Details:
- author: Lan Samantha Chang
- full title: The Family Chao
- narrator: Brian Nishii
- genre: general fiction, mystery
- topics: #immigrantfamily
- publisher: Recorded Books
- publish date: 01.02.2022
- timing: 11:00:00
My Rating of the Audiobook:
- content: 💙💙💙.5
- narration: 💙💙💙💙.5
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| Goodreads |
Excerpt from the Book:
You could say the community ate its way through the Chao family's distress. Not caring whether Winnie was happy, whether Big Chao was an honest man. Everyone took in the food on one side of their mouths, and from the other side they extolled the parents for their sons' accomplishments. Heaping praise upon the three boys who grew up all bright and ambitious, who earned scholarships to good colleges. Commending them for leaving the Midwest. Yet everyone was thankful when the oldest, Dagou Chao, returned to Haven. Dagou coming home to his mother, moving into the apartment over the restaurant, working there six days a week. Dagou, the most passionate cook in the family. Despite the trouble between Winnie and Big Chao, everyone assumed the business would be handed down fairly, peacefully, father to son.
My Thoughts:
I was not sure how to rate or review this one. If you have in mind that this is a retelling of a classic novel, The Brothers Karamazov, written by Dostoevsky, you can be a better judge of it. It is a slow-paced family drama with some mystery.
There are no especially likable characters. Instead of the Karamazov family, we have the family Chao, immigrants from China who own a restaurant in Wisconsin. Father Leo Chao is egoistic, arrogant, and mean. He has three sons: Dagou, Ming, and James. Nobody likes Leo because he is mean to everyone: his sons, wife, and others.
The novel depicts a non-typical Chinese immigrant family, and it also deals with the question of when a person stops being an immigrant and becomes an American.
The Family Chao is a good retelling of The Brothers Karamazov. But in my opinion, some things were too exaggerated to better suit the story. Like, the character of Leo. He seemed pretty unbelievable to me. There are quite some Chinese stereotypes and insults, which may offend some readers. Especially those that don’t have in mind this connection with the Karamazov family. I, too, soon got tired of all the 'dogs' in the story.
The narration by Brian Nishii is very good, and I enjoyed it.
About the Author:
