Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li | Book Review

Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li

Published by Hamish Hamilton, 2019

My rating:

[image error]First and foremost, let me make clear that my somewhat middling rating does not reflect my opinion on this book’s literary worth. It is a wonderfully crafted, original, and stimulating read. Li is a phenomenally talented writer, and I would certainly explore more of her work.

Where this book fell short for me was its actual narrative, and a lack of emotional connection, which I found particularly surprising given the subject matter it explores. The novel is a series of imagined conversations between a mother and her 16-year-old son, who has just committed suicide. As a writer, the protagonist uses her proclivity for language to explore her situation, and the contrasting wonder and limitation of words in capturing emotion.

The whole thing is incredibly meta. Li herself is, of course, a writer, and this book was written in the wake of her own teenage son’s suicide. Whilst this adds some undeniable fascination and depth, it also caused me to constantly analyse and contextualise the story with respect to its origins; the line between fact and fiction very much blurred. This meant I could always see the author through the work, and remained unable to fully submit myself to it from a narrative standpoint. This isn’t necessarily a flaw in the book’s construction, merely something I was unprepared for going in. I was expecting something raw, harrowing and introspective, rather than something so conceptual and outwardly ruminative with regards to its wider themes.

On that note, it’s worth pointing out that the suicide and resulting grief are important background presences that loom over the book’s content, but they are never really the focus. Instead, Li uses the somewhat abstract conversations to play with words, exploring their multiple meanings and the dichotomy between the complexity of our language and its evident failure to fully reflect the reality of our feelings. She also muses on the nature of time, psychology, identity, and memory, with some passages being both highly astute and beautifully constructed.

If you’re looking for something that delves deep into the emotion and trauma of grief itself, driven by a conventional approach to character and plot development, this isn’t it. If, however, you’re looking for something decidedly more literary that intelligently dissects the language we use to navigate that grief, this is well worth picking up. Had I been clearer on what to expect going in, and therefore in the right frame of mind to absorb it all, I suspect I would have been rating this more favourably. That said, I still greatly admire what Li managed to create.

***

If you’d like to give Where Reasons End a go, you can pick up a copy from Book Depository by clicking here. If you’ve already read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Let’s connect: Twitter | Goodreads | Support me on Ko-fi