MINOR FEELINGS: BOOK REVIEW
As a reader and writer who has a complex racial identity to navigate, I am always interested in how others manage to do so. Both inspired by AAPI history month and spurred on by my own curiosity, I recently picked up Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings — a collection of the author’s personal essays about the emotions that marginalized groups in white America feel. In Minor Feelings, the Korean American artist and writer speaks of her own experience and uses them as an access point to talk about wider issues of racism and discrimination. Minor Feelings is an expert blend of storytelling elements that both appeal to our emotions and our logic. Hong uses them together to craft an experience that we can wade through. Overall, this collection was equally a joy and a challenge to read.
Cathy Park Hong’s essays allow us an entry point from the near past. As she delves into the past, she comes up for air, bringing her musings back to the present. This non-chronological narrative choice feels true to the ways in which we engage with memory and reflection. I don’t remember things chronologically; most people don’t. Our memories are thematically linked, and this is reflected seamlessly in Minor Feelings. Hong even uses chapter titles to categorize her memories, such as “Bad English” and “An Education.”
I always focused on the ways in which Asian American experiences differed from African American experiences, but Cathy Park Hong’s story and reflection revealed many ways that the two groups’ experiences are similar. I could imagine anyone reading this book and finding something to relate to in Hong’s experience, whether it’s a moment they find themselves in the role of the oppressed or the role of the oppressor. We’ve all said things we regret. We’ve all had thoughts we were ashamed of. We’ve all had a friend in college who was both enthralling and terrifying. Hong discusses such things with a specificity that catches your attention and a conversational writing style that makes you feel like she’s talking to you. I found myself so wrapped up in the story that I almost could not tell when she was taking the time to share facts. Hong shares deeply personal anecdotes while also taking the time to unpack them genuinely, which is hard to find.
It’s clear that Cathy Park Hong is a poet by the way she sees and writes about the world. I was especially struck by her description of her childhood memories, “Rather than look back on childhood, I always looked sideways at childhood,” and by her description of her close friend, “I don’t trust my memories of her… I am prone to villainize or romanticize her. I am prone to turn her into an idea.” These sentences and many others in Minor Feelings reveal Hong’s gift for translating what seems to be untranslatable. This is what makes this book such an important read for anyone wanting to learn a little bit more about the Asian American experience.
According to Dr. Robert Livingston in his book, “The Conversation,” only a small percentage of people actually feel moved to take action when they read the facts about racial discrimination. The rest of us feel moved to take action when presented with specificity and an individual’s experience. It’s the reason why ASPCA commercials with the tragic-looking animals work so well at tugging at the heartstrings and eliciting donations. Unfortunately, we make choices with our hearts — even choices about whether or not we advocate for others. Early on in her essays, Hong talks about feeling conflicted about making art that draws from her experience as a Korean American woman, but she comes to realize there is a power in writing from experience.
Cathy Park Hong took an immense risk in writing this collection of essays considering how deeply personal the content is. On the first page, Hong admits to mental illness and portrays herself in what some may consider an unfavorable fashion, especially considering the immense pressure Asian Americans feel to be the “model minority.” She isn’t scared to face her own internalized bias, and this leads to a bold opening essay that sets up the journey she takes us on, as she explores what her identity means to her and the people around her. Honesty like this is a joy to read, and this book is one I’ll never forget.