Typical American

A fiction, Chinese immigration story. An interesting look at a man that came to the US for college and then was stuck here when the Communists took over and his parents disapeared. His sister is able to reach the US with a family friend and the three of them end up a family. Quick moving story

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about the relationships with each other and the Chinese they know in the US. Like Jen's other books, the people's stories are hard and the ending leaves you asking questions and wanting to know what happens next. A good read but check it out from the library.

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The first line of the book asserts that this is "an American story", but in fact this is neither a "typical Chinese-immigrant" story, nor a ""typical American" one. In the end, no one is "typical" anything. Ralph's revelation at the end is not the disillusionment of a Chinese nor an American, but

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simply a man challenged by the complexity of the new context that surrounds him: "Kan bu fian. Ting bu fian.” -- He could not always see, could not always hear. He was not what he made up his mind to be.

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My discussion post for class:In Gish Jen's "Typical American", we are presented with characters that are easily relatable to. We read about them, and we can see similar experiences in our own lives. I believe it is through this technique that Gish Jen hopes to show readers that although Ralph,

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Theresa and Helen are Chinese American, their lives, hopes and aspirations are similar to any other "typical american."Ralph wanted to finish school, his wife patiently tried to help him succeed as she did what she could from the sidelines (I feel a special kinship to this, as my own husband has been in school for all ten years of our marriage!) They had children, they enjoyed baseball games, they shopped for houses together and daydreamed about moving into the perfect neighborhood. Don't misunderstand me, the Chinese characteristics and traditions do run strongly through their lives. However, I feel Jen seeks to show that despite these differences, their hopes and aspirations are basically the same as most all human beings. They want a nice home, healthy and happy children, a decent job, etc. Also, just like all typical Americans, the characters in this book have their own short comings. These character flaws are not inherently Chinese. Ralph's paranoia and somewhat faltering motivation are unique to him, they don't define every Chinese person in the novel.***Callie first day of Kindergarten is an example that comes to mind when thinking of the similarities between the Chinese American family and "typical Americans." Helen provides Callie with a beautiful new outfit for her first day of Kindergarten: " a navy blue jumper with a duck for a pocket, a light blue blouse with a Peter Pan collar, matching light blue stretch ankle socks with lace trim, and a pair of marine blue tie-up Buster Browns" (161). Callie's new outfit represents her entrance to a new phase in her life, the embarkment into school. Most American children also get a brand new outfit for the first day of Kindergarten, almost like a right of passage.Another similarity is Helen's concern and care in grooming the lawn for their new home. She wants a beautiful lawn just like the rest of her neighbors. However, as I write these examples, the thought comes to my mind: were they really just like typical Americans, or were they going through the motions outwardly in order to feel more a part of the community?It is Ralph's musings and tumultuous emotions that make me thing Gish Jen hopes to show that Chinese and American thoughts, dreams, and aspirations do not differ from each other. Indeed, perhaps all humans share the same emotional reactions to a certain degree. I specifically like his thoughts as he stands in the waves at the beach. Speaking of Ralph, she writes "He felt a secret kinship with the ocean. Mornings, he would stand mid-thigh in the surf and feel he understood its power, that he understood greatness -- that he was neither fooled by its easy majesty nor afraid of its violence" (180). Jen's description of Ralph's feelings upon viewing the beach and feeling its power is quite apt. I know I've felt similar emotions when I stand in the surf and try to comprehend the enormity of the ocean. I'd like to think that this experience is common to most humankind when standing on the shore of the ocean. It isn't unique to Chinese American men alone.

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My discussion post for class:In Gish Jen's "Typical American", we are presented with characters that are easily relatable to. We read about them, and we can see similar experiences in our own lives. I believe it is through this technique that Gish Jen hopes to show readers that although Ralph,

