[.ca] Bone (ISBN 1562829440)

not worth it:
I was expecting a well composed novel and ended up with a story instead. Have you ever been stuck on the telephone with a friend who insisted on reporting a personal story in a rambled manner while you have better things to do with your time? Or better yet, just get completely bored with the whole thing and hang up as quickly as possible? That's what I felt like while reading this novel. The composition of this novel was, at best, junior high level. And, to top it off, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and was unable to conjure up any interest in her ongoing blah blah blah about what street she was walking or driving through. I think I'm going to take BART to the city and abandon the book somewhere in Chinatown.

encountering dislocation and difference:
This is an exceptional book that I would categorize generally under postcolonial writing. Writers who have emerged from histories impacted by colonization such as Salaman Rushdie and Leslie Marmon Silko often use a non-linear, form-twisting style that has taken the standard Western 'novel' to new heights. This is not just an artistic, aesthetic statement but also a highly political one as well that speaks to different cultures, different histories and continuing effects of of dislocation, relocation, and oppressions. Ng is clearly an heir to this type of writing, and implements it superbly. With deceptively simple prose, her characters reveal the impacts of racism against Chinese immigrants to the US, and the despairs of working class immigrant life in San Francisco Chinatown. At the same time her characters show that what keeps a family together is sometimes love and loyalty, and sometimes the ever-present effects of history. If you are looking for a book that reproduces comfortable mainstream standards for novels -- for example A to Z linearity, universal humanist themes and cultural familiarity -- then you may not be interested in this book. However, for those of us whose lives and minds are not so simplistic, and are willing to face unfamiliar realities due to differences of culture, history, class, race and gender (or perhaps for those who can identify with the realities revealed in this novel), then this is an excellent work whose beauty will stick with you after you are finished reading it.

Reminds me of home:
This book was an easy read. Out of all the books I've read this one contained a literary character, Leon, which made the book enjoyable to me. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because I thought the ending was a bit abrupt. This book really made you feel for the characters. Leila was torn between family responsibility and wanting her own life. I feel that this book was really about identity. As I said before, Leon is one of the best literary characters I read about he's both simple and complex. The kind of guy that can't seem to catch a break and constantly keeping busy. Other than that it's worth picking up the book because I couldn't put it down.

Poetic and deeply moving:
This is a great book about how ordinary people trying desperately to live with dignity and the tragedy that associates with such desperation. The story unfolds slowly and keeps you suspended until the very last moment. It is written beautifully and poetically. You don't have to be Chinese to read this book. The psychological drama plays out in this books is so universal and genuine and at times reminds me of that in "A long day's journey into the night."

An semi-interesting read, Contemporary Rubbish nevertheless:
Unfortunately, this novel was on my summer reading list, else I'd never have picked up a piece of rubbish such as this. It was detestable from the start, since the story began in the middle and nothing was appropriately introduced. This could have worked if the author was Homer, but Ng is far from a great storyteller, and her attempt at this has brought nothing but confusion. As the novel proceeded, the readers are *slowly* introduced to the situation of the Leong family (unless reading the cover flap was intended as part of the introduction of the plot!): the middle daughter named Ona jumped off a high-rise building, which has caused considerable grief in the family. However, instead of detailing the aftermath of Ona's actions and its effect on the Leong family, Ng spent no less than 70+ pages (of a 197 page novel printed in large size fonts) describing the incident with no chronological order! Oh please! She could have at least smoothed out the time transitions instead of jumping harshly from one time period to another. The ending, like one reviewer said, was "crappy". And indeed there is no better word to describe the ending than "crappy". Why? Because the ending actually ended in the time period *before* the beginning of the book! However, to make things even more confusing, Ng introduced something that might seem like it would be in the appropriate ending time period. Confused? That was her intention, or some rather weak attempt at metaphorical endings. Of course, with our schools being the way they are, it does not surprise me at all that the mediocre, second-rate teachers (with exclusion of 1 or 2) at our high school's English Department would choose a piece of rubbish such as this instead of classics which are what high-school aged students should be reading. Don't buy or even check it out, it's a waste of time.