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The Cooked Seed: A Memoir
by Anchee Min
Published: 2013-05-07
Hardcover : 368 pages
Hardcover : 368 pages
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In 1994, Anchee Min made her literary debut with a memoir of growing up in China during the violent trauma of the Cultural Revolution. Red Azalea became an international bestseller and propelled her career as a successful, critically acclaimed author. Twenty years later, Min returns to ...
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Introduction
In 1994, Anchee Min made her literary debut with a memoir of growing up in China during the violent trauma of the Cultural Revolution. Red Azalea became an international bestseller and propelled her career as a successful, critically acclaimed author. Twenty years later, Min returns to the story of her own life to give us the next chapter, an immigrant story that takes her from the shocking deprivations of her homeland to the sudden bounty of the promised land of America, without language, money, or a clear path.
It is a hard and lonely road. She teaches herself English by watching Sesame Street, keeps herself afloat working five jobs at once, lives in unheated rooms, suffers rape, collapses from exhaustion, marries poorly and divorces.But she also gives birth to her daughter, Lauryann, who will inspire her and finally root her in her new country. Min's eventual successes-her writing career, a daughter at Stanford, a second husband she loves-are remarkable, but it is her struggle throughout toward genuine selfhood that elevates this dramatic, classic immigrant story to something powerfully universal.
It is a hard and lonely road. She teaches herself English by watching Sesame Street, keeps herself afloat working five jobs at once, lives in unheated rooms, suffers rape, collapses from exhaustion, marries poorly and divorces.But she also gives birth to her daughter, Lauryann, who will inspire her and finally root her in her new country. Min's eventual successes-her writing career, a daughter at Stanford, a second husband she loves-are remarkable, but it is her struggle throughout toward genuine selfhood that elevates this dramatic, classic immigrant story to something powerfully universal.
Excerpt
The flight captain's voice came through the speakers. I didn't understand what he was saying. I looked around and saw the passengers on my right and left buckling their seat belts. I copied them.The plane began to descend. I saw a sea of lights outside the window.
The beauty stunned me. "Capitalism rots and socialism thrives" was the phrase passing through my mind. Was this the result of rotting?
The plane rattled as it touched the ground. The passengers cheered when we finally came to a stop. One after another, everyone stood, picked up their belongings, and exited.
"Chicago?" I asked the flight attendant.
"No," she smiled.
"Not Chicago?" I took out my ticket.
"This is Seattle." She signaled me not to block the way. The rest of her words I couldn't understand.
I followed the passengers moving toward a big hall. My growing nervousness began to choke me. The hand that held my passport became damp with sweat.
I didn't feel like I was walking on my own legs. The sound inside my head was louder than the sound outside. It was the noise of a tractor with loose screws going over a bumpy road.
I feared getting caught. I was not the person I had claimed to be— a student ready for an American college. But what choice had I had? I wouldn't have been issued a passport if I hadn't lied through my teeth and claimed undying loyalty to the Communist Party. The American consulate in Shanghai wouldn't have granted me a visa if I hadn't cheated and sang my self-introduction in English like a song. I had charged forward like a bleeding bull. I had not had the time to get scared until that moment. ...
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Discussion Questions
Consider the title of this memoir, The Cooked Seed. Why was Min considered a “cooked seed – no chance to sprout” in China? (3) Why would she choose this insult as the title for her inspiring memoir?Min writes that when she arrived in America, “I was beginning to understand that Americans were not the devils we had believed them to be.” (34) Discuss how Chinese people generally viewed Americans during the Cultural Revolution. How did propaganda shape Min’s assumptions about life in America?
Consider the humorous aspects The Cooked Seed, especially as Min struggled to learn English and fit into American culture. Which of her misunderstandings is the funniest? Which is the most tragic? How does the author manage to find the lighter side of her early misadventures in America?
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