Chinese folktales, modern yarns, and a story of a
healer and a charmer.
All in all, Lan
Samantha Chang’s collection, Hunger, is a very satisfying collection of tales. She has another novel, I think I’ll take a
look at that soon. 5 stars.
--Chiron, 2/24/15
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