Real Americans – Rachel Khong
One of the most universally adored novels of 2024, I found Rachel Khong’s “Real Americans” to be a solid multi-generational story, even if the tone — sometimes breezy, sometimes deadly serious — was frequently off-kilter.
Exploring the complexities of family, identity and the American Dream — plus the ethics of genome editing for good measure — it's the type of novel that could easily veer into literary excess but Khong showed a remarkable knack for balancing heavy ideas with beach read sensibilities.
That’s not an easy feat, and it’s one of the reasons I think this has captured so much (and generally well-earned) attention. It’s epic in scope but still remarkably intimate, given that we spend a significant amount of time with each of our main characters: Lily, Nick and May.
It’s not a spoiler to acknowledge these characters are all related. May is Lily’s mother and Nick is Lily’s son. My complaint — and it is a big one — is that these sections are not created equally, leading to a sense of incompleteness and general disdain for the inanity of some decisions.
Lily’s is a tale about upward mobility, aspiration and disillusionment. Nick’s is about building a future without fully reconciling with the past. May shows the lasting guilt of self-preservation.
While I was invested in the characters, particularly Lily and May, each section felt unfinished, leaving me craving further resolution that was never fully realized. Although Nick's storyline was intriguing, his character was the least fleshed out and his third of the novel was the most tedious.
What ultimately pushed me to rate this higher than initially intended was the complexity of May, and her journey from a victim of circumstance to a woman driven by ambition. Khong skillfully humanized her, making her choices understandable — even if morally complex.
With that said, I still can’t mask my disappointment that the characters' relationships felt underdeveloped. Their reconciliations often seemed abrupt and lacked depth (because of time jumps). The shared traumas were stated but never explored collectively.
Further, the large cast of characters sometimes overwhelmed the narrative, and certain plot points, such as Nick's experience as a half-Asian man who looks white, were frequently mentioned but never explored in a meaningful way.
There were parts of “Real Americans” that felt bloated, but I feel like Khong has a draft that is twice the length, but probably stronger than what her editor made her sacrifice in the name of popularity.
The audiobook is well-performed, with each narrator, Eric Yang (Nick), Eunice Wong (May) and Louisa Zhu (Lily) capturing the essence of their respective characters. Wong's portrayal of May is the standout with a sorrowful reminiscence that had me rapt and heartbroken. If the page count worries you, the audiobook is a great way to work through the slower sections.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): 3/5 stars
Format: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: July 24 – July 31, 2024
Multi-tasking: Good to go. Sometimes Khong loses the plot in a mess of random characters, but the storytelling is engaging and the writing easy to follow.
