Don Lee (1) (1959–)

I wanted to be cynical about this book but I can't. I enjoyed the whole thing, even though the stories can feel a bit like a lit fic cliche where everyone is a bit of an asshole fucking things up and no one has a healthy relationship with anyone, and the stories can start to feel a little repetitive in their structure, but in the end if I'm engrossed in the story, feel sympathy and some connection with the characters despite how much of a mess they might be, and feel a sense of anticipation about the choices they might ultimately make, how much can I really complain? I may not usually care about the foibles of horny modern people all that much, but The Partition made me care more than I usually do, that's for sure.

While there is a running theme of living life as an Asian (Korean, specifically) in the Western world, it wasn't the strongest theme in the book for me. There's a lot of stories of the entertainment industry. Actors, directors, translators, chefs, and so on and so forth. There are a lot of questions about how we see ourselves and how other people see us, how we present ourselves and whether or not the creative risks we take work out or not. And there's a lot of life getting in the way of the best laid plans. I've always had a contentious relationship with Asian-Western lit. That is, I've enjoyed very little of it because it so often seems to focus on how being Asian in the west sucks, and how Asian families also suck, and I never could relate. I can't say I relate much to the people in this book either, but even though things are constantly going sideways in these stories, the tone remains one of optimism, of coming back from bad moments and finding meaning in a modern world that presents us with what can feel like impossible choices.… (meer)

[The Partition] by [[Don Lee]]

I enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book, but the last section of three very long stories really dragged for me. They focused more on details of situations like the Vietnam War than on the lives of individuals. Characters were the driving force behind the earlier (and much better, IMO) stories. Lee's main characters are all Asian or mixed Asian people trying to navigate society. Whether a Hawaiian boy of mixed ethnicity, son of a CIA agent, trying to navigate Japanese society or a Korean adoptee working her way to the top of television journalism, all were unique and all illuminated the experiences of Asian-Americans in contemporary society. Were it not for the last quarter of the book, I would have rated it higher.… (meer)

Don Lee's collection of short stories introduce the readers to characters who are making sense of the decisions they have had to make. A failed indie filmmaker who is tapped to make a stereotypical movie about Asian immigrants, a chef who comes back home to help her parents close their restaurant, an academic who is accused to taking too many liberties with a translation of a novel, a letterpress printer who finds out his girlfriend is having an affair, a TV reporter who manipulates people to move ahead, a former actor who grew up around the world because of his father's job as a CIA operative and whose acting career has been filled with typecasting and disappointments. That these characters are Americans of various Asian descent color their experiences. Lee allows these characters to exist in specific moments in their lives, but he also lets them look back with the benefit of hindsight, tinged with wistfulness and regret. From time to time the narrators give background info on aspects of Asian or Asian American cultures which can seem clunky, intrusive, and even didactic, but for readers who may not be familiar with them, the added nuance may be beneficial. Altogether, this collection is a meditation on growing older and remembering the hopefulness of youth but also its mistakes and consequences.… (meer)

The Partition by Don Lee is another collection of short stories and the publisher actually sent me a hardcover copy, which I think is the first hardcover Early Reviewer book that I've received. The stories are all well written, blunt and descriptive. Not being of Asian descent, I'm sure that there are subtleties that I missed, but all of the stories explore the universal search for finding one's place in the world around you. I enjoyed all of the stories, especially the final three story series about the same character.… (meer)