A review of new books that blend genres, challenging traditional distinctions and sparking a discussion about the evolving nature of literature. The review highlights a novel about the Tiananmen Square massacre and a candid exploration of a mother-daughter relationship, both blurring the lines between fiction, memoir, and history.
Don't even think about reading these new books — at least, not unless they shape up real quick and start respecting the venerable genre distinctions of our forebears. The last thing we want to do is encourage the kind of troublingly seductive world they represent, in which memoir can just be mixed willy-nilly with fiction, and history, and fantasy and philosophy and … well, you get the idea.
We teeter on the cusp of utter madness.OK, I'll admit: I'm being a bit facetious here. All six of the following notable releases do deserve your attention for one reason or another — many, preciselytheir spry dance with the expectations established by the genres they invoke. But I do ask that, when you pull one of them down and crack it open, you at least spare a thought for the poor, polite label that has been left behind, flaunted and dejected, on the bookshelf where it had stood.Jin Xuefei had been in the U.S. for what was to be a temporary stay, pursuing graduate studies after his time in the Chinese army, when tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square in 1989. He never returned to China; he began writing in English as Ha Jin,he told NPR in 2014 — continues to haunt him in his effective exile. In his latest novel, a fictional Chinese graduate student, studying in the U.S. years later, turns her research toward comprehending and coming to terms with the massacre — and reckoning with the urgency of keeping its memory alive.Don't call Jen's new book a memoir, exactly. This gimlet-eyed account of a difficult mother-daughter relationship makes up too much stuff to qualify; but then, to call the book a novel feels misleading too. The booka candid portrait of her relationship with her mother, Agnes, even if it steers more toward emotional truth than factual accuracy. We can leave these questions for the philosophers, or whoever decides the genre tags on Amazon. The point is, Jen has applied her peculiar set of skills — a candid but big-hearted style once described byfound in them, sure; it's just that those external stimuli often end up feeling secondary to the expansive inner life of her unnamed narrator. In her latest novel, as inbefore it, a snapshot of the action — in this case, a woman reflecting on her memories of a fading relationship and wondering at the nature of love — doesn't exactly scream"page-turner." But when the pages are actually turning, the effect,Now here's another book with no respect for the sanctity of bookshelf labels. The veteran journalist's first book is a mongrel mixed from memoir, history and reportage, in which Ioffe's own memories mingle with archival dives and on-the-ground conversations. What emerges is a portrait of Russia's past and present, viewed from the fluctuating social and legal positions of its women. For what it's worth, the trajectory of their social standing under today's oligarchy doesn't appear particularly positive.The hardscrabble early years of Díaz's life in Puerto Rico and Miami, veined as they were with poverty, casual peril and a precarious mother-daughter relationship, boasted enough drama to fill a book in their own right — and indeed they did: her first book,. In her second book, Díaz plies her skills in fiction, with a debut novel that spans generations and centers some rather shaky mother-daughter bonds of its own, amid the tumult of the Puerto Rican barrio., his first novel in what became the His Dark Materials trilogy. An all but immediate international sensation, the original trilogy spawned dozens of translations and a veritable host of screen and radio adaptations — and now, just about three decades later, a completedColin Dwyer covers breaking news for NPR. He reports on a wide array of subjects — from politics in Latin America and the Middle East, to the latest developments in sports and scientific research.Kaiser Permanente employees return to workKPBS keeps you informed with local stories you need to know about — with no paywall. Our news is free for everyone because people like you help fund it.
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