For quite a while now, my non-academic reading has been reduced to English translations of Chinese novels. My fun reading list lay ignored -- remembered only when I would add yet another book to read that I never get round to doing. Since most of my current dramas were finished and I wasn't in the mood to start a new one, I thought I'd start with the latest addition to my TBR.
This is the story of Frank Lee, a second generation Korean-American, who fake dates another second gen Kor-Am, so that he could "freely" date his white girlfriend. Because his parents are bigots and had already disowned his older sister for marrying a black dude. Hijinks ensue. And soon Drama.
Frank has a fun, engaging voice and what I initially thought was going be a breezy read turned out to be a much heavier, nuanced take on dating someone outside your race. I usually read very fast but I have to frequently stop and take a breather because I keep getting intrusive flashbacks of my own experience with my extended family's particular brand of low-key/not low-key racism. This when I'm not Korean nor American. I was not expecting how strongly I would identify and empathize with Frank's dilemma and conflict.
I just finished chapter 15. Drama just arrived with a capital D. Reading chapters 1 through 12 was fraught with tension for me as I kept expecting the other shoe to drop, the ruse to fail. Without spoiling anything, something happens that kicks up the tension even more. I am excited and worried.
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| A sad but true state of affairs. I fight when I can, but some times, often times, it's just not worth it. Better to save my energy for the battles that count. |
I am listening to the audio book. I am slowly going through this and savoring the lessons. I listen to a section or up to a chapter a night before I go to sleep. I forget what chapter I'm on now but so far it remains very good. It has been very enlightening on many levels.
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