Another Immigrant Story: "Quiet as They Come"

I thank my friend Sarah for recommending (in a comment on my 12/17/10 blog entry) the book “Quiet as They Come” (Ig Publishing, 2010), by Angie Chau. This collection of interconnected stories about members of an extended Vietnamese-American immigrant family and their friends takes place here in San Francisco, which of course adds to its interest for me. But its main strength is its powerful portrayal of the histories and current lives of these immigrants, many of whom –- often with great difficulty and in great danger -- left Vietnam during or after the “American War” (what those of us living in the U.S. then called “The Vietnam War,” the difference in labeling signifying a huge difference in perspective), some as “boat people” who saw and experienced horrifying events. In the U.S., the characters struggle to survive, to adapt, to fit in, yet to keep their own culture. There are of course, as there are with so many immigrants from various countries, tensions and problems between the older and younger generations; the older ones want to keep the old ways, and to protect their children, and the youth want to go out into the world, explore, rebel against their parents and the old ways, and collect experiences – all the things that almost all young people want to do. Chau is particularly good at depicting this generational divide. She is also good at showing a whole spectrum of characters and experiences, not just those that portray the difficulties of immigrant life; although the latter are of course very important to show, writing only about those would be unidimensional and would leave out the complex humanity and experiences of these characters. Some of the characters in these stories are beaten down and defeated; some are optimistic; some are feisty. All are beautifully and revealingly drawn. Many of the stories are heartbreaking. Yet there is hope as well. One of my favorite characters is Viet, who had a PhD in philosophy and a law degree in Vietnam, where he was a professor; in the United States he struggles to get and keep jobs with much less status and that do not at all recognize or utilize his intellectual and academic background. Yet despite hardships and setbacks, he retains his dignity. Then there is the energetic and somewhat free-spirited teenaged Sophia, finding her own way with verve despite some stumbles. Reading this book so soon after reading (and writing about here on 12/28/10) Gish Jen’s novel “World and Town,” with its Cambodian family as main characters, has reminded me yet again of the increasingly diverse mixture of immigrants that has complicated and enriched the texture of all of our lives in the United States today. I am grateful to authors such as Chau and Jen who bring us their careful, thoughtful, well-written, and engaging portrayals of these new participants in American life.

On this New Year's Day, 2011, I wish readers of this blog all the very best -- including much good reading -- for the coming year!