Coordinator for Information Literacy and Digital Services Hong Wu led the most recent “Around the World Through Books” discussion on Yiyun Lee’s A Thousand Years of Good Prayers – a book of stories set in China and among Chinese-Americans in the U.S. that explores faith, communism, marriage, divorce, politics and history.
“Most of the stories in the book took place in the 1990’s when China was in a transitional period,” explained Wu. “China was trying to abandon the past and move toward a modern world. There were a lot of emotions during that time of transition.”
Wu came to the United States in the early 1990’s and says she can relate to how the characters in the book have to “shake their past.”
The “Around the World Through Books” series of discussions are free community events sponsored by JSRCC’s Multicultural Enrichment Council (MEC) for the purpose of encouraging cultural diversity throughout the Reynolds campuses and communities. Discussions are offered during the spring and fall semesters. It is not uncommon for the MEC to schedule authors to lead discussions. Author Ariel Glucklich led the last discussion on his book Dying for Heaving.
