Dear Friend by Yiyun Li (Subdue)

[Joy D]

Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life by Yiyun Li - 3* - My Review

The author’s memoir about her struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts. She writes about her life, rocky relationship with her mother, growing up in Beijing, insight into the Tiananmen Square protest, time in the Chinese Army, moving from China to America, shift from scientist to writer, decision to write in English, and why she avoids writing autofiction. It comprises a series of essays targeted at a specific memory or part of her life. I particularly enjoyed her observations about writers, the importance of books in her life, and the many literary references. There are a few sections that veer into philosophy. She writes with candor about her depression, hospitalizations, and attempts at suicide. I hope writing it has helped her gain peace of mind and move in a more positive direction. I picked this book up on the strength of the author’s recent fiction, The Book of Goose, which I highly recommend.

[NancyJ]

I really liked The Book of Goose as well. She was able to add intensity and tension into the story in interesting ways.

While I was reading about the writer in the book, I wondered if she had experienced some of the dynamics as a young author, with older people trying to control her.

[Joy D]

Yes, from this memoir it is obvious she had a very controlling mother. Also, as an author, there are pressures from many fronts, which she discusses here. For example, she has been criticized for not writing in Chinese, though she has explicitly decided to write in English as a protest against the Chinese government. I am always surprised by the number of people who want to tell authors what they "should" write. In this case, there has been pressure to write autofiction, though the author has stated she does not want to make her life the subject of her fiction. I think that is the reason she chose the memoir format in this book.