Beautiful Country, Quan Julie Chan
This is a memoir that reads almost like a novel. The author narrates the audio herself and does an admirable job, however, she restricts most of her memories to her early childhood years and the resentment she feels for her adopted country. Although she was afforded many benefits, free meals, excellent education opportunities, and even wonderful medical care, she spends most of her time criticizing America, its citizens, and its opportunities. The friends who bully her are spoiled brats, her own behavior, although seemingly only from age 7 to around 12, is reprehensible and selfish. She seems far too bright to have been so naive at the time, even with language difficulties and cultural differences. That being said, the book is a compelling read, not about immigration, but about her feelings as an outsider, exacerbated by her parents far more than by Americans. I am a former teacher, and I never knew any teachers who so shamed their students as she was shamed, although I did know many who were incompetent. The teachers she focuses on are unfit and were either poorly trained or disturbed. She gives credit to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s influence over her in her effort to succeed, which is admirable. I am glad that she found a way forward from her own despair, which was many times self-inflicted, because of her own flawed interpretation of events.
In her effort to explain her parent’s behavior, she begins with her father’s memory, in 1966, as a four-year-old, during the Cultural Revolution in China. Then she goes on to praise, throughout the book, her memories of her family and home in China, while she ignores the benefits she is afforded in America, fails to appreciate the opportunities, and disregards the fact that she is illegally in this country by the choice of her parents. She is forced to live an underground existence because, for years, they never attempt to make their situation better by applying for legal asylum. Finally, they emigrate to Canada where they are accepted happily, according to her presentation. Still, she is afforded the opportunity to have an American education, and returns to go to Swarthmore and then law school. She does not seem to fully embrace the wonderful opportunity she is given, often not afforded to many American citizens.
She does not fully understand, even today, it seems, that Americans also live in poverty, Americans are also called names, and many do live in squalor. I was called Kike, many a time. My children were called “dirty Jews’, but these names did not define us. Her parents were educated and should have known enough to encourage her to be more secure with her own self-image, instead of destroying it. Throughout the memoir, she is critical of her parents, of her teachers, of her friends, of everyone she interacts with, until the very end when she suddenly praises some teachers and her parents, etc., in the acknowledgments, few will read. I was left with many questions, as well. Where did the family get the money for her father’s gym membership, a car, funds to travel by plane with the family to China, when so often she was hungry? Did some of her problems exist in her own interpretation and not in reality? Her life was hard, but it is hard for legal citizens too. Is everything someone else’s fault? She presumed that rich people had surgery first which is not always true, I know about my own brother getting great care at Bellevue and a cousin in a coma who was refused treatment in a private hospital without proof of sufficient funds to pay for services, representing both sides of the coin. It happens to all people.
She was so upset with her own self-image, her eyes, her skin color, etc., and the names she was called, but seemed to think it was only her experience, alone. She had the opportunity to use libraries and learn about the world, why did she not do that? Why was there no teacher who recognized her intelligence, rather than teachers who mocked her? Something is wrong with this picture, because incompetency is the exception, not the rule. Her father’s cruelty is also not standard and should be condemned. His treatment of her cat was abominable. Lots of American lives are hard, and they are legal. So, she is uncomfortable about her eyes; Jews were mocked for their noses; they were chinks, jews were kikes. Both are bad words, but they are only words, not actions, something we often forget today! People are dangerous, not words. Her complaints are universal, not a result of prejudice. My brother was bitten by a dog. I fell down a flight of concrete stairs, backwards, because a pack of dogs had followed me, similar to her own experiences. They had no agenda. I think the book should be read, and the experience of the author should be discussed so other immigrants do not fall prey to the same bad influences without appropriate tools to counteract those who attempt to defeat and/or destroy them. Our system of education has to be reformed, but our immigration laws also need to be obeyed.
The timeline is not linear, but rather as a result of seemingly random memories of her childhood. Did her father treat her so poorly because he was raised to believe girls were subservient? Her parents’ ignorance of the ways of America, and their lawbreaking put her in the position she was in, not the fake outrage of xenophobia which did not exist and was merely a political talking point, which all authors seem to want to insert into their books, falsely about Trump. Her emphasis on the 2016 election felt completely inauthentic. Biden did the same thing and the reaction was ho-hum. Quite honestly, I am getting tired of feeling sorry for people who break the law, never try to become legal and then complain. Okay, at 7, she couldn’t control her life, but she sure could have controlled her selfish behavior. I was struck by the naiveté and stupidity of a really smart young person. She seems to concentrate and remember only examples of cruelty. Being called no income or low income are both disparaging remarks akin to “white trash”, a common example of insensitivity, stupidity, cruelty, and not much else. Let's all try to appreciate what we have, not cover what our neighbors have, and do unto others kindly.

Written beautifully