Green, Green Grass by the River, ep. 01-04

(That's my own translation of the title Qing Qing He Bian Cao -- the title is unsubtly a combination of the main characters' names, Qing Qing, Xiao Cao, and He Shi Wei. Though the character for "he" is different.)

I used to watch this on TV as a kid in Taiwan. My mom, in an act of incredible generosity, bought me a huge set of cdramas based on Taiwanese novelist Qiong Yao's works, several of which I've watched but only vaguely remember.

They are so cracktastic! Well, at least this one is. Over-the-top melodrama and eighties bangs and shoulder pads under period clothing too!

I based the following on an email I wrote to rachelmanija to cheer her up (Rachel, I added more plot stuff if you want to skip to the end). It's spoilery, but given that this hasn't been subbed in English anywhere, I encourage people to read it regardless.

Also, it has what is possibly the most ineffective suicide attempt ever.

( Cut for spoilers and length )

Johnson, Angela - The First Part Last

At first glance, this is just another book about teen pregnancy, and starring black characters at that. But it's not really; it's more a book about love and grief, particularly Bobby's love for his newborn daughter Feather.

This is a slight book in terms of size, but not in terms of emotion. Johnson presents us with tiny scenes of "then" and "now," "then" being right around when Bobby discovers that his girlfriend Nia is pregnant, and "now" being a few days after Feather's birth. They're really small scenes, very intimate and very delicate, and I still love the end of the first chapter:

But I figure if the world were really right, humans would live life backward and do the first part last. They'd be all knowing in the beginning and innocent in the end.

Then everybody could end their life on their momma or daddy's stomach in a warm room, waiting for the soft morning light.

It didn't hit me as viscerally as some other books have, but I suspect a lot of that was because I read it in one sitting at an ungodly hour of the morning (I need to stop doing that). Also, it's a nice change from the usual Book Warning about Teen Pregnancy (exclamation point!), and while I normally would protest books about pregnancy that are all "Oh woez! My life!" for the guys and books with black kids caught painting graffiti, I very much like Bobby, and though we only get to see a little of Nia's POV, I like that we see her making choices. And, of course, there's the fact that Bobby ends up raising Feather, and while the book goes into how it affects his life, it's really less about that and much, much more on his love for Feather. It reads as very stereotypically maternal, only not, because it's placing those "maternal" instincts with the father.

I also like how Johnson manages to portray just how difficult raising a baby is, but mostly I love the writing, how the fragments of chapters feel dreamlike and peaceful, despite the topic. I went back to the library to pick up several more of her books on the strength of this one.

Links:
- rachelmanija's review