Memorial in Around the World in 80 Books

Dec 31, 2020 Beverly rated it really liked it

Shelves: newtome2020, contemporary, japan, family-drama, texas, lgbtq

thoughts coming shortly

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Feb 02, 2021 Annie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I had high hopes for Memorial, a novel about a young gay couple in Houston, who are facing both a deteriorating relationship and family troubles. Mike, a Japanese-American chef, and Benson, a Black daycare teacher, constantly fight, misunderstand and talk past each other, make up, and fight again. As they are about to break up, Mike suddenly decides to visit his dying father in Japan. The bewildered Benson is charged with taking care of Mike’s opinionated mother, Mitsuko, who has just arrived in I had high hopes for Memorial, a novel about a young gay couple in Houston, who are facing both a deteriorating relationship and family troubles. Mike, a Japanese-American chef, and Benson, a Black daycare teacher, constantly fight, misunderstand and talk past each other, make up, and fight again. As they are about to break up, Mike suddenly decides to visit his dying father in Japan. The bewildered Benson is charged with taking care of Mike’s opinionated mother, Mitsuko, who has just arrived in Houston to visit Mike. Neither Mitsuko nor Benson are very happy about this arrangement, and largely avoid each other except for meals. They only begin to connect through cooking and sharing food, where Mitsuko forces Benson to try and fail, over and over. Benson has family trouble of his own with an angry father who kicked Benson out when he was a teenager, a distant mother who has a new family, and a sister who nags Benson about caring for their increasingly depressed and alcoholic dad.

So much of the novel was quite bleak and heartbreaking. Most of Mike and Benson’s relationship seems to be awkward silences and avoidance of their individual emotional baggage. And there is so much unattended baggage here from their parents - rejection, indifference, abandonment, even emotional abuse, especially from the fathers. Both parents and children are stuck in their family dynamics, unwilling to talk and reluctant to move forward to healthier relationships together or apart unless somebody else takes the first step. But there are moments of humor and joy, subtle shifts in the emotional landscapes that may or may not lead somewhere.

Both of Bryan Washington’s books have received much critical acclaim, and he is clearly a young literary talent with a quietly crisp and subtle writing style. But it might not be a book for everyone, especially if you want your novels to have clear development and resolution. There is growth and change here, but it can only be found between the lines, in quiet moments, and hope is so subtle that the reader might just miss it. ...more

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