Stay True, Hua Has
In this memoir, Hua aims to crystallize his university experience and that past version of himself in written from. He writes about that part of his life under the scope and through the lens of many themes — friendship, identity, politics.
He captures an era that’s distant and unfamiliar, the glitz of the 1900s, alongside its radical issues and novel discoveries. I could feel the charm behind this young boy at the record store, coming across music that’s ‘vintage’ now; a boy sending faxes to his father and compiling zines.
His lines carry the weight of those adolescent days and nights. The reality of being a student who is both lost and in control at the same time, trying to integrate into groups that share similarities; youngsters venturing into an unknown terrain, alternating from the intensity of one cause to another in the span of a few days. His younger self is both fearful and eager for every moment, chasing both ecstasy and comfort.
This memoir is about grief, but also about coming of age. Readers will be quick to develop an emotional connection to this book because we can see what the writer aims to do: documentation. This book is a homage to Hua’s days, sensations, friendship with Ken. It is, in many ways, a relic. His attempt to try and sustain everything as it once was is something we all try to do at some point.
Although his friendship with Ken is more focused on towards the end, we feel their connection through short encounters and car drives throughout the book. Hua portrays a thread between two people throughout a multitude of moments, and the way friends grow to become fixtures in our lives. The book is not just about grieving Ken, but about grieving these days, their hopes, their dreams.
Another thing I loved reading about was the immigrant experience – that shared yet individualistic experience between immigrant parents and their children. His is an honest portrayal of the breach between our original culture and the one we grow in order to integrate. He tells us of the gains, but also of the losses. In a combination of casual and journalistic tone, Hua gives us a beautiful account that combines nostalgia, coming of age, and grief.
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