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Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

11 reviews

turidt's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

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laurendenton's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

I think that this is a difficult book for me to rate because of the fact that it is split into 7 different essays, some of which work in relation to others and some which stand completely alone. The first three essays, which spoke directly in regards to the title Minor Feelings, were extremely eye-opening and affirming to my past experiences with racism and sexism. I was able to, while reading those initial sections, come to the conclusion that the majority of my own racial experiences have been "minor feelings", meaning that they have been subtle and distorted by my own self-hating memory. I have not been pulled over or directly called the n-word, but I have had more indirect experiences that have made me, in retrospect, wonder if maybe I was overreacting the entire time. Similarly, my voicing of such events has been met with sharp dismissals that only further my personal disbelief. The following three essays for me were, to put it bluntly, unremarkable. As stand-alones, perhaps in a separate collection of essays or as their own works entirely, I would've found them to be exceptionally well-done. I was personally not able to make clear connections between these essays and the overall theme of the book and its title. Perhaps if they had been fitted in between the initial three essays, I would've been more appreciative of their content, but because I was so astonished initially, the second half of the book was rather underwhelming to me. The essay entitled "An Education", particularly, seemed out-of-place with the other essays, while "The Portrait of an Artist" was more connected to the idea of "Minor Feelings". Cathy Park Hong is, without a doubt, an incredible writer whose works I will eagerly indulge in in the future, but only half of these essays left me in utter shock at their precision and beauty. I have found this to be the case with another essay collection that I have read, and so it is hard to give a definite rating for a book that has ignited me just as much as it has left me unsatisfied. 
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annayareads's review against another edition

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4.5

Overall, I really loved this book. Hong's words were both familiar and new to me as a Black femme in the US. Cathy Park Hong weaves the personal and the general together in a way that I wouldn't call masterful because that would do a disservice to the work that she does. She is careful to remind us that we cannot hold her words as some universal truth about all Asian Americans (she even troubles this group and who is held by it). One point of contention I had was during her discussion of cultural exchange. I come from this again as a Black American, but I think there is value in gatekeeping cultures from becoming mainstream. I don't think much has been gained from Black culture becoming mainstream; in fact, I think it has resulted in white faces being able to represent Black culture and divest it from its roots. Even though I can't completely agree with this aspect of one of her essays ("Bad English"), I can't express enough how valuable I think it is. I do not delude myself into thinking that just because I read this book that I understand wholistically the Asian American experience (or even the Korean American experience), but I have learned and I have felt and that is something we all need.
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alsoapples's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

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harperhoney's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

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anniefwrites's review against another edition

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While I think I might need to reread a few times to fully get all of the layers that make up this book, I found this essay collection searing and powerful. Cathy Park Hong is unapologetic, which in itself is a radical act. She's definitely a voice to be listening to right now.
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carolinefran's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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julied's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative medium-paced

3.0

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

"Asian American” is a complex identity. There’s first the question of who gets to claim the Asian American identity. Fundamentally, that would be anyone whose ancestral land is on the Asian continent. However, when we think of who the Asian American is, there are a few assumptions made: (1) they are East Asian (usually Han Chinese), (2) they come from an immigrant family, (3) said family is of the same ethnicity, (4) middle- to upper-class, and/or (5) they live in an area with a large Asian community. And it’s here that I ran into my frustrations with Minor Feelings, which is that this “Asian American reckoning” that Hong speaks of is… well, not reflective of my own reckoning, and I imagine many other Asian Americans.

Of course, Hong isn’t saying we all have the same experiences, but it sometimes came across that way to me, particularly the way she seems to assume that (nearly) every Asian American “gets it” when she talks about our relationship with the English language, feeling shame for being Asian American, etc. While these come from her own personal anecdotes, it’s the way she enmeshes them with cultural criticism and historical events that brought forth the frustrations I had while reading this book. And again, “Asian American” covers so much ground that Hong never addresses. What about adoptees? Multiracial Asians (especially those who don’t have a white parent)? West and Central Asians? South and Southeast Asians are almost afterthoughts in Minor Feelings. It’s not that I’m saying that she had to cover all of this (it would be impossible), but it raises the question of who she’s actually writing for and whether she can actually call this an “Asian American reckoning.”

I also had some issues with writing style and execution. I found the writing clunky at times, as though she couldn’t quite decide how to present her points. I could tell she wanted to share her viewpoints as an academic, activist, and a poet, but it fell short for me. In addition, some of her descriptions and choice in anecdotes were concerning. I was really taken aback by the amount of projecting she did of her own experiences onto other Asians (which was most apparent in the first chapter). Descriptions such as “Korean girls [she] knew [being] so moody they made Sylvia Plath seem as dull as C-SPAN” left a bad taste in my mouth, especially considering she had an entire chapter that focused on one of her friend’s mental health.

I don’t want to end this review on a negative note, because I still found that there were things to take away from this essay collection. For one, I truly appreciate the unflinching criticisms of US imperialism and capitalism. I don’t think US imperialism is talked about enough, as well as their roles in shaping Asian politics during the twentieth century (and to this day, frankly). In addition, her term “minor feelings” is one that I felt was strongly explored in “Stand Up.” I also thought her take on Stockton’s the queer child’s “growing sideways” to be a fascinating one, instead to consider the ways she looked sideways in “The End of White Innocence.” This ended up being my favorite essay, and what I felt was her strongest, in conveying nuance and care that seemed to be missing in many other parts of the book.

Overall, I think I’m disappointed that I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would. I saw so much praise from other Asian Americans about this book. Hong also being Korean American made me hope that something would deeply resonate with me. I’m not sure what it was that I wanted, but this wasn’t quite it. 

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sorcha's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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