书籍介绍
Three years into her graduate studies at a demanding Boston university, the unnamed narrator of this nimbly wry, concise debut finds her one-time love for chemistry is more hypothesis than reality. She's tormented by her failed research--and reminded of her delays by her peers, her advisor, and most of all by her Chinese parents, who have always expected nothing short of excellence from her throughout her life. But there's another, nonscientific question looming: the marriage proposal from her devoted boyfriend, a fellow scientist, whose path through academia has been relatively free of obstacles, and with whom she can't make a life before finding success on her own. Eventually, the pressure mounts so high that she must leave everything she thought she knew about her future, and herself, behind. And for the first time, she's confronted with a question she won't find the answer to in a textbook: What do I really want? Over the next two years, this winningly flawed, disarmingly insightful heroine learns the formulas and equations for a different kind of chemistry--one in which the reactions can't be quantified, measured, and analyzed; one that can be studied only in the mysterious language of the heart. Taking us deep inside her scattered, searching mind, here is a brilliant new literary voice that astutely juxtaposes the elegance of science, the anxieties of finding a place in the world, and the sacrifices made for love and family.
AI导读
核心看点
- 华裔女博士的内心独白，展现原生家庭创伤。
- 以化学隐喻解构情感与成长，文风幽默又扎心。
- 探讨移民二代在中西文化夹击下的身份认同困境。
适合谁读
- 对原生家庭创伤、自我疗愈话题感兴趣的读者。
- 关注华裔移民文学、跨文化身份认同的群体。
- 正在经历学业压力或亲密关系焦虑的年轻人。
读前提醒
- 译文流失了原文双关幽默，强烈建议阅读英文原版。
- 叙事碎片化如日记，需耐心适应其跳跃的思维流。
- 内容涉及心理焦虑与家庭压抑，敏感读者请斟酌。
读者共识
- 文字轻松诙谐，但内核沉重，读来令人椎心泣血。
- 翻译质量争议大，许多读者认为中文本体验不佳。
- 虽被评碎碎念，但真实刻画了高知群体的脆弱。
本导读基于书籍简介、目录、原文摘录、短评和书评生成，不等同于全文精读。
精彩摘录
- "In ancient China, there are four great beauties: The first so beautiful that when fish see her reflection they forget how to swim and sink. The second so beautiful that birds forget how to fly and fall. The third so beautiful that the moon refuses to shine. The fourth so beautiful that flowers refus"
- "A guy in lab strongly believes that women do not belong in science. He’s said that women lack the balls to actually do science. Which isn’t wrong. We do lack balls. ... Women lack the balls to do science, he still says. With the exception of your lab mate. She has three. Later I ask Eric, How many b"
- "I often wonder what I would have been like if I had been raised like him—notes, stickers, complimentary questions asked at the table, by the hearth. I would probably socialize better in large groups and not stare so intently at shoes. I would hold my neck up high like a giraffe, the most confident o"
- "J.K. Rowling said during a commencement speech: There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you."
- "Catalysts make reactions go faster. THey lower activation energy, which is the indecision each reaction faces before committing to its path."
- "In Arizona, a PhD advisor dies. Authorities blame the grad student who shot him, but grad students around the world blame the advisor. No student can graduate without the advisor's approval. This advisor had kept the student in lab for seventeen years, believing him too valuable to be let go or simp"
- "Once I hear the first snore, I say, Why is your trajectory so straight? Why is your family so nice? It seems unfair how easy everything comes to you. In your last life you must have been a dung beetle. Or someone who gave up his life for someone else. Perhaps a pregnant woman crossing the street. Do"
- "What the shrink says from day one: The chasm you need to cross is not a physical one. Then what is it? I ask. I much prefer the physical one. Tell me to walk across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope, balancing an apple on my head, and I'll do it. A year into our dating, Eric says he wants to understan"
作者简介
1989 年出生在南京，5 岁时随父母出国，辗转澳大利亚、加拿大、美国，曾以3.98 分的GPA 成绩毕业于美国布隆菲尔德山国际高中，并获得国家奖学金，入围总统奖学金半决赛，以SAT2 满分，SAT、ACT、MCAT 接近满分的成绩被哈佛大学录取，主修化学，辅修英文。2011 年选为哈佛大学优秀本科毕业生，获得化学学士学位，在读公共卫生博士期间转行写作，并且在波士顿大学获得艺术硕士专业学位。
她的小说经常发表于《阿拉斯加季刊评论》等多个文学刊物上。
《中国女孩》（Chemistry）是她出版于2017 年的长篇小说。该小说描写了一个在波士顿著名学府里攻读化学博士学位的中国女孩的成长、情感和身份困惑。语言幽默、天真、直愣愣、一本正经，又自有其动人和深邃之处。
该书描述的中国年轻人成长的典型经历与心路历程，不仅让亚裔读者，也让许多美国本土年轻人产生了强烈共鸣。《纽约书评》《巴黎评论》《纽约时报》《华盛顿邮报》《纽约客》等主流精英媒体纷纷给予报道和评论，《娱乐周刊》书评给予了满分A。
普利策奖得主安·帕切特和美国国家图书奖得主哈金等多位知名作家都对该书的创建性给予了称赞。本书迅速在当年获得了包括海明威笔会奖、怀丁奖在内的一系列文学奖项，王苇柯也因本书被美国图书基金会评选为”五名最杰出的35 岁以下作者“之一。这部幽默、诡谲、个性而诚实的小说也被亚马逊影业看中，已成立制作团队，为其操刀电影改编。
用户评论
Weike Wang和李翊云都是化学／生物博士转行写小说
Those who were reminded of Bojack when reading, tell me I’m not alone.
全是共鸣，呜哇一下哭了。it's a bitter heartbreak warped in science and humour.
"I have hurt for you, too. "
The fact that we learned love in different contexts is so often overlooked.
作者的叙述方式给我感觉是似乎什么都说了，又似乎什么都没有说完。非常喜欢。可能就是说的feel connected。会推荐给闺女看，可能她的感同身受会更加强烈一些。
知我者谓我心忧，不知我者谓我何求。开头Epigraph的双关就蛮精妙的，后面也确实是散点一般的情绪碎片拼起了整个人生底色。共鸣于女性角色的难以自处、与父母的love-hate relationship、情感上无法落地的不安，以及对未来和人生意义的迷茫，轻描淡写下浸透着如影随形的惶然忧伤。后半部分被东亚情感戳到泪流不止，我想当我年龄更长一些的时候，也会更理解父母。也许这辈子都很难对父母坦荡说出我爱你，更不知何年何月能同自己握手言和——愿所有雪都能迎来夏天。
另：一个猜想，中文没有时态，而全篇几乎都用现在时在写，会不会也是对她的Chinese-ness一种形式上的追忆呢。
中国女博士懂中国女博士
I feel okay about it | 时常对类似小说里的Chinese proverbs审美疲劳
So goofy and shattered. So unique
Don't you see, it's because you never really have a childhood that you are now lashing out.
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