"Steer Toward Rock" - Book Review

"Trust Rock...Break fear upon rock........Go toward fear. Trust fear. Steer toward rock."

These are the words Jack Moon Szeto's Chinese mother taught him before he left China as an indentured servant to a Chinese man living illegally in San Francisco. Jack enters San Francisco in 1952, dishonestly claiming to be the son of Yi-Tung aka Gold Szeto, an illegally registered U.S. citizen and a criminal. Jack must pay Szeto by working for two years and marrying a stranger. Employed as a butcher, Jack is popular with the ladies, but chooses Joice Qwan as his lover.

Because of the bargain made with Gold Szeto, Jack has no choices in his life. When his false wife arrives from China he is forced to fulfill his pledge and to marry the woman who is to serve as mistress to his false father. Joice becomes pregnant, but refuses to marry Jack. Undeterred, Jack attempts to cancel his contract with Szeto by entering the INS's Chinese Confession Program to admit his false identity. The plan backfires. Gold Szeto is deported, but Jack does not earn citizenship or Joice's hand in marriage.

Although this book was highly rated and reviewed, I was disappointed. The characters are static and undeveloped. The reader is given no insight to the characters' emotions. The plot plows steadily forward, reporting facts and events without dynamics or excitement.

Jack is very pragmatic, accepting his life and his fate without revealing his feelings or thoughts. Joice is elusive, selfish and disagreeable. It is difficult to get a pulse on any of the characters. More dialogue, introspection and interaction would develop the characters' personalities and flesh them into real people. The story is erratic and depressing.

Fae Myenne Ng's writing is descriptive and poetic.  She paints a vivid picture of the mid-20th century Chinese-American community in San Francisco. The reader learns about Chinese traditions and superstitions. There is a liberal sprinkling of words of wisdom. Ng is a talented writer, but this plot fails to come to life. Her literary voice may be better expressed in poetry.

My Grade C

Author: Fae Myenne Ng 

Hardcover: 272 pages

Publisher: Hyperion (May 13, 2008)

ISBN-10: 0786860979

ISBN-13: 978-0786860975