Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

22 reviews

yanhuidiamond's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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lisettemarie's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad

4.0

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addanumlaut's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

i don't read many non-fiction books, but i'm so glad i picked this one up. while i was vaguely aware of the troubles asian-americans had to face, cathy brought so many details and often overlooked experiences to the forefront in such a way that one can't ignore it. will be re-reading and looking for other books by her.
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jcstokes95's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

 This essay collection is remarkable. I honestly did not feel a single piece missed the mark; each one was thoughtful and a gorgeous mix of personal and informative. Cathy Hong Park really plumbs the depths here, of her communities’ tragedies and its shortcomings. She takes the time to tease out all the complications; she looks at the model minority myth in a way that makes the harm of it all so clear. She delves into racial self-hatred with depth rarely given to it. In retrospect, I wish I’d purchased a physical copy so I could mark this book up to hell. There are so many arresting lines. 

Park writes about how white, American culture has imprinted on Asian-Americans brought here specifically because their jobs made them “worthy” or the right to immigrate to a country with historically closed borders. This pressure to maintain status and perfection has kept the model minority stereotype alive. Park rejects the American ideology that immigrants should be “grateful” or “compliant” to a nation that has refused to allow them to come into their own identity separate from a relation to whiteness.  

I also loved the section on stand up as abrasive, storytelling that forces the audience into being viewed from the performer’s eyes. I like the idea that audience in this case can be the target and allow a comedian from an underrepresented/oppressed background to put the audience at risk of being on display. 

Like many essay collections, there are points where it temporarily loses its thread. It could stand to be pulled tighter here by an editor, but it is a testament to the strength of Park’s writing style that this remains powerful and compelling despite these blips. 

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leweylibrary's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.75

There's a lot going on in this book, and I'm glad that I at least read a good half of it as a physical copy rather than the audiobook I finished with. The author is a poet, and that is much clearer when I'm reading a physical copy and can mark parts that stand out to me. I read this for a book club, but I missed the last meeting. In the sessions I did go to, we had really rich discussions that elevated my opinion of the book greatly. The first half dealt a lot more with more abstract concepts and literature, but the second half moves more into talking about herself and her background in art and poetry while delving into deeper issues like her "bad English," internment camps, and the brutal rape and murder of a prominent Asian American artist.
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lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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reflective

5.0

I chose Minor Feelings as my choice nonfiction book for school, and I am incredibly glad I did. This essay collection mixes memoir, history, anthology, and more into a genre bending work of art about the Asian American experience and the pressure of assimilation. I cannot recommend this book enough!
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The Portrait of an Artist and An Education were my two favorite essays, but every component of this collection brought a unique angle and style, which I appreciated.
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deetabz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

This book was definitely too clever for me but I feel like I still got a lot out of it. It's a collection of essays which I found really interesting but I also got a bit lost sometimes. Cathy Park Hong is a poet and some of her writing was a bit dense for me and some of the concepts went over my head. However I'm glad I read it and I don't think I've read another book like it. 
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annelihghh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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bexi's review

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced
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