52 Books 52 Weeks

1. A Chinese Life by Li Kunwu (finished January 8th)

Full review is up on Frontier Psychiatrist: Big Red Book: A Review of Li Kunwu, A Chinese Life.

A nearly 700 page graphic novel about growing up in China in the 50s/60s, through the Cultural Revolution, the death of Mao Zedong and subsequent economic boom the country is experiencing. Fascinating story told in a unique way. I'm not even sure the book was published in China, but rather originally in French, as the main purpose of the book is to express to Westerners what life in China has been like. I find myself more and more focused and interested in that country by the day; it's depressing to read of continuous censorship and environmental issues over there.









2. Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara (finished January 12th)

A collection of short stories that explore the black experience in the Civil Rights era, written in a raw and expressive cadence, affectionately described as The Black Style on the back cover. Not every story drew me in deep, but the ones that did did it well. 'The Survivor' relates the experience of giving birth, 'The Lesson' finds poor children discovering the cold truth of social hierarchy, and the Maggie in 'Maggie of the Green Bottles' straddles the line between innocence and maturity. While the stories range across multiple generations of characters, there was one link I found interesting. In 'Happy Birthday,' one character laments "I don't understand kids sometimes." This comes a few stories after 'My Man Bovanne,' where the main character's daughter spits back at her that "[the generation gap] is a white concept for a white phenomenon. There's no generation gap among Black people. We are a col-" She gets cut off before she can finish. Collective? Collaboration across time?