A story of cultural difference, fitting in (and not) and trying too hard not to offend. In America, an Iranian and an American Guardian-reading (or equivalent) family adopt Korean girls on the same day, and thus three generations of both families are drawn together, despite their differences in lifestyle, parenting attitudes, family, traditions etc.

Towards the end, and with no explanation, an overlong chapter about giving up pacifiers is written in the style of a child. “Jin-Ho’s mother” this and “Jin-Ho’s father” that, sounding like a Janet and John book.

An easy and enjoyable page-turner, and the most touching and perhaps most significant strand of the story is not the one you think it’s going to be.

What is it about Anne Tyler? Her territory is family life – plumb ordinary bunches of siblings, stepparents, settled marrieds whose arguments, jealousies, love affairs, moments of crisis and breakdown are as recognizable and quotidian as yours and mine. Yet out of this everyday material, she spins gold: stories so achingly truthful, so achingly funny, so sad and so real that you can only marvel.
tDigging to America opens on familiar Tyler territory. In 1997 two families gather at Arrivals in Baltimore airport. Bitsy and Brad Donaldson are American: big-hearted, noisy and upfront. Sami and Ziba Yazdan are first generation Iranian-American – polite, reserved and, frequently, more than a little wary of their adoptive country and of Americans such as the Donaldsons. Yet, when their two adopted Korean baby daughters are carried off the plane, the Donaldsons and the Yazdans become irretrievably linked. As Bitsy reflects, ‘so many secret hurts and bruises lay behind this Arrival party’, and the longed-for advent of Susan and Jin-Ho goes a long way to anneal the collective hurt of these childless couples. However, relations between the Donaldsons and the Yazdans are not absolutely straightforward and, here, the family drama segues into the drama of culture clash. For as the two extended families interconnect over the ensuing years - the annual Arrival Party instigated by Bitsy growing ever more elaborate – they rub up against each other in complicated, often puzzling, ways. ‘It’s harder than you realise, being American’ Bitsy’s recently widowed father confides to Maryam, Sami’s cool, reserved mother who, perhaps, is more attached to her role as the exile than is wise. ‘Who on earth would hang a family photo above a toilet?’ wonders Ziba on being let loose in the mysteries of the Donaldson’s bathroom and concludes: ‘Some things about American would forever flummox her.’
tPost 9/11 the questions and answers asked by Americans as to who and what they have proved to be troubling. No less so for those who are making their way into the society. These questions act as a counterpoint to the wayward, funny and, sometimes, heartbreaking events of the novel. Yet, if Anne Tyler deals with the themes of displacement and exile, of what constitutes goodness and generosity, she never ever forgets she is a novelist first and foremost. In Digging to America her trademark blend of observant comedy and tragedy, and her window into the human heart, are gloriously apparent.

[2.5/5] Honestly I found this quite cold? I'm not sure about it, it felt under developed and detached, none of the characters felt life-like and I wasn't convinced enough by Tyler's approach to "otherness" to feel particularly moved by the descriptions or emotions. Perhaps, genuinely, this was down to me not trusting Tyler enough to relay the feelings of first/second-gen Iranian immigrants, so I never really warmed to the book? Either way, not my fave, and there are loads of books written by people who have first-hand experience of Americanisation, so I'll find some of those to read instead of re-reading this one.

این کتاب رو سال‌ها پیش، دوستی شب پروازش از تهران به آمریکا بهم داد. سال‌ها گوشه کتابخونه‌ام بود تا بالاخره امسال کمر همت به خوندنش بستم. قبل از هر چیزی اجازه بدید از ترجمه گلایه کنم: ترجمه بعضی جاها خیلی بد می‌شد. مثلاً کلاه ایمنی دوچرخه‌سواری ترجمه شده بود «کلاهخود»!!!! و هر چه به انتهای کتاب می‌ریم این جور ترجمه‌های اشتباه بیشتر دیده می‌شه، انگار عجله مترجم برای به پایان بردن کتاب باعث بی‌دقت‌تر شدنش شده. خود داستان جالب بود، نویسنده به واسطه ازدواجش با یک پزشک و نویسنده ایرانی (تقی مدرسی) با فرهنگ و سنت‌های ایرانی‌ها به خوبی آشناست و این رو در بخش‌های زیادی از کتاب نشون می‌ده. در جاهایی از کتاب به زمان شاه اشاره می‌شه، نمی‌دونم به انقلاب و وقایع بعد از اون و دلیل مهاجرت برخی شخصیت‌های داستان هم در متن اصلی اشاره شده یا نه، یا اینکه این بخش‌ها زیر تیغ ممیزی پاک شده. به هر حال اگر یک بار دیگه این کتاب رو خواستم بخونم، حتماً متن اصلی رو خواهم خوند.