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Theresa and Helen are Chinese American, their lives, hopes and aspirations are similar to any other "typical american."Ralph wanted to finish school, his wife patiently tried to help him succeed as she did what she could from the sidelines (I feel a special kinship to this, as my own husband has been in school for all ten years of our marriage!) They had children, they enjoyed baseball games, they shopped for houses together and daydreamed about moving into the perfect neighborhood. Don't misunderstand me, the Chinese characteristics and traditions do run strongly through their lives. However, I feel Jen seeks to show that despite these differences, their hopes and aspirations are basically the same as most all human beings. They want a nice home, healthy and happy children, a decent job, etc. Also, just like all typical Americans, the characters in this book have their own short comings. These character flaws are not inherently Chinese. Ralph's paranoia and somewhat faltering motivation are unique to him, they don't define every Chinese person in the novel.***Callie first day of Kindergarten is an example that comes to mind when thinking of the similarities between the Chinese American family and "typical Americans." Helen provides Callie with a beautiful new outfit for her first day of Kindergarten: " a navy blue jumper with a duck for a pocket, a light blue blouse with a Peter Pan collar, matching light blue stretch ankle socks with lace trim, and a pair of marine blue tie-up Buster Browns" (161). Callie's new outfit represents her entrance to a new phase in her life, the embarkment into school. Most American children also get a brand new outfit for the first day of Kindergarten, almost like a right of passage.Another similarity is Helen's concern and care in grooming the lawn for their new home. She wants a beautiful lawn just like the rest of her neighbors. However, as I write these examples, the thought comes to my mind: were they really just like typical Americans, or were they going through the motions outwardly in order to feel more a part of the community?It is Ralph's musings and tumultuous emotions that make me thing Gish Jen hopes to show that Chinese and American thoughts, dreams, and aspirations do not differ from each other. Indeed, perhaps all humans share the same emotional reactions to a certain degree. I specifically like his thoughts as he stands in the waves at the beach. Speaking of Ralph, she writes "He felt a secret kinship with the ocean. Mornings, he would stand mid-thigh in the surf and feel he understood its power, that he understood greatness -- that he was neither fooled by its easy majesty nor afraid of its violence" (180). Jen's description of Ralph's feelings upon viewing the beach and feeling its power is quite apt. I know I've felt similar emotions when I stand in the surf and try to comprehend the enormity of the ocean. I'd like to think that this experience is common to most humankind when standing on the shore of the ocean. It isn't unique to Chinese American men alone.

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This is a moving and epic novel of the immigrant experience. Chang Yi-feng comes from China just after WW2, and is anchored in this country by his profession and his family, by a new name, and by a new language. Over a lifetime, he moves through all the highs and lows of the American experience,

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and, as always, it's the outsider who really delineates the character of a country.

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Pretty well-written. In terms of immigrant literature, it's definitely better than say, Amy Tan. I'd give the first half of the story (up until Ralph changes careers) 4 stars and the second half three stars. I don't know if that actually has anything to do with the quality of the novel, or if it's

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just me being impatient and restless and trying to finish the book as fast as possible (which I do with basically every novel).

The second half also has some more predictable elements: affairs, car accidents, etc. All these, of course, are part of the human experience, but idk, it's just so...TYPICALLY AMERICAN, YOU SAY? LOL, okay so maybe that was the point.

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Yifeng, the only son in a Chinese family, goes to the United States to study engineering, with plans to return to China. After the Communist takeover in China, Yifeng, now known as Ralph, is unable to return to China. He is reunited with his older sister, Theresa, and together they make a new,

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typically American, life.

This is both a family story and a character study. The family unit of Ralph, Theresa, and Ralph’s wife, Helen, is central to the novel, and the story would be incomplete without any one of them. The author’s quirky writing style resonated with me, and I look forward to reading more of her work, maybe with a reading group.

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Jen tracks the assimilation of a Shanghainese immigrant, Yifeng (Ralph) Chang, to the United States in the 1940s and 1950s (possibly 1960s as well). It is a rather unsympathetic look, as Chang gets taken in by a fellow immigrant and conman, Grover. Although Ralph is the protagonist, Jen's real

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focus is on women: his sister, Theresa, and wife, Helen, whose lives are perhaps constrained in a different way in the United States than they were in Shanghai. The lives of this family are told in very short chapters in a third-person, detached sort of way. Although the novel is a bit cynical and dark about the American dream, it is overall fairly melancholy, as Ralph reflects of the wreckage of their lives. For some reason Jen's style did not mesh with me, and overall I was just as detached from these characters as the Jen's narrator.

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