Reviewed by: Sooz
Genre: Memoir
Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words
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Author:
Chun Yu
Wang was born in China and moved to Saipan to work in a garment factory in
2000. You can learn more at her weibsite.
Description:
Wang
details her story of moving from China to Saipan to work as a seamstress. She
chronicles the poor conditions and what life was like for her in a new country,
far away from home.
Appraisal:
We all live
different lives.
From the
girl living two blocks away to someone on the other side of the world, the
lives we lead are so different from one another that it often makes
for a
compelling tale.
Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin is the diary of a Chinese garment
factory worker living in Saipan. Chun Yu Wang goes there to make money for her
family, leaving behind a husband she doesn’t love and a 2-year-old child.
The book
was translated from Mandarin to English, so I am sure there were a number of
things that could have been lost in translation, but one of my favorite parts
were all the Chinese idioms Wang revealed throughout the book.
Her story
is intriguing as she explains living in a barracks filled with bugs and rats,
sharing a room with eight other women, dealing with natural disasters such as a
tsunami and a typhoon. If she got out of work late, she would have to wait on
line to take a shower that could sometimes take hours to filter through.
The garment
factory wasn’t what she expected with corruption and favoritism rampant no
matter where she worked, and the bosses trying to do everything to prevent
women from going to the hospital when they were ill. However, she dealt with it
because she needed the money, but it seemed she also needed to feel as though
she had control of her life. While living in China she married for the wrong
reasons and felt she couldn’t leave. But in Saipan, she could be whomever she
wanted.
Despite
being called a diary, it seemed as though her feelings were still just on the
surface, which is what prevented me from giving this book five stars. This
didn’t read as a diary one would write for themselves with depth of feelings
that you couldn’t tell others, but as though she knew someone would eventually
read it, and she didn’t want to reveal the full scope of her emotions including
her failures in and outside of the factory.
It is still
well worth the read with a glimpse into another world, another life.
FYI:
The book
was translated from Mandarin to English by an editor Walt F.J. Goodridge.
Format/Typo Issues:
No major
issues.
Rating: **** Four Stars
1 comment:
HI AL! Just came across this! This is Chicken Feathers co-author, Walt Goodridge. On behalf of Chun and myself, thanks for the review!
Yes, the idea for the book came to me as I became more exposed to the garment factory situation on Saipan. I then encouraged and helped Chun to recall and chronicle her experiences for the express purpose of sharing with the world. So, yes, it's not a diary in the "real time entry a day" sense.
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