My algorithm is swamped at the moment with people hating this book, often with variations on "I read it so you don't have to." I'm here to thank them for guiding me toward the book, because it was an absolute 5 stars for me. I have an affinity for the topics R.F. Kuang has covered in her past novels, but none of her fantasy approaches ever worked for me. After reading this novel I felt like shouting: FINALLY! This is what I wanted.
What is that exactly? A slow literary novel, honest and meditative. And a mirror story. I'm also a multilingual speaker, one who has tried to become invisible in another culture and felt frustration and despair at my inability to speak like a native. In my case, the languages I was trying to speak were not those of my parents; I'm closer to Lily's parents in this novel, meaning I'm the native who left home, tried to integrate in the new culture, and then watched with sorrow as the younger generation forgot the language of my youth. I was also the young student, not yet adept at navigating conflicts, on a summer program with people I hadn't met before. Kuang's portrayal of those types of programs, of youth and of mourning were so real it hurt!
Briefly, "Taipei Story" is (in my opinion) primarily a story about cultural grief. Lily, a highly-flawed protagonist, is desperately trying to hold on to the culture of her ancestors, to their language, and their memories. She's so close, yet light-years away from achieving her goal. And she makes herself miserable by accepting nothing other than perfection. There are so many good metaphors in this novel. Even the choice to study in Taipei, close to China, so close to her grandparents (whom she cannot visit because she lacks a visa), reinforces this within reach but unattainable atmosphere. Kuang could have leaned into stories of casual racism that had plagued her younger years in the States to explain some of the character's building grief, but she keeps that to a minimum, and I thought that was a good choice--it freed her to explore the pain Lily felt when losing a grandfather she was never close to from a new perspective. The loss of her grandfather, the slow loss of her grandmother (potentially to dementia) all line up perfectly with the main theme. Her first reaction, and that of many readers probably, was one of confusion: how can you mourn something you barely knew and wasn't interested in keeping? But just as a tree cannot survive long without roots, an immigrant cannot thrive without their ancestral connections. Lily wanders from class to class, restaurant to restaurant, and book to book in a desperate attempt to anchor herself. She compares herself with those around her compulsively. The reader is left adrift with her. And I loved that choice! I loved having to work to unearth the metaphors. I loved having to decide if Lily's imperfect knowledge was enough to keep her grounded and nourished, or is just a delusion. (Speaking of metaphors, I loved when Lily visits a stone park and witnesses a beautiful natural rock carved by wind that is so eroded it is expected to collapse; visitors are encouraged to turn their attention to a new rock formation, thought to be the next big attraction of the part, in order to give the old formation more time before it collapses. The imminent erasure of the formation, the switch to something else that can be "good enough" is a perfect summary of Lily's own efforts to keep her ancestral language alive during a time when her access to China becomes uncertain).
Who is this book for? I would say don't pick it up if you're not ready for a slow literary novel. If you loved Katie Kitamura's "Intimacies" I think you'll like "Taipei Story" as well. If you're a polyglot or an immigrant yourself, you may resonate with the book and its characters. Expect a flawed sometimes unlikable protagonist and cast of characters, details about the Chinese language (usually too many details irk me, but in this novel the lessons felt like a love letter from the author to the language she's trying to keep), and long chapters. The chapter borders align perfectly with different stages of learning a language: for example the first chapter focuses on the confusion coated in excitement Lily experiences upon arriving in Taipei and starting her lessons; chapter two shifts in a higher gear, when language learning has progressed to what begins to feel like fluency, only for the reality of lingering limitations to crash in and ruin your confidence. And so on. If you struggled with Babel, you may love this novel--at least that was the case for me.
In the end, this is a story about a brief moment in your life, one you think may not amount to much, but that ends up changing you in subtle and profound ways. The last paragraph made me tear up. In my opinion, Kuang did an excellent job with this narrative and I cannot wait to read more of her literary releases.
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