Context⌗

I haven’t read a lot over the last few years, especially since grad school. A combination of changes in lifestyle, habits and some mental health issues thrown in mean I now have a lot less of an attention span, and so I’m having to rebuild my ability to read. This is the 4th or 5th book I have read this year, so slow but steady progress.

Review⌗

Cities⌗

I got this book by chance; someone in my apartment building left it in the lobby for others to take. That interaction is somehow matched to the book, that details the lives of five people, (specifically Malay immigrants) which intersect in Shanghai. Much of the book is spent describing tall buildings and the interactions of the people therein, and I like that my introduction to the book took on that dimension as well.

People⌗

The character development and prose in the book is rich and I really enjoyed reading about all of the protagonists. As many other reviewers note, the most entertaining character is Phoebe. Scarred by past experiences, she treats life like a business, every interaction as a transaction or opportunity. It’s definitely something I have seen people do in my life… I used to consider that uncultured when I was younger. My opinions on people or character traits aren’t so strong anymore, but her character reminded me to be careful about how I perceive others.

The Race⌗

There is so much indirect conversation about capitalism, and I am reasonably sure it is intended to be a critique, but I also feel like it tends to glorify it in some ways. I’m not literary enough to distinguish those two in this case, I think. Regardless, it reminds me that I also get caught up in thinking about the world the way the narrator in the book writes his chapter titles like “Move to Where the Money is”, “Cultivate an Urbane, Humorous Personality” and “Embrace Your Bright Future”.

All Connected⌗

The stories of the main characters intertwine in elaborate, interesting ways, and they make for compelling reading, but the end feels… incomplete. That is another theme of the book, where the stories between characters are left incomplete (Gary and Phoebe, Justin and Linghui, Justin and his family, Walter and Justin). I appreciate that there is mystery in that, but it does leave the whole book feeling like it had too many loose ends. Finishing the book didn’t feel as satisfactory as I would have liked.

Ending thoughts⌗

Regardless, I’m happy I finished the book. It was an engrossing read (or what passes for it with my attention span). I enjoyed the refresher on how not to think about the capitalist, consumerist world around us. And I enjoyed getting to know these characters, even if I didn’t get any closure. Hah, I just realized that the book points out that that is something that we want as a result of western movies. Maybe I need to embrace the lack of closure.