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'You Must Remember This' Review

In a lot of ways, I feel like I am the wrong person to review this novel. I have not read literary fiction since I was in high school and even then, the English classes I took often avoided some of the more mainstream high school reading list classics like Catcher in the Rye, 1984, and Don Quixote. Many of the references FranklinBarnes' novel You Must Remember This went over my head. Despite the fact this book relies heavily on allusions, subtle and unsubtle, that not every viewer will catch, I still believe that this novel is worth the read with its poignant messages about human nature and its creative style of writing.

What I enjoyed:

-I loved how complicated everyone was. The students, the teachers, the background characters. I have not read much satire, but of the satire I have read, most characters were usually portrayed as caricatures and while this book has plenty of that, every character had a certain nuance to them as well. We see teachers understand that the system before and after Frank's "social experiment" is wrong, but still not do anything about it, and at times, even as a reader, you are tricked into a sense of security.

-The philosophical discussions about what it means to be good and to create a legacy are very intriguing. As this novel takes place in a high school, it makes sense for the characters to be thinking along these lines as they are caught between the transition of being a child and an adult in the United States. We see a diverse range of conclusions among the characters, which furthers the complexity of the story.

-The descriptions are absolutely gorgeous. Not only do they allude to certain classics, but they also do a great job of establishing the atmosphere of the wealthy high school where the story takes place. Some of the descriptions of the students walking home or enjoying one another's company on the lawn brought me back to my high school days.

-I especially appreciated how this novel discusses Asian (specifically East Asian) identity and privilege in the background. This is a very background theme, but throughout the novel, we see Asian and Asian American characters being treated in some ways as "equal" to the white characters, but at the same time, foreign. I liked this nuance of seeing the model minority myth play simultaneously to how Asians and Asian Americans are treated as "perpetual foreigners" in the United States. As I have been a Chinese American student in a mostly white high school, this is an experience I struggled with as well. I also liked the discussions of generational differences among the characters where we see some of the younger Chinese American students not being able to speak their grandparents' languages, which is another thing I could relate to. While the novel does not directly challenge the model minority and perpetual foreigner myths, there is still an implied uncomfortableness and I do like that these topics are brought up, even if only lightly.

What I thought could be better:

-Not much really. If I read literary fiction more often and had more modern literary fiction books to compare this one to, I might have more detailed critiques, but most of the things I struggled with were personal, such as not catching all the allusions. Even without understanding all the references, I still was able to understand the gist of what was going on and what the novel was trying to say about groupthink and the messiness of politics.

Overall, You Must Remember This was an entertaining read that brought nuance to all its characters while clearly emphasizing the fact this book is a satire. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the classic American English course reading list or just wants to read something that will make them think.

Reviewer: Darcy Hongyue