Unpolished Gem

May 01, 2011 Sulis Langsing rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-own, non-fiksi, buntelan

Ceritanya tentang perbedaan budaya, kisah pribadi penulisnya waktu baru pindah dari Kamboja ke Australia, dari kecil hingga dia kuliah. Lucu sih, gampangannya orang udik dari desa yang pindah ke kota besar, banyak tingkah konyol. Contohnya waktu naik eskalator, mereka naik turun di eskalator pusat perbelanjaan Hightpoint, pria berusia 32 tahun, istrinya yang hamil delapan bulan, adik perempuannya yang berumur 27 tahun, dan nenek-nenek Asia yang mengenakan piama wol berwarna ungu. Waktu membeli m...more Ceritanya tentang perbedaan budaya, kisah pribadi penulisnya waktu baru pindah dari Kamboja ke Australia, dari kecil hingga dia kuliah. Lucu sih, gampangannya orang udik dari desa yang pindah ke kota besar, banyak tingkah konyol. Contohnya waktu naik eskalator, mereka naik turun di eskalator pusat perbelanjaan Hightpoint, pria berusia 32 tahun, istrinya yang hamil delapan bulan, adik perempuannya yang berumur 27 tahun, dan nenek-nenek Asia yang mengenakan piama wol berwarna ungu. Waktu membeli makanan kaleng, yang ternyata murah-murah, setelah memasaknya dan tanpa sengaja melihat iklan di televisi, ternyata makanan yang mereka beli adalah makanan anjing! di hal. 13 ibu Alice berkata, " Wah, siapa yang percaya daging seenak ini untuk makanan anjing? betepa beruntungnya menjadi anjing di negara ini." HUEKS. Pengalaman lainnya adalah ketika teman bibinya mau berkunjung, dia salah flat, malah dikira seorang wanita panggilan. Nenek dan Ibunya yang tidak akur dimana ini membuat Alice menjadi seorang pembohong, bagaimana tidak? ketika bersama neneknya, dia selalu bertanya," Agheare, ibumu bicara apa tentang diriku kalau aku sedang tak ada?" lalu ketika bersama ibunya, " Agheare, apa kata nenekmu tentang diriku?" bagaimana tidak stress???? Cerita konyol lainnya kebiasaan Alice yang suka ngompol dan tidak berani bilang ke gurunya waktu kelas dua, ada juga cerita sedih waktu Alice dan Alexander adiknya pergi kerumah temannya Joanne, tapi sampe disana mereka tidak disambut dengan baik, mereka dilarang menyenderkan kepala ke sofa karena rambut mereka kutuan. Hubungan Alice dengan neneknya sangat dekat, waktu neneknya meninggal, Alice tetap menyimpan kasur yang sering mereka gunakan untuk tidur bersama sampai besar. Nenek Alice salah satu orang yang mempunyai banyak kepercayaan, memuja banyak dewa. Buddha, Dewi Welas Asih, Dewa Bisnis, dia sangat cerewet sekali tidak kalah dengan ibunya Alice. Dan bagian yang paling aku suka adalah kisah cinta Alice :) ketika Alice mulai masuk universitas ada seorang pemuda, Michael, dia jatuh cinta pada Alice dan waktu menembaknya Alice berperang dengan pikirannya, antara mau menerima atau menolak, yang akhirnya ditolak tapi tidak lama kemudian setelah sering bersama toh dia menerima juga. Yang lucu itu adalah waktu mereka pacaran mendapat pengawasan ketat dari ibunya, ada jam malam, gerak gerik mereka tidak bebas, kadang mencuri-curi untuk ciuman. Untung menegtahui akhirnya, sebaiknya kita tanya langsung ke penulisnya, apakah akhirnya dia menikah dengan Michael? ;p

Ada kalimat favoritku, hal. 102 waktu ayah Alice berkata, "Keluarga itu seperti seekor ular, kalau kepala ular lurus, maka seluruh tubuhnya akan ikut lurus. Tetapi, kalau kepalanya bengkok, maka tubuhnya akan bengkok-bengkok seperti gingseng dan celakalah dia."

Ceritanya lumayan, agak bosen juga sih diawal, hanya kejadian membeli makanan kaleng dan waktu tidak diterima di rumah temannya karena Alice punya kutu di rambutnya yang membuat saya tertarik, setelah itu flat. Mandeg ditengah, saya ganti bacaan lain, sampai Alice dewasa dan bertemu dengan Michael, membuat saya senyam senyum sendiri dan bersemangat untuk menyelesaikannya. Covernya cantik, ada typo beberapa, dan yang membuat saya binggung disini tidak memakai nama Alice tapi Angheare, hanya beberapa kali nama Alice digunakan (?)

