Customer Reviews

The Foreigner: A Novel

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In the simplest terms, The Foreigner is a thriller about a second-generation Taiwanese-American who travels to Taiwan to extricate his brother from the violent criminal underworld of Taipei. It would be more accurate, however, to describe The Foreigner as a sensitive exploration of family relationships--an assimilated son to his immigrant mother, an American brother to his Taiwanese brother--wrapped in the guise of a thriller. This unique blend is fast-paced like a traditional thriller, but far more haunting on a personal level. Likewise, Lin's prose is superior to that of the typical thriller, and her terse yet evocative style is reminiscent of a prose poem:

"A large, warty piece of galangal hung suspended in its matrix like an embryo, while a ceramic plat on the sideboard labored under ten tiers of lucky bamboo."

"The streets looked deserted, loose garbage tumbling in the gutters, the convenience stores like remote white beacons in the chaotic dark."

Although the plot occasionally loses its direction and certain loose ends are left hanging, the powerful ending makes up for the waywardness and delivers something substantial and lasting. Recommended, particularly for those who enjoy thrillers.

Because of the good reviews and the award that The Foreigner received, I read the entire book, but, about half way through, I think it was sheer stubbornness that kept me going. The synopsis of the plot promised much, but failed to deliver. The motivations of the characters was never explained; apparently their actions were clear enough for the writer. Although there was some suspense about the nature of the activities of the Twainese brother, it was drawn out and by the time I found out what it did, I had long ago ceased to care. The protagonist, although admirable in many respects, was not interesting and, again, his character and motivations were not explained. As for the two cultures, Chinese and American, there was no attempt by the author to devle into them, and this book in no way added to my understanding of the Chinese experience in the US or the expat experience in Tawain. Ultimately, I felt disappointed in myself for spending the time to finish the novel. Francie Lin is a talented writer, but this novel is only a beginning, one with which I did not need to be associated.

I read this book was because my friend gave it to me as a gift and as a Taiwanese. I thought it would be fun to read a intercultural story which was about to my hometown.

I really have to say this story features a very unlikable character. Emerson, our leading man, has no personality. He said bunch Intellectual stuff and tried to express some emotion here there. However, I never felt authentic about this character and had hard time to have sympathy toward his situation in the story.
Especially, to me, Emerson sounded like a ~~ woman. That made me wonder if Lin was able to separate herself when she was writing about this male character.

Anyway, the biggest problem for me is that the weak characters fail to lead me deeper into the story but I am glad that Lin chose Taipei, my home city as the background for her story.

Thanks very much.

This is a crazy strange book in which the purpose of the action defines the soul of the protagonist. The action does not stand alone, and is not the point. It's a disturbing book; as I became more involved and finished it, my mood mirrored Emerson, the main character. Saying that, I realize Ms. Lin is trusting her readers to join the ride, which I did. The ride is epitomized in the scene where Emerson and his 'girlfriend' are hiding in a dark cocoon like booth that suddenly turns on and takes them on a strange automobile ride. If anything, I'm reminded of Paul Auster.

This novel was just OK, not at all as suspenseful as I hoped. I actually had a hard time paying attention, it never really captured me. I guess it was just hard to empathize at all with the main character, which goes to perhaps its strong suit: exposing casual mystery readers such as myself to an entirely different culture. As pure entertainment though it falls short.

This isn't really much of a thriller. It's a book about a Chinese-American mammas boy who grows up a bit after being thrown into the muck and slime of Taiwan. Although the author writes well her story is relentlessly depressing from basically the first page until the second to last page. I did like the quality of the paperbook binding though.....

This is unlike any noir I've read . It's about an average, if kind of noble, character who faces down some really violent and dangerous people in order to save his brother -- although his brother may not want to be saved. The narrator, Emerson, is really endearing, his voice is so funny and poetic, and once he is tossed into the noir circumstances of the story, it gets very interesting. I highly recommend this to both crime and literary readers.

I've enjoyed Francie Lin's writing for years, in short stories and essays. I don't read many thrillers, but I couldn't pass on Lin's first novel. I wasn't disappointed. Her prose sings--and this novel is no exception. You can read all the glowing reviews on line, so I'll simply add this: if you love great prose that reads like poetry and renews your faith in language and literature, buy this book. The quirky characters, subtle humor, sharp details, and climactic ending are just gravy.

