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Chemistry : A Novel by Weike Wang (2017, Hardcover)
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Author: Wang, Weike. Chemistry: A novel. Condition: New. Qty Available: 1.
- Buy It NowChemistry: A novel - 9781524731748, hardcover, Weike Wang, new
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group
ISBN-101524731749
ISBN-139781524731748
eBay Product ID (ePID)229634683
Product Key Features
Book TitleChemistry : a Novel
Number of Pages224 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year2017
TopicContemporary Women, Romance / Contemporary, Literary, Asian American
GenreFiction
AuthorWeike Wang
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height0.9 in
Item Weight11.4 Oz
Item Length8.3 in
Item Width5.3 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
LCCN2016-038012
Reviews" Chemistry is a genuine piece of literature: wise, humorous, and moving." --Ha Jin "With its limpid style, comic verve, and sensitive examination of love, need, and aspiration, this exquisitely soul-searching novel is sure to be one of the most outstanding debuts of the year." --Sigrid Nunez "Science is an excellent lens for Weike Wang's look at a young woman's wonderfully skewed experience of love, ambition, loyalty, and, of course, chemistry. The pressure to excel, as applied by immigrant parents, comes up against basic questions of self-discovery: 'Find me the thing that I can make the greatest impact in and I will do that thing,' says the chemistry whiz who has gone off course. This very appealing narrator is funny and original, and the novel is filled with compelling information from the world of chemistry as well as gems such as Einstein's thoughts on love, communicated to his daughter. In a word, this debut is: elemental." --Amy Hempel, " Chemistry starts as a charming confection and then proceeds to add on layers of emotional depth and complexity with every page. It is to Wang's great credit that she manages to infuse such seriousness with so much light. I loved this novel." --Ann Patchett " Chemistry is a genuine piece of literature: wise, humorous, and moving." --Ha Jin "With its limpid style, comic verve, and sensitive examination of love, need, and aspiration, this exquisitely soul-searching novel is sure to be one of the most outstanding debuts of the year." --Sigrid Nunez " Chemistry (appropriately enough) explodes the stereotype of the model minority. Wang's voice is a revelation--by turns deadpan and despairing, wry and wrenching, but always and precisely true." --Peter Ho Davies, author of The Welsh Girl and The Fortunes "Science is an excellent lens for Weike Wang's look at a young woman's wonderfully skewed experience of love, ambition, loyalty, and, of course, chemistry. The pressure to excel, as applied by immigrant parents, comes up against basic questions of self-discovery: 'Find me the thing that I can make the greatest impact in and I will do that thing,' says the chemistry whiz who has gone off course. This very appealing narrator is funny and original, and the novel is filled with compelling information from the world of chemistry as well as gems such as Einstein's thoughts on love, communicated to his daughter. In a word, this debut is: elemental." --Amy Hempel " Chemistry casts a rare spell, some alchemic mixture all its own. Though her ingredients are familiar--being young, uncertain, and estranged--Weike Wang gives them to us anew; her wry, off-beat vision demands that we look again, as if for the very first time." --Casey Schwartz, author of In the Mind Fields
SynopsisNamed by The Washington Post as a Notable Work of Fiction in 2017 and by Entertainment Weekly as a Best Debut Novel of 2017 Named a Best Book of 2017 by NPR, Ann Patchett on PBS NewsHour, Minnesota Public Radio, Maris Kreizman, and The Morning News National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" Honoree Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize A luminous coming-of-age novel about a young female scientist who must recalibrate her life when her academic career goes off track; perfect for readers of Lab Girl and Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You. 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.
LC Classification NumberPS3623.A4585C47 2017
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Ratings and Reviews
Most relevant reviews
- Jul 02, 2018
Skip it.
I read a short story written by the author in a recent issue of the NEW YORKER magazine. The story was both well-written and a bit "quirky" - in a good way - and piqued my curiosity. What else had Wang written? A quick Google search directed me to her (much-lauded) debut novel, "Chemistry," which I promptly purchased and read. Unfortunately, my response to the novel (unlike the short story) was negative. The protagonist's struggle to come to terms with her parents' ultra-high expectations (first, get a PhD; second, get a great job) is a terrific subject . . . and the author squandered it. In a few words: the novel's protagonist spends the bulk of the novel navel-gazing and feeling sorry for herself. I quickly lost interest in her self-absorption, PARTICULARLY in light of the fact that she's 1. not particularly interesting overall and 2. not at all sympathetic. And she never budges from A to B! By the novel's conclusion, I was happy to close the book and move on to something else. The writing is O.K. (Nothing special . . . the brief paragraphs and inclusion of Chinese "proverbs" and general scientific lore are far from original, and most of the other characters - the boyfriend, best friend, parents, and - especially the therapist - never rise above being mere clichés.) I must say that I was surprised to learn that the novel won some awards.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