Berbicara sedikit tentang pengarangnya, Alice Pung seorang penulis dan pengacara (sesuai yang dia ceritakan di buku, waktu kuliah dia mengambil jurusan hukum), karyanya dimuat di Meanjin, Good Wekend, dan The Monthly. Dunia Alice atau judul aslinya Unpolished Gem, buku pertamanya ini pada tahun 2007 mendapatkan penghargaan Newcomer of the year Award dari industri buku di Australia dan lolos seleksi NSW Premier Literaty Award dan Booksellers' Choice Award.

3 sayap untuk Alice dan keluarganya yang udik :)

Note: Buku ini saya dapatkan dari menang kuis di twitter, waktu itu pertanyaanya adalah, "apa pengalamanmu yang paling berkesan waktu kecil?" :))(less)

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Mar 24, 2011 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Asians, Asians living in a western country, Westerners who would like to peek into the Asians' lives

Unpolished Gem is the second memoir that I have read, the first one being the Diary of Anne Frank. This book is actually part of my English assignment and I am supposed to do an expository essay out of this. Being an Asian Memoir, this genre is fairly new to me but it is a very great book. Funny, lighthearted and a great reading experience in a whole.

I can safely say that this book opens up a window to the life of an Asian girl having to battle through the culture that she grew up into, which...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Ian Kemp added it

Alice Pung - lawyer, author, raconteur, all round great storyteller: what a huge disappointment to her mother! With a mix of humour and sadness Alice gives us her first hand insight into the plight of the first generation migrant - through the uncertain years of adolescence and early adulthood, trying to find her place in the world - in an adopted country and a society with radically different values and expectations to those of world her parents brought with them when they fled Cambodia.

Looming...more

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Feb 26, 2009 Kaye rated it 3 of 5 stars

In her debut memoir, Unpolished Gem, Alice Pung narrates the story of her family's settling in Australia. They arrive from Cambodia with nothing except the expectation of a new baby in a month's time. When the child is born, her father names her Alice because he thought Australia to be a wonderland. This is really the story of Alice, her mother, her grandmother and their assimilation into a culture so very different from their own.

Alice's mother and grandmother are still clinging to a lot of th...more In her debut memoir, Unpolished Gem, Alice Pung narrates the story of her family's settling in Australia. They arrive from Cambodia with nothing except the expectation of a new baby in a month's time. When the child is born, her father names her Alice because he thought Australia to be a wonderland. This is really the story of Alice, her mother, her grandmother and their assimilation into a culture so very different from their own.

Alice's mother and grandmother are still clinging to a lot of their Chinese heritage whereas Alice's only frame of reference is Australia. She recounts how difficult it is for her mother to acclimatize herself to the new country; learning English, conducting her jewelry business and just everyday life. Her grandmother seems to adapt more easily. Alice becomes the go- between to her mother and grandmother and this creates some tension at times. Alice feels like she is Chinese at home and Australian outside. Alice says the life of a Chinese woman is constantly, sighing, lying and dying and that she wants no part of it.Growing up amid two different cultures is not always easy.

Throughout the story, Alice was very attached to her grandmother and her story telling. Unfortunately, when her grandmother passed away, Alice lost her sense of youthful security and knowing exactly who she was while growing up and trying to find her proper place in the world. Alice felt that her grandmother had affirmed Alice's existence. During adolescence, Alice experienced a severe depression and extreme angst dealing with the realities of becoming a young woman. Her self esteem suffered as did her hopes for the future. How her parents thought she should conduct herself and their hopes for her were not quite the same as what Alice thought. This is normally the case between parents and children but when there are different cultural ideals it is harder to deal with.

This is where the story began to lose some of my interest. The writing seemed more rambling to me. In the beginning, there were a lot of humorous accounts of everday life and some wonderful flashback moments of life before emigration; how her parents met, their engagement and how they, along with Alice's grandmother and aunt had walked through several countries before they finally emigrated to Australia. The differences between the cultures was extremely interesting and the characterizations were very well done. It was very easy to imagine Alice's mother and grandmother. The last quarter of the book was not quite so engaging. I think I would have liked to have seen more of the back story but it was a book about blending in a new culture. Maybe Ms. Pung should consider a pre-quel because that would be an interesting stroy. Overall, it is still a good book, just not a great one. If you enjoy memoirs and cultural differences, you might like this one. 3***
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Nov 20, 2008 Lien Vong rated it 2 of 5 stars

When I first started reading this book, I thought that there was so much I could relate with growing up Asian and living in Australia. But then I found Alice really quite annoying towards the end of this book when she talks about her relationship with the Anglo Aussie guy she starts dating. I just want to tell her to get over it, being Asian doesn't mean that it needs to get in the way of living your life. It obviously wasn't an issue with that guy and he went out of his way to adjust to the "As...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Farisa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Kocak dan menggelitik, novel ini benar-benar menghibur sampai ke sumsum tulang belakang Anda.

Yang bikin sinopsis di buku ini mungkin hanya membaca tiga bab pertama. Kelucuan-kelucuan khas kaum imigran tidak bertahan lama di Dunia Alice, karena seperti judul yang tertera: ini tentang Alice dan dunianya, atau dalam hal ini, keluarganya.

Saya akui beberapa bab awal di buku ini bernada ceria saat mengisahkan imigrasi keluarga Alice ke tanah Australia. Mereka terkaget-kaget betapa enaknya hidup dibia...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Louise rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book started with a bang, but lost impetus somewhere along the line. I loved her descriptions of Chinese immigrant family life. Her grandmother praising Father Government for the benefit she receives each fortnight. The excess of Australian society even in the late 70s when the authors early childhood occurs when seen by people who have endured war and hardship.The little Green Man was an eternal symbol of government existing to serve and protect. And any country that could have a little gr...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Lorraine rated it 4 of 5 stars

“Unpolished Gem” is a simple, but vivid memoir by Chinese-Cambodian Alice Pung, known as Agheare at home. I’ve ready many memoirs, especially about growing up as a migrant immersed in two cultures. This one is different and offers still more perspective on this subject—particularly since the family fled the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia to Thailand and eventually to Australia. This is the first book I’ve read about the challenges the third generation face when leaving their Asian homeland and immigrat...more “Unpolished Gem” is a simple, but vivid memoir by Chinese-Cambodian Alice Pung, known as Agheare at home. I’ve ready many memoirs, especially about growing up as a migrant immersed in two cultures. This one is different and offers still more perspective on this subject—particularly since the family fled the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia to Thailand and eventually to Australia. This is the first book I’ve read about the challenges the third generation face when leaving their Asian homeland and immigrate to Australia. From all I have read, it’s much the same as the immigrants who have come to the United States. I didn’t realize that the Asians have been in Australia since 1810.

There’s pain in Alice’s childhood, especially since she is used as a pawn between her paternal grandmother (the matriarch of the family) and her mother. Even at four years old, she realized she was being used in the power struggle between the two of them. Her mother is a harsh and unhappy woman. Her grandmother is more lovable and a great storyteller, but a woman with strong
Chinese ties to the culture. And there was plenty of pain when Alice was about to graduate from high school and can no longer function and feels like she will explode from all this pressure. Fortunately, she finds a doctor who understands both cultures and helps her get through it.

Alice’s mother was 8-month’s pregnant when they arrived in Melbourne and she was named Alice because her father thought that this new place was a “Wonderland.” I loved the opening when they first arrived. Imagine cars actually stopping for pedestrians because of the red lights. The flashing green man intrigued them .I had to smile because anyone who has been to Asia will understand why they were surprised that cars actually adhere to traffic symbols. Oh, and the beautiful clothes that “St. Vincent’s” gave them.

A key theme of the book is how women are perceived and the virtuous behavior that is not only expected but demanded and how incongruous it is.

“A girl is like the white cotton wool—once dirtied, it can never be clean again. A boy is like a gem—the more you polish it, the brighter it shines.”

Alice finds her way out of the troubles and does not end up "Constantly sighing and lying and dying - that is what being a Chinese woman means, and I want nothing to do with it."
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Oct 19, 2011 Rosa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-owns

2.5 stars
This book really educates a reader on life, and what really goes on. I felt very empathetic towards Alice, and although her life was very difficult at times, there were good things as well.
Alice is an amazing character, who has gone through very much and she is very brave to share her story like this. At times, i felt a deep understanding for how she felt, and the way she tells her story very much maximises this effect: with confidence and honesty.

I don't usually read biographies/auto...more

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Apr 03, 2011 Trevor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

I had meant to read this years ago, when it first came out. Then I read a review by Choupette and meant to read it after that too. But never did. Then I was at the local library last week and saw the audio book. I read the back of the box and was told that this is not your normal ‘South East Asian comes to Australia’ story – no boats here, just lots of laughs and fun times.

There is only one possible explanation – the person who wrote the blurb to this audio book never read it. This is anything b...more I had meant to read this years ago, when it first came out. Then I read a review by Choupette and meant to read it after that too. But never did. Then I was at the local library last week and saw the audio book. I read the back of the box and was told that this is not your normal ‘South East Asian comes to Australia’ story – no boats here, just lots of laughs and fun times.

There is only one possible explanation – the person who wrote the blurb to this audio book never read it. This is anything but a laugh a minute novel. There were times when it was so painful that I almost stopped altogether. The parts at the beginning where her mother and grandmother use her as an instrument to cause pain to each other (and damn the feelings of the child) are just awful. The scene where the all-too-young Alice is left to look after her sister for hours and who then falls out of bed and then her mother blames Alice for any potential brain damage – well, that was the part where I nearly turned the tape off. I would have been much more resilient if not for the person who wrote the blurb, who really does need to go back to Blurb School.