In a harrowing novel that plucks a devoted, nearly forty-year-old son from his mother's side in America to the unfamiliar alleys of the Taiwanese criminal underground, Lin delivers a tale that is unpredictable and filled with unnamed menace. Emerson Chang, the dutiful son, has always done his best, attentive to his mother as the years pass, a woman inordinately proud of her motel, the Remada, her livelihood as an immigrant. A reliable employee faithfully devoted to his mother's needs, Emerson has met every demand, except one, meeting for dinner and a scolding every week. But so far, this bachelor has not found "one of our kind" to marry, all his mother requires for contentment. Meanwhile, younger brother, Little P, has gone back to Taipei, where he has remained for the last ten years, avoiding contact with his family in America. After his mother's sudden death, a grieving Emerson receives even more troubling news: the Remada has been left exclusively to Little P, the favorite son.

Emerson is to inherit a piece of property in his parent's home country, a former residence. Further, he is to deliver her ashes to Little P in Taipei for a proper burial. Motel documents in hand, a still-shocked son travels to meet his younger brother, with no idea how the boy might have changed. Their reunion is not propitious, Little P holding a knife at Emerson's throat until he realizes who he is. Little P's face is battered, ragged stitches across his face from a recent altercation, a sign that life might not be as stable as Emerson's years in America. With no language skills save English, Emerson depends on Little P for translation as he meets a variety of shady cousins and a mute old uncle who owns the karaoke bar where Little P works, the club shabby and filled with rowdy groups, gambling, drinking, all of this environment confusing to Emerson as he vainly tries to make a connection with Little P other than a financial transaction. But Little P will not be pinned down, hinting at dark and unforgivable deeds and current danger, always on the move and desperate for money, a world of shadows and lies.

Lin's Taipei is a maze of chattering crowds and unpredictable events, a volatile political landscape and the pervasive corruption of the criminal underground, of which Little P seems to be such a vital part. Clutching his mother's ashes, Emerson bravely follows Little P from one violence-fraught situation to another, appealing to his brother's dormant emotions while Little P evades and dissembles. A charming, if clumsy romanticist, Emerson meets two women on his adventure, the lovely Grace and the foul-mouthed, good-natured Angel, neither of which can solve his particular predicament. In over his head, Emerson accidentally accrues a huge gambling debt, pursued by his cousin, Poison, who demands money or revenge- on Little P, Grace, or Angel, even Emerson if need be. As the danger ratchets up, so does Emerson's determination to help his brother and reclaim their relationship. With brilliant precision, Lin sets the stage for a chilling confrontation, like a train wreck, ugly facts are revealed to a stunned Emerson, an unwelcome acknowledgment of a world filled with greed, ambition and betrayal. Freed from fear, Emerson embraces this truth with renewed will: "Living: that was the only kind of immortality there was." Luan Gaines/2008.

This was a very frustrating book. The intercultural premise intrigued me--and the fact that it had won the Edgar Award--so I picked it up at the airport for a coast-to-coast flight. The book begins interestingly enough--and Francie Lin does write well--so it was not difficult to get started with it. But the further I read, the less I liked it. There are just too many annoying factors. First, there are so many inconsistencies and the entire story is less than credible that the praise it has received is quite surprising. In particular, I found it baffling that this has been touted as a mystery. It does have a criminal plot that allows the author to explore whatever themes--moral issues, cultural differences, filial piety--that she wants to, but the actual criminal plot is, while perhaps realistic, quite simple; mystery it is not. The characters constantly behave and communicate in illogical ways. Lin also brings in a couple of subplots that hardly add to the story, notably the topic of Taiwanese politics regarding independence from mainland China, which she deals with through one of the main characters with whom the hapless protagonist engages in inconclusive dialogue. Then there are the gratuitous descriptions of odd Chinese ways, like gambling over a scorpion duel, that she has added, presumably for local color. One frequently gets the impression that things have been included in the book because Lin couldn't resist using things that she herself had found intriguing when she spent time in Taiwan on a Fulbright. The descriptions of the country and the city of Taipei are rather atmospheric, per se, and Lin does raise some pointed issues (such as the many Western men who travel to the East in search of something spiritual--or local women, mostly). The most off-putting aspect of the book, though, is the protagonist himself, who in his naïveté, arrogance and selfishness is so entirely unlikeable that I kept turning the pages just in the hope that something bad would happen to him. All in all, given Lin's clear literary talent and often interesting observations about Taiwan, the book was an unfortunate disappointment to me.