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tiffym's review
3.0
Written in the tradition of the Joy Luck Club, I found this novel to be better than I thought. I was impressed with its writing style and I thoroughly enjoyed the character development of each family member. Who you thought was a great person in the beginning emerges to be a horrible mother-in-law, and the relationship a father wishes to have with his son changes to mutual silence. Nobody in the family is perfect, and I thought the author did a great job depicting this unstable family as a whole. It took me a bit to understand the family relations, though, because each scene is a memory of different relatives in different times of their lives. It jumps around quite a bit in the beginning, but it gets much easier to tie things together as you continue. I enjoyed this, but it didn't leave me with any inspiration or motivation to reach out towards my own family to solve issues. I'd recommend this book for those who enjoy the dramatic family stories.
helium's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
What a phenomenal book!
The End of East tells the story of the Chan family from Seid Quan, who is the first of the family to move to Vancouver to chase a better life, to his son, Pon Man, who experiences Vancouver for the first time as a 15-year-old with his mostly unknown father, to their lives together as a family with Pon Man's five daughters who grow up Chinese-Canadian.
This multigenerational family saga was painfully raw and reflective of traditional Chinese values and way of life. This book sheds light on the many difficulties of the Asian diaspora in a very realistic way. The racism faced by the first Chinese men who were promised a better life through hard work and the realization that the only thing they can do is give up on their dreams and work harder with their heads lowered. The repercussions such behaviour can cause were depicted incredibly well.
Jen Sookfong Lee's descriptive and lyrical writing brought to life all the complex relationships a Chinese family in a foreign country can have with each other while staying true to many traditional Chinese beliefs. The cruelty of these relationships might be hard to understand for anyone not Chinese, but for someone like me, it is easy to understand and empathize while knowing the faults of it. The characters in this book have difficulty communicating and showing their true emotions. They only know how to show love through hard work and sacrifice, a traditional Chinese mindset, to ensure success which only creates longing and regrets. And when success does not happen, they blame themselves and inevitably grow resentful of the others who also had a role in ensuring that success.
All the unexpressed love and glaring pain are meshed together to form this incredible story, making it hard to love or hate any characters entirely while making them unapologetically human.
I found many similarities between this book and her memoir, "Superfan." Reading this book after that one allows me to see that many elements of this one are inspired by her real life, making this story all the more heartbreaking and honest.
What a masterpiece; I highly recommend it!
4.5 stars
The End of East tells the story of the Chan family from Seid Quan, who is the first of the family to move to Vancouver to chase a better life, to his son, Pon Man, who experiences Vancouver for the first time as a 15-year-old with his mostly unknown father, to their lives together as a family with Pon Man's five daughters who grow up Chinese-Canadian.
This multigenerational family saga was painfully raw and reflective of traditional Chinese values and way of life. This book sheds light on the many difficulties of the Asian diaspora in a very realistic way. The racism faced by the first Chinese men who were promised a better life through hard work and the realization that the only thing they can do is give up on their dreams and work harder with their heads lowered. The repercussions such behaviour can cause were depicted incredibly well.
Jen Sookfong Lee's descriptive and lyrical writing brought to life all the complex relationships a Chinese family in a foreign country can have with each other while staying true to many traditional Chinese beliefs. The cruelty of these relationships might be hard to understand for anyone not Chinese, but for someone like me, it is easy to understand and empathize while knowing the faults of it. The characters in this book have difficulty communicating and showing their true emotions. They only know how to show love through hard work and sacrifice, a traditional Chinese mindset, to ensure success which only creates longing and regrets. And when success does not happen, they blame themselves and inevitably grow resentful of the others who also had a role in ensuring that success.
All the unexpressed love and glaring pain are meshed together to form this incredible story, making it hard to love or hate any characters entirely while making them unapologetically human.
I found many similarities between this book and her memoir, "Superfan." Reading this book after that one allows me to see that many elements of this one are inspired by her real life, making this story all the more heartbreaking and honest.
What a masterpiece; I highly recommend it!