Rule number one – there is no such thing as a laugh a minute book with the long shadow of the killing fields stretching across it. Like Auschwitz, some topics were simply never made for sketch comedy. This book definitely does not present itself as such.

Rule number two – if the main character ends up on anti-depressants at 17 perhaps this is a sign of something deeper going on than a cute coming of age story for a girl that just happens to be Asian Australian. This is a fascinating story of what it means to be an Asian girl growing up in pretty well contemporary Australia. If you need some fire reignited in your feminist belly, this is as good a book to read as any other.

There were a few things I didn’t like about the book – just about every time she had internal arguments with herself about her boy friend was overwritten and could so easily have been handled better. All the same, the best of this book is that mostly it is written in good, clean and clear sentences. That is, there is very little crap. Which is always a good sign.

I feel sure that parts of this book will stay with me for quite some time. I also went to one of the primary schools she went to, one of the long string of schools I went to in my own childhood journey across Melbourne. It is nice reading books set in Melbourne that mention places I’ve known all my life, getting to see them through another set of eyes. I am glad I didn’t stop listening to this – but it is definitely not a light book, not by any stretch of the imagination.

My favourite bit is this – oh, some background if you are not Australian. Greek and Italian Australians once were called Wogs as an insult – now this is a word you mostly only hear used by Greeks and Italians to describe themselves. They call Anglo-Australias, ‘Skips’ – after Skippy, the bush kangaroo. This was the funniest part of the book:

“My cousin Melanie had recently married her skip boyfriend, although I don't know why he called himself that. "Hey I'm just a skip!" he kept insisting, "I won't be offended if you all call me that, ha ha!" He grinned like a goof at his own generosity, not realising that all of my other relatives had already determined from day one that they would refer to him as the Round Red-haired Demon, even in Melanie's presence."
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May 13, 2009 Kleiner rated it 2 of 5 stars

Pung's family escaped the killing fields of Cambodia, walking from Vietnam to a refugee camp in Thailand. Pung was born in 1981, one month after her family (i.e., her father, mother, and her father's mother and sister) arrived in Melbourne, Australia. Being only twenty-seven years old, Pung's memoir is only of her first eighteen years.

In the memoir of her early childhood, Pung recounts her family's life before Australia. These stories captured Pung's childhood imagination, as evident in her rete...more Pung's family escaped the killing fields of Cambodia, walking from Vietnam to a refugee camp in Thailand. Pung was born in 1981, one month after her family (i.e., her father, mother, and her father's mother and sister) arrived in Melbourne, Australia. Being only twenty-seven years old, Pung's memoir is only of her first eighteen years.

In the memoir of her early childhood, Pung recounts her family's life before Australia. These stories captured Pung's childhood imagination, as evident in her retelling. She conjures up images of her mother riding on the back of her father's bicycle in Vietnam, trying to lose her aunt who accompanied the unmarried couple everywhere; her grandmother trying to swap one of her five sons for a girl. Through vivid details Pung paints a portrait of her family in Australia - the bowl haircuts; the used, brightly colored, mismatched clothing; the house full of plastic knickknacks.

The familiar starts to set in when Pung relates her family's endeavor to achieve the Australian dream; hard-working, insular immigrant parents who cannot connect with their child who is growing up in a different culture and a child suffering anxiety from cultural clashes and the pressure to excel in school.

Pung fails to portray her own story with any real depth. She writes of the turmoil of abiding by Chinese customs while living in Western society; however, the reader is not quite convinced. She portrays her own story as that of ordinary adolescent angst - the struggle between becoming an individual and family expectations. The reader does not learn whom Pung is beyond her family - what she journals about or who her friends are.

She writes that, to her, being a Chinese woman means "[c:]onstantly sighing and lying and dying...and I want nothing to do with it." Yet, her only near-deviant act was dating a Caucasian boy during her first year in college. In ending the relationship, Pung alludes to a fear of not keeping with the traditional Chinese custom of female purity. "I adored him. It was so easy to make him happy, I just had to be me....I was running out, there wasn't much left of me to give....And the only thing of value left of me to give him would leave me valueless."

American readers are familiar with the story of first-generation children of Asian immigrants. Unpolished Gem is not a fresh take on the all-too-familiar story. While set in Australia, Pung could have easily grown up in the United States. Also, given the lack of personal depth, there are no new lessons to be learned. As memoirs go, Pung is relatively young; perhaps she has not yet realized the meaning of all these experiences.