تاریخ اتمام: چهارشنبه ۲۱ آذر ۱۴۰۳

Do you remember as a child "digging to China"? This story, which takes place in Tyler's usual setting of Baltimore, is about immigrants, how and whether to keep the culture and traditions of the birth country. At one point, one of the children wonders whether children in China are Digging to America.

It is also a story of family. This time the families are adoptive parents, together with much extended family. Because both Korean children arrive on the same flight, and through that common event, the families become friends. We promptly see that the paths of these families, except for that circumstantial meeting, were unlikely to have ever crossed.

For me, what makes the book so compelling is that one of the grandmothers dies. "I don't know how to do this," the widower says of the loss of his wife of more than 40 years. "I should have practiced on someone easier." But I've told you too much already.

This was my fifth Anne Tyler and the best that I've read. (I have not read her Pulitzer, Breathing Lessons - I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.) I had a strong debate with myself whether to give it 5 stars. It was very good and the only reason I did not give it the fifth star is because I had to think so hard about it - but certainly at the top of 4 stars.

Блин, всю душу под конец вынула Тайлер!

I adore this novel! Anne Tyler writes of international adoption, assimilation, pluralism, family and friendship in this book with such tenderness; sometimes I caught myself laughing out loud; other times tears gently rolled down my cheeks.

Two families meet accidentally at the airport as they wait to pick up their adopted Korean daughters Jin Ho and Susan. One family is Iranian, the other white-bread American. Under no other circumstances would these two families have met and bonded. The novel explores their friendship.
I highly recommend it.

I was surprised by how much I liked this, considering how "feel good" this family saga is. I really liked the exploration of adoption and I loved that Tyler tackles multi culturalism here, because usually her novels are very white. I enjoyed almost all the characters and could feel for them. Superbly written and now one of my favourites from the later part of Tyler's career.

The Tin Can Tree (1965) - 4/5
Celestial Navigation (1974) - 4/5
Morgan's Passing (1980) - 4/5
The Accidental Tourist (1985) 3/5
Breathing Lessons (1988) 4/5
Ladder of Years (1995) - 4/5
A Patchwork Planet (1998) - 4/5
Back When We Were Grownups (2001) - 3/5
The Amateur Marriage (2004) - 3/5
Digging to America (2006) - 4/5
The Beginner’s Goodbye (2012) - 3/5
A Spool of Blue Thread (2015) - 5/5
Vinegar Girl (2016) - 2/5
Clock Dance (2018) 3/5
Redhead by the Side of the Road (2020) - 3/5

I've read quite a lot of Anne Tyler's books, and this is one of her best. She manages to convey so much in such beautiful and easy to read prose. She's also one of the most skilled writers I have come across at portraying the complexities of relationships and family life in a way that is so readable and warm.

This book wasn't that great of a read, mostly because I couldn't stand Bitsy, and it was a little mundane for me, but the discussion it sparks about cultural identity is fabulous. It makes a good book club read for that reason.

I'm going with a 5 because I read the book a week ago and can't get some of the family images out of my head. It reminds me of the John Irving style of writing about American issues in such a simple yet beautiful way. Not difficult to read - you don't have to page through similes and extended metaphors etc. - but the images stick with you in a gorgeous way.

I must admit that the only thing keeping me out of the newspaper in yet another road rage story are the audio books I download or check out from the library. Listening to audio books while fighting rush hour traffic on 1-65 is my equivalent of counting to ten.

Anyone remember the actress Blair Brown from The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, circa 1987? Ah, my dependable Saturday night date. What a sweetheart. Anyway, I just finished listenting to the audio book Digging to America and I must say that Blair Brown’s rich voice reading Anne Tyler’s exquisite phrasing are a match made in heaven.

Digging to America tells the story of two couples, one American and the other Iranian, who meet at the Baltimore airport as they await the arrival of their adopted Korean baby girls. From this day forward their lives intertwine in a clumsy but satisfying way as their children grow and they reach out to embrace each other’s cultures.

Who knew Blair could do so many voices? Bitsy’s aggressive American voice; Dave's forlorn voice; Maryam’s controlled and Ziba’s timid, heavily-accented voices. It’s like I’ve got my own personal theatre inside my car.

The only other voice to captivate me so was Sally Darling’s reading of To Kill a Mockingbird