Nights When Nothing Happened

最近看了几本华二代写的书， 包括Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu, Chemistry by Weike Wang 和 Nights When Nothing Happened by Simon Han。 给Nights When Nothing Happened 写了个小review :-)

This is the best book I have read that portrays the new Chinese immigrants who came to this country after the 1980s. It is beautifully written, poetic almost, with believable and engaging characters. Patty is a strong woman who is intelligent and independent, who can be assertive when pursuing her goals and reserved when coping with stressful situations, who shoulders great burdens with seeming aplomb. Annabel is a gifted and impish girl with a unique aura. Whoever has a daughter like her would be half grateful and half anxious. Jack the narrator is a sensitive boy who tries to protect his little sister and to understand the adults in his life. Liang's nightmares reflect his past in China and creep into his reality in America. I like the way the author switches between lives in two different countries and stories in two different cultures. It creates a sense of connection and mutuality that explicates the context of the Chengs and the underpinning of their emotions and actions.

The narrative is sentimental yet without bitterness and self-pity, placid yet with an undercurrent of tension throughout.