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Apr 21, 2009 Robin rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those who like memoirs

Shelves: 2009-list, memoirs

When I finished reading this book last night I was left with an odd feeling because it contains no author information whatsoever. I don't understand why we only get this author's life thus far, what made her write this book, as compelling as the narrative is, I missed her motivation. Maybe I need to take a closer look at it.

The author's story about a family who flees Cambodia and settles in Australia is another story about a young person caught between cultures. Even though she grows up in Aust...more

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May 20, 2010 Ari rated it 2 of 5 stars

Honestly, I was bored at times. The ending was jarring too, because it was so random and sudden. I could sort-of understand why Alice did what she did and I'm glad that she was able to honestly evaluate her relationships, but I think the story should have continued a little after that (the scene should not be cut out because it's a very key scene, but it needed a follow-up).

You may think I despised this book but I didn't. The author has a great sense of humor and she's able to poke fun at the s...more Honestly, I was bored at times. The ending was jarring too, because it was so random and sudden. I could sort-of understand why Alice did what she did and I'm glad that she was able to honestly evaluate her relationships, but I think the story should have continued a little after that (the scene should not be cut out because it's a very key scene, but it needed a follow-up).

You may think I despised this book but I didn't. The author has a great sense of humor and she's able to poke fun at the strictness of her parents while still remaining the ideal obedient daughter. Although I am confused by her family's background. Alice's father's mother was definitely Chinese, she immigrated to Cambodia because she was a revolutionary and the government was after her. There she met Alice's father's father and I'm not sure if he's Cambodian or Chinese. She met him at a Chinese school, so I do think he's Chinese but he was way older and a teacher so maybe he was Cambodian and just taught at a Chinese school. I'm pretty sure Alice's mother is Cambodian though, Alice doesn't reveal much about the beginning of her life, her story starts when her mom is thirteen.

Nevertheless, I loved reading about the Chinese-Cambodian culture and Alice's interesting family. There are two things that really stuck me in reading this novel, how Alice and her family call white people "ghosts". I found this quite amusing and smiled to myself every time I read it. I also thought that their definition of gossip/insults was brilliant, "Words with bones in them, my grandmother calls them. Words to make the other person fall flat on their back and die a curly death, my mother says. The sharp ones, the ones you can use if ever you need a weapon to protect yourself." (pg. 36). I also loved the glimpse into Australian culture in general, mainly though vocabulary. For example, an ocker (see summary of the book above) is someone with an Australian accent who speaks and acts in an "uncultured manner" (thanks Wikipedia!). I had no clue what an ocker was but I had fun reading the bits of slang (bugger!) scattered throughout the novel and I was pleased that there was no translation (I'm not even sure if this book was published in the U.S., I don't think it was) you had to use context clues or just go look it up. Alice and her grandmother have a special relationship that was really heart-warming to read abou

Unpolished Gem was a humorous look into the life of an average middle class Chinese-Cambodian family living in Australia. I learned a lot about Chinese-Cambodian and Australian culture. The strong characters, rich history and culture are never sugar-coated which keeps the book interesting and original. I do think the ending could have been way better and the story becomes tedious at times, but the author's light hearted look at things and her way with words, helped me finish the book. I cheered when she said "I wanted to know whether it was only because I was 'exotic' and if so, what that word meant to him. If he told me he liked my almond eyes and caramel skin, I would tell him to buy a bag of confectionery instead, because i was sick of it all-how we always had to have hair like a black waterfall, alabaster or porcelain skin, and some body part or other resembling a peach." (pg. 230)I LOVE this line! I have mixed feelings on this memoir, but I would say if you want to learn about being Asian in Australia then this book is a must-read for you.
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Jan 15, 2012 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: aww-challenge-2012

First, a bit of background to my reading of this book. I grew up in a part of Sydney where there were many people of Asian descent. Those who were my age had often either been born in Australia to parents who were recent immigrants, or had come to Australia as children. Many of my friends were of Asian descent, from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I tended to see the similarities between my friends and me - they were, after all, my friends - and I often did not understand why they...more First, a bit of background to my reading of this book. I grew up in a part of Sydney where there were many people of Asian descent. Those who were my age had often either been born in Australia to parents who were recent immigrants, or had come to Australia as children. Many of my friends were of Asian descent, from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I tended to see the similarities between my friends and me - they were, after all, my friends - and I often did not understand why they reacted to certain things so differently, especially in relation to their interactions and relationships with their families.

In the years since high school, I have grown to understand much more. Unpolished Gem allowed me to take another leap in my understanding of some of my friends. At the very least, this means that if Ms Pung is writing for the wider Australian audience, to give them an insight into the life of a certain section of the Australian community, she has nailed it. (I am quite curious to know if she has nailed the audience within the section of the Australian community she is writing about.)