4.5 stars
trmagee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
beautiful prose, lovely story although very sad and challenging at times. Some might disagree with me and say there isn’t any hope in it but I think they’re wrong I think it’s a very hopeful book and I like to think the characters that remain in the house are the two to finally figure out how to talk to each other.
minvanwin's review
3.0
Set in Vancouver's Chinatown, this intergenerational family drama probably has a deeper impact on those familiar with one of the book's main characters, the city of Vancouver. I bought this book in Victoria of all places.
twin1's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A really sad but beautiful look at intergenerational trauma, isolation and the effect of repressed emotions in the face of family duty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Racial slurs
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Blood
Minor: Rape and Cancer
elisabethreadsandreads's review
2.0
Two very typical CanLit features here--landscape as a character and metaphor (Vancouver's Chinatown, in this case), and a healthy dose of despair. I wanted to like it more than I did, but there was too much misery and not enough hope for me, and I wanted more from the youngest daughter; she was more of a narrative framing device than a central character. If you're looking for Chinese-Canadian intergenerational stories, try Weyson Choy's The Jade Peony instead.
carriekellenberger's review
5.0
The End of East is a beautiful and slightly haunting tale of a young Chinese man named Seid Quan who moves to Vancouver's Chinatown in Canada at eighteen years of age to build his future, and how his future unfolds for future generations in his family.
The story opens with young Sammy Chan returning to Vancouver for her sister's wedding after leaving Vancouver over six years ago. Sammy's return stirs up all sorts of emotions. She also feels abandoned by her four older sisters. While caring for their mother, Sammy starts to uncover and piece together her family history, which begins in 1913 when her grandfather, Seid Quan, moves to Canada to earn money for his village in China.
Lee skillfully weaves past and present together into a beautiful story of longing, loss, and loneliness.
After being alone for many years, Seid Quan is finally able to bring son Pon Man to Vancouver, but it turns out that Pon Man feels scorn for his father and their relationship is tumultuous.
Pon Man's mother Shew Lin eventually joins them, and then soon enough, it's Pon Man's turn to bring his bride over from Hong Kong. Her name is Siu Sang, and the family expects much from her as the new young woman of the house.
Meanwhile, Siu Sang starts to fray around the edges. As a Hong Kong bride, her expectations of Canada were dreams of attending parties and social engagements with her handsome husband, not the dull drudgery of days at home scrubbing every inch of the house and preparing every meal. She is constantly berated by Shew Lin, and despite giving birth five times, she never gives the family what they want. She is a constant disappointment to everyone.
As Sammy's family history unfolds, she finds herself in a terribly difficult relationship with her mother and with a new man in her life. She is also still reeling from the memory's of her father's illness.
A raw, honest, and ruthless account of growing up in Vancouver's Chinatown and what it's like to be a stranger in a strange land.
The story opens with young Sammy Chan returning to Vancouver for her sister's wedding after leaving Vancouver over six years ago. Sammy's return stirs up all sorts of emotions. She also feels abandoned by her four older sisters. While caring for their mother, Sammy starts to uncover and piece together her family history, which begins in 1913 when her grandfather, Seid Quan, moves to Canada to earn money for his village in China.
Lee skillfully weaves past and present together into a beautiful story of longing, loss, and loneliness.
After being alone for many years, Seid Quan is finally able to bring son Pon Man to Vancouver, but it turns out that Pon Man feels scorn for his father and their relationship is tumultuous.
Pon Man's mother Shew Lin eventually joins them, and then soon enough, it's Pon Man's turn to bring his bride over from Hong Kong. Her name is Siu Sang, and the family expects much from her as the new young woman of the house.
Meanwhile, Siu Sang starts to fray around the edges. As a Hong Kong bride, her expectations of Canada were dreams of attending parties and social engagements with her handsome husband, not the dull drudgery of days at home scrubbing every inch of the house and preparing every meal. She is constantly berated by Shew Lin, and despite giving birth five times, she never gives the family what they want. She is a constant disappointment to everyone.
As Sammy's family history unfolds, she finds herself in a terribly difficult relationship with her mother and with a new man in her life. She is also still reeling from the memory's of her father's illness.
A raw, honest, and ruthless account of growing up in Vancouver's Chinatown and what it's like to be a stranger in a strange land.
becygee's review against another edition
5.0
This book is such a darling but sad book. The themes of isolation and difficult family connections, make this book told through the perspectives of many as one coherent story. All of the characters live very sad lives and all seem to struggle in similar but different ways, however because of their own pain they all fail to connect and help each other. This helps create a beautiful story of inter generational trauma through the Lenses of isolation. This book contains beautiful writing and metaphors that carry the book. My favourite example of this is how the sense of smell in this book is used strictly to describe negative feels such as loneliness, detest and homesickness.
10passagealtair's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0