Memorial – Bryan Washington
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: Mike and Benson have been together for a few years, but as life challenges and family commitments force them apart, each person reassesses whether they still love, let alone like, each other anymore.
Expectation: Based on the book promo: A funny, sexy, profound dramedy about two young people at a crossroads in their relationship and the limits of love.
Reality: A beautifully written, but meandering dual-perspective story that often loses focus.
Recommended For: Fans of character-driven stories full of nuance but where nothing much happens.
Why I Read It: Like many books this year, it was all #GayBookstagram could talk about.
My Take:
“Memorial” worked about 50 percent of the time for me, which is impressive, considering I was ready to DNF after the first 80-pages (2 hours in audio).
I hated Benson and Mike. They embodied every stereotype of a dysfunctional gay relationship, that while sometimes on-the-nose, is not exactly fun reading. Not to mention, if you read Brandon Taylor’s “Real Life,” you likely already got your fill of that kind of drama.
Listening to the myriad of reasons why they resent one another reminds you of the couple (we all know that couple) that should’ve broken up years ago but stay together because making the other person miserable is their identity.
Not to mention the jumping timelines is distracting, and the whole construct of the story is rather unbelievable: Why would Mike decide to leave for Japan to see his dying estranged father, Eiju, as soon as his mother, Mitsuko, comes for a visit after years apart? Why would Benson agree to let her stay with him for several weeks when they’ve never met? Why do all three of them just go along with it?
There are also several subplots and minor characters that pop up from time-to-time as Benson and Mike retrace the history of their relationship and where it fell apart. All that to say, the story completely lacks focus.
So why did I stick with it? Because Bryan Washington is a gifted writer who eventually had me hanging on every word.
Once the layers of Benson and Mike start to peel back, the story delivers gut punch after gut punch about sexual politics, ambition, race, fidelity, family and classism that is nuanced, heartbreaking and, sometimes, even funny and sweet.
When the story narrows on the two main narratives — Benson and Mitsuko in Houston and Mike and Eiju in Osaka — the story soars. Each of the characters come to life, and you become invested in their journeys rather than rolling your eyes at how miserable they all make one another.
However, when it veers away from these four and explores new relationships, friendships, careers — and even Benson’s family drama — “Memorial” starts to drag. I’d say at barely over 300-pages (or 8.5 hours) is still feels too long.
If you like character-driven, complex stories about recognizing who and what is right for you, then you’d enjoy “Memorial.” But, it’s certainly not a dramedy and it’s not light-hearted fare.
I wouldn’t write-off another Washington book in the future, but I wouldn’t put it at the top of my queue either.
Rating (story): 3/5 stars
Rating (narration): 2/5 stars (Washington narrates Benson and he shouldn’t)
Formats: Audiobook (library loan)
Date read: November 8 - 15, 2020
Multi-tasking: Yes, but you’ll miss some of the nuance.