Ms Pung's writing is impeccable. By this I mean not that her sentences and paragraphs are well-structured and grammatically correct, although they are that, too, but that Ms Pung's narrative allows the reader to step inside the book and, to a significant extent, empathise with her. The reader is, accordingly, able to understand Ms Pung's emotional reactions to the situations she describes. It was this which allowed me to come to a much better understanding about my friends than I had before. It is not that I think all - or, even, any - of my friends had precisely the same experiences as Ms Pung, but that, by understanding the background in Ms Pung's story, I was able to better imagine what might have been happening for my friends in similar situations.

Such an understanding is important to me personally, and may be important personally to many others. It is also important socially. Ms Pung's family has much in common, in terms of experiences and background, with many other Australians and their families - not only those who came to Australia at around the same time as, and in similar circumstances to, Ms Pung's family, but those who are coming to Australia now. In order to ensure that we can be an Australian community, as many of us as possible from as many parts of Australian society need to have some insight into other parts of our society. Unpolished Gem will help to increase the level of insight between communities.

Finally, this book is also an excellent story, rather than merely a piece of writing about what happened. As a result, this book is likely to be quite an enjoyable read for those who, like me, do not normally enjoy non-fiction and memoir writing as much as fiction.(less)

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Dec 26, 2012 Chana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: australia, memoirs-and-biographies, cambodia, chinese-culture

A very neurotic young woman; intelligent obviously and a very quick wit, but something was wrong. It seemed to be her sense of self. She was born in Australia to Chinese Cambodian refugees. So all she knew in her life was Australia, but her parents and community were all Chinese. So she felt lost to the old culture (the loss of her grandmother, the loss of her fluency in Chinese), and yet not fitting in completely to the new culture. I think maybe it is a common immigrant problem but complicated...more

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Feb 09, 2012 Liz Murray rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this more than I did but I'm glad I read it and will look out for more work from this author. The narrative is uneven, at times the storytelling flows with ease and humor and at other times appears stilted and unsure. I feel this scratches the surface of what Alice Pung really wants to tell us or maybe politeness keeps her from sharing too much about her family and her feelings. The most interesting parts to read, for me, were when she was retelling family stories and when she w...more

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Aug 28, 2009 C. rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Melburnians

Recommended to C. by: MU bookclub

Shelves: australian, 2009

Given that I'm not strictly speaking Asian, it's possibly not at all pc of me to say this in this context, but thank FUCKING GOD for an Asian-Australian writer. There needs to be more of them (and more Lebanese-Australian writers, Mauritian-Australian writers and Sudanese-Australian writers, but they don't touch my life so closely, so I don't care as much). I think it's already been established that I'm not exactly in touch with the greater contemporary Australian literary scene, but the only o...more Given that I'm not strictly speaking Asian, it's possibly not at all pc of me to say this in this context, but thank FUCKING GOD for an Asian-Australian writer. There needs to be more of them (and more Lebanese-Australian writers, Mauritian-Australian writers and Sudanese-Australian writers, but they don't touch my life so closely, so I don't care as much). I think it's already been established that I'm not exactly in touch with the greater contemporary Australian literary scene, but the only other Asian-Australian writer I can think of is Shaun Tan.

Hurry up and grow up, my generation! I want to read your books!

This book was annoyingly written. Apparently, it is what is known as autofiction, a genre in which the author fictionalises their own life. Or something. So we hear about Alice's parents and grandmother coming to Australia from a life of poverty in Cambodia/China, their difficulties adjusting to Australian life, Alice's attempts to reconcile her Asian-ness with her Australian-ness, and so on. For much of the book, she had this irritating "I'm-an-omniscient-narrator" thing going on, even though it was also written in first person. There's a reason this sounds like a contradiction in terms! It was bad. And then there was all this perfectly ordinary, decent prose, only to be spoiled by these completely out-of-place metaphors, spikes of over-the-top alliteration, and completely pretentious pretentions of being able to write well! "Spreading stories like the Vegemite on my toast." "Boxed into my blue blazer." "The wah-sers." Alice Pung, you are clearly not a good enough, or experienced enough, writer to make such phrases fit into your prose without sounding like a complete twat! So don't do it!

But all this could be forgiven because Alice Pung is not only Asian-Australian, but Melburnian-Australian, and this book was like my own life re-told from a slightly different perspective. But for a quirk of fate, Alice's life could have been mine. Migrant parent(s). Suburban Melbourne (western instead of eastern suburbs, but same diff). Odd one out at private school. University. College. Boyfriends. Family. Existential Angst. But man, oh man, how comforting it is to read about things I know! How much I remember how confused I was the first time I went to my friend Jean's house and being handed a pair of slippers at the door! I didn't know whether I was supposed to keep them afterwards or not, because who would want to wear again the slippers that had been on my big, smelly, non-Asian feet? I left them, in the end, under Jean's bed. I wasn't used to wearing slippers around the house instead of shoes.

