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161st out of 290 books
—
99 voters
Beauty Plus Pity
by
Kevin Chong
"Beauty plus pity—that is the closest we can get to a definition of art."—Vladimir Nabokov
In this tragicomic modern immigrant's tale, Malcolm Kwan is a slacker twentysomething Asian-Canadian living in Vancouver who is about to embark on a modelling career when his life is suddenly derailed by two near-simultaneous events: the death of his filmmaker father, and the betrayal...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
September 20th 2011
by Arsenal Pulp Press
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“In my head, I imagined what my ideal dad would be like.”
“Really?” I asked. “So did I.”
Her eyes flared open. “Really? What was your ideal father like?”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s probably different from what you’d imagine out of thin air.”
“Well, I always thought he’d be someone who could fix things. Stuff would fall apart in our house and my mom would tape it up. I used to hate it when she drove to school to pick me up in her car with the bumper held on with electrician’s tape. I didn’t necessarily...more
“Really?” I asked. “So did I.”
Her eyes flared open. “Really? What was your ideal father like?”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s probably different from what you’d imagine out of thin air.”
“Well, I always thought he’d be someone who could fix things. Stuff would fall apart in our house and my mom would tape it up. I used to hate it when she drove to school to pick me up in her car with the bumper held on with electrician’s tape. I didn’t necessarily...more
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There were a few things that I didn't agree with plot-wise, but other than that, I really enjoyed Kevin Chong's second novel.
Things I liked-
1. The main character was Chinese without this having to be a story about him finding his heritage, coping with issues, blah blah. He was just Chinese and didn't seem to have to be dealing with Asian angst. He was dealing with his relationship with his father and his father's death, but it wasn't based around Asian angst.
2. There was a biracial Eurasian cha...more
Things I liked-
1. The main character was Chinese without this having to be a story about him finding his heritage, coping with issues, blah blah. He was just Chinese and didn't seem to have to be dealing with Asian angst. He was dealing with his relationship with his father and his father's death, but it wasn't based around Asian angst.
2. There was a biracial Eurasian cha...more
*3.5 stars*
"Beauty Plus Pity" is quiet in tone but deep in emotion. There's no formulated plot to this story, just snippets of the events Malcolm goes through as people come in and out of his life. The story is divided into two parts: beauty and pity. Personally, I found the first part to be more "pitiful," where all corners of Malcolm's life come crashing down on him (his dad has died, fiancee has left him, meets the half-sister he's never known about). In the second part of the book, it appea...more
"Beauty Plus Pity" is quiet in tone but deep in emotion. There's no formulated plot to this story, just snippets of the events Malcolm goes through as people come in and out of his life. The story is divided into two parts: beauty and pity. Personally, I found the first part to be more "pitiful," where all corners of Malcolm's life come crashing down on him (his dad has died, fiancee has left him, meets the half-sister he's never known about). In the second part of the book, it appea...more
"In the car, he explained that my mother wasn't hurting herself because she didn't want to be with us, but because she couldn't help herself. 'It's like she feels things extra hard. Everything is stronger, richer, smellier than it is for you and me. So her reactions are more powerful.' I started seeing her as an endangered species of one."
first - this book is full of errors. perhaps i should offer my editorial assistance to arsenal pulp press.
i've been waffling between two and three stars on this one. a lot of it was kind of slow, but by the end i felt like i had come to care about the characters enough to move it up to three stars. maybe.
i've been waffling between two and three stars on this one. a lot of it was kind of slow, but by the end i felt like i had come to care about the characters enough to move it up to three stars. maybe.
Might be an interesting book club book as it covers a lot of topics relevant to teens and early 20's, and their parents and families (career choices, love relationships, multiculturalism, family issues, pregnancy...). Liked it but didn't love it.
One of the titles on our Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2011 list.
Jan 11, 2012
Paul
added it
Malcolm's character is developed in detail. I wish Hadley could have been more fleshed out, however I think it was representative of the fact that Malcolm as the narrator does not understand his sister. Malcolm's approach to his early relationships, and his honesty with himself about his ulterior motives in them can be quite humourous. The ending was a bit shocking.
I liked it but the ending was kind of abrupt.
There is Asianness without the book being about Asianness! Rejoice and be glad!
I enjoyed reading this book until the last 20 pages. Then it felt like the author hated his characters and abruptly ended the book so that they were all forever miserable.
I loved this book. I read it as part of rabble.ca's "babble book club" http://rabble.ca/babble/babble-book-l... and am so glad that I had the opportunity to read this delightful book, that brings you chuckles, outright laughs, and tears. Also loved the Vancouver East setting of this text! Make this book your next fiction read.
I really liked this book as a whole, but I felt the ending was unnecessary and an extreme let down.
May 01, 2013
Carla
is currently reading it
Jan 20, 2013
Marianne
marked it as to-read
Nov 12, 2012
blandwitch
added it
Oct 23, 2012
Day
marked it as c
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Kevin Chong is a Canadian author. Born in Hong Kong, Chong studied at the University of British Columbia and Columbia University, where he received an MFA in fiction writing.
Chong lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is an accomplished show dog handler.
More about Kevin Chong...
Chong lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is an accomplished show dog handler.
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Dec 21, 2011 02:51am