A Superior Man, Paul Yee
A Superior Man, Paul Yee
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A Superior Man

Author: Paul Yee

Narrator: James Chen

Unabridged: 11 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 07/22/2016

Categories: Fiction


Synopsis

For more than thirty years, Paul Yee has written about his Chinese-Canadian heritage in award-winning books for young readers as well as adult non-fiction. Here, in his first work of fiction for adults, he takes us on a harrowing journey into a milestone event of Canadian history: the use of Chinese coolies to help build the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia in hazardous conditions. After the CPR is built in 1885, Yang Hok, a former coolie, treks along the railway to return his half-Chinese/half-Native son to the boy's mother where he confronts the conflicts arising from road-building among the Chinese and Native peoples. Hok's guide on the often perilous trip, Sam Bing Lew, also of mixed Chinese-Native blood, urges Hok to take his son to China, while Hok has dreams of finding fortune in America. The two men agree on little, as many issues fester between Chinese and Natives at a time when both races were disdained as inferior by whites ("redbeards"). This far-reaching novel crackles with the brutal, visceral energy of the time-a period marked by contraband, illegal gambling, disfigurement, and death. It also depicts the bawdy world of Chinese "bachelors," whose families remained in China while they worked in Canada, and who enjoyed more freedom to live their lives without restraint. Yang Hok is not an easy man to like; but through the blood and sweat of his experience, he aspires to become the "superior man" he knows he should be. Boldly frank and steeped in history, A Superior Man paints a vivid portrait of the experience of the Chinese in North America in the 19th century. Paul Yee's twenty-seven books for young people include the Governor General's Award-winning Ghost Train. This is his first novel for adults.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Andy on March 31, 2017

I found this book interesting from the perspective of local history as I currently live in Vancouver. Paul Yee is clearly an expert on the topic of early Chinese settlers in Canada. It led me to research more on this topic and that many of the towns mentioned in the book now have only a couple of hu......more

Goodreads review by Alexis on March 13, 2016

Tells the story a Chinese former railway worker who discovers he has a son who is half First Nations. I loved the historic details in this story. Set in 1885, Paul Yee, a talented writer and historian, does a great job of recreating and revealing the early history of the Chinese in Canada, a subject......more

Goodreads review by Carrol on November 20, 2015

good story over all but found that it didn't flow......more

Goodreads review by Morgan on December 27, 2021

I love historical novels and finding one set in BC is always exciting for me. I actually finished this shortly after the town of Lytton, which figures prominently in this story, burned down, which was a little eerie. Overall, the main character is mostly unlikable, but I think the flip-flopping betwe......more

Goodreads review by Tracey on February 18, 2018

Wanted to love this historical fiction but... didn't Couldnt engage or get invested in the characters and found the language difficult to get used to.......more