And the incidental, institutionalised, casual-and-unconcerned racism. And the Asian lady sitting in the wheelchair outside the house on Canterbury Road, near the intersection with Station Street. Day after day, rain or shine, sitting there, staring at the cars. (less)

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May 14, 2012 Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: school-class-texts

I got bored with it not even half way through. The little stories were interesting but the chronology of it was annoying and at times made the story confusing. What happens at the end s just eugh, could you put in big bold letters as a forewarning “BEWARE! JUST ABOUT ME AND MY FIRST BOYFRIEND AND ALL THAT BLAH” it's not that I thought it sent relevant/interesting, but the way she went about it to write it with at times a page long of italiseced inner thoughts at the time and..... I would have ra...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Koraly Dimitriadis rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'd like to preface this review by saying memoir isn't my favourite kind of writing, but I have read some brilliant ones like In my skin by Kate Holden. Still, a good piece of writing is a good piece of writing, regardless of the genre.

Unpolished gem takes you into a hidden world of a migrant family. I love the secret language, and their misunderstood ways. But I found the book incredibly jumpy. I felt very distant from the protagonist and found her a little irritating towards the end of the no...more

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May 24, 2009 Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars

There’s something about the tale of a new immigrant that allows us to see our own world in a new way. In this debut nonfiction memoir by Alice Pung, the stories contained within “Unpolished Gem” reflect the conflicts (both internal and external) of a person straddling two worlds, the ultimate outsider, never comfortable in either. Even though Pung herself was born in Australia (her parents landed there from the killing fields of Cambodia when her mother was eight months pregnant with her), her l...more There’s something about the tale of a new immigrant that allows us to see our own world in a new way. In this debut nonfiction memoir by Alice Pung, the stories contained within “Unpolished Gem” reflect the conflicts (both internal and external) of a person straddling two worlds, the ultimate outsider, never comfortable in either. Even though Pung herself was born in Australia (her parents landed there from the killing fields of Cambodia when her mother was eight months pregnant with her), her life was confined to a very small world in the suburbs of Melbourne, populated by other refugees.

She would remain caught in this “middle world” growing up, never comfortable in either. She also lived in the middle world within her own family, where she was the “word-spreader,” relaying stories of what her mother and grandmother (long at odds with each other but forced to live under the same roof) each had to say about the other. Torn by love for both, she could never satisfy either woman.

The memoir is also about the place of women generally. Indeed the very title captures a Cambodian proverb that reflects the fact that “a girl is like white cotton wool--once dirtied can never be clean again, whereas a boy is like a gem--the more you polish, the more it shines.” Even in the Western world of Australia, where Pung has become a lawyer in her own right, she is constricted by the expectations of family and culture even in the 21st century.

Pung is not afraid to reveal the estrangement, the push and pull of Australian life and immigrant demands. Her writing is sure and true and compelling. Each person is fully drawn, and the stories flow seamlessly. Perhaps the only disappointing part of the book is the fact that Pung is still so young that her story has yet to come full circle. She still has a lot of life to live…and share through her writing. What is clear is that she has given her first book a strength and honesty that makes her story worth knowing. You can’t ask for more than that!

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Jan 25, 2009 Emma rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: aussie-authors, memiors-biography, non-fiction

I’ve read the stories (fictional and non-fictional) of migrants to Australia before, but mostly from the Italian or Greek perspective, not from that of the more recent Asian migrants. This is Alice Pung’s account of her parents journey from Cambodia, as refugees and how they made life in Australia, and how she grows up somewhere in the middle. Although this is nothing like my story, I somehow seemed to relate to her.

I found her account very personal, especially in the final chapters, and I foun...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Chernyse rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: good-reads

I quite enjoyed this book, especially Pung's humour. I also like her writing style, which is very engaging and easy to understand. The book also explores a migrant's perspective, and it is refreshing. Most migrant stories are very emotional and mostly quite tear-jerking, with sad suffering stories. Although there were some mentions of suffering, her parents and their experience with the Khmer Rouge, Pung didn't dwell on it. Pung's outlook was optimistic and at times even comical. If you want to...more

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May 01, 2013 Alexandra Grimwade rated it 5 of 5 stars

Alice Pung grew up in Footscray. Her parents immigrated from Cambodia shortly before she was born, and worked to give Alice a great education. She is now both a author and a lawyer, and came here to MHS to speak at assembly last year. This her account of her family's struggles to accept that their children were growing up Australian, with some ideas that challenged those of their parents. Alice has a unique sense of humour, and I love this book for its witty observations about people and their d...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Jasmine rated it 3 of 5 stars

