The Bitter Sea

The Bitter Sea is Charles N. Li’s touching coming of age story. At some points the book has a choppy feel, when it jumps back and forth in time without much of a flow, it is noticeable that English isn’t Li’s first language. However, the strengths of the story far outweigh the weaknesses and made this both an interesting novel to read and a very informative one, providing deep insight into the Chinese culture which I was curious about but never understood.

The most intriguing aspect of the book for me was Li’s description of Eastern culture. I’ve tended to generalize and sort of put all Chinese people into one “category,” but Li’s experience brought to light the sectionalism similar to racism that exists in different parts of China. I was shocked by how much of a difficult time Li had every time he had to move, I questioned how he could feel like an outsider in his own country.

Li also makes excellent comparisons between Eastern and Western cultures. He states that Westerners are all about the self whereas the Chinese focus on the group. Maybe I don’t quite understand how this is true because of my Eastern upbringing, I find the idea that Chinese people are all about the group when juxtaposed with Li’s description of his family whom he never showed affection with until he was an adult somewhat ironic. Li’s father says that family should never lend each other money because then their relationship becomes a business exchange, but I find Li’s relationship with his father when he was in school much closer to a business exchange: he delivered good grades in exchange for a place to sleep.