I could relate a lot to the narrator of this book due to being, as my mother calls it, a third culture child. I was born in Australia though raised in Holland, and the narrator of this book was born in Cambodia and raised in Australia. However, due to her parents being Chinese she was raised in within two cultures. It is true that this book reflects a lot more of the narrator's family, in particular her mother, rather than herself. The quirky anecdotes definitely make it an entertaining and some...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Claudia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Unpolished Gem is a non-fiction book by Alice Pung. Alice is a CHinese-Cambonian girl whos family migrated to Australia just before she was born. This book follows the life of Alice through her teenage years, living in Footscray. I enjoyed this book as it opened my eyes to a life very different to my own. Along with the recount of ALice's life, the book also includes the memories of her grandmother when she was young, back in China. The only part of this book that I did not enjoy enjoy was the e...more

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Jan 09, 2011 B-Young rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Only persons with big interest in Chines culture or imigrants.

Recommended to B-Young by: My teacher

Shelves: books-i-struggled-myself-through

How comes that all the books I read for school assignment I have to struggle through? That was my first thought about Unpolished Gem. That was on page 50 or something. Some pages later I realised the problem about the book; it doesn't have a story. Normally in a book you would know were it's heading, and I don't mean that you know what will happened exactly or that you know the end, couse that just makes the book bad. No, I mean that there is a problem in most books, a quest, or just something t...more

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Jun 05, 2009 Claire rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: high-school-and-beyond, grownup-books, first-person-narrator-all-ages

Alice is name because she is born of Chinese/Cambodian parents in the Wonderland of Australia. After escaping communist China and settling in Cambodia her family must walk out of Pol Pot's Cambodia, across Vietnam to Thailand bound for Australia.
Snippet family stories in turn hilarious, poignant, and desperate are a duet by Alice and her Grandma who is by all accounts a gifted storyteller. Each story was a revelation of some kind or another. Seeing Australia through fresh eyes is thought provok...more

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Feb 08, 2009 Aarti rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am not sure if I think a girl my sister's age should be writing her memoirs. (My sister is turning 28 this year.) Egotistically, I compare people's life experiences to mine, and I don't think I have done anything memoir-worthy yet. I don't think the author of Unpolished Gem has done anything memoir-worthy, either. Basically, she grew up Asian in Australia. That is it.

I have read many books with the "child-of-immigrants-trying-to-assimilate-into-western-culture" storyline (see one I reviewed he...more I am not sure if I think a girl my sister's age should be writing her memoirs. (My sister is turning 28 this year.) Egotistically, I compare people's life experiences to mine, and I don't think I have done anything memoir-worthy yet. I don't think the author of Unpolished Gem has done anything memoir-worthy, either. Basically, she grew up Asian in Australia. That is it.

I have read many books with the "child-of-immigrants-trying-to-assimilate-into-western-culture" storyline (see one I reviewed here). Actually, I live that story. I don't think it can be that different than other people's. But I will get into that later.

I think the story starts strong- perhaps because it is more about her parents and her grandparents than about her. She describes the plight of her mother with empathy- her mother is a strong, intelligent and hard-working woman living in a country where she is completely isolated due to language barriers. She also talks about her grandmother, and her wonderful ability to weave stories with words and gestures and voice inflection.

However, after that, the story goes to Alice herself, and I started to lose interest. It seems like Alice didn't really talk to anyone for much of her life- we rarely hear about her friends, and those that are mentioned only feature peripherally. We don't know much about any of her life that takes place outside her parents' home. Though it seems like she doesn't have much of a life that takes place outside her parents' house. She attends her high school graduation and realizes the only people in school she talks to are other Cambodian/Chinese students. She blames this on her "culture," and the inability for other people to understand it. Also, on her parents' strict curfew. She gets a white boyfriend, whom she breaks up with for reasons that I didn't quite understand. Though she was 18 at the time, so I suppose it is natural to break up with a guy at that age for obscure reasons.

I didn't really love the book. But that said, it looks like Australia doesn't have many books about the immigrant experience in that country, at least based on the newspaper reviews I've seen. In that case, maybe it is an important book.
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Sep 10, 2009 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This memoir of a Chinese/Cambodian girl growing up in Australia had delicious, evocative detail that made it a pleasure to read. I related strongly to some of her stories, especially her depression in high school, and loved getting a glimpse of another world with some of her other stories. The only real problem for me was that the book read a little bit like a series of short stories rather than a single cohesive story. Overall I really enjoyed her writing style and look forward to reading more...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Booksy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2012

This book is a story of the author's Chinese-Cambodian family post-immigration to Australia, continuous struggle of cultural assimilation and preservation of their identity.

It is full of humour and quirkiness, adolescent insecurities and paranoias that are so easy to relate to.

The chapter about Alice's first date is a real gem, and quite a polished and accomplished one, I have to say. The author presented very astute observations of a human character, while peeling the onion of her own story,...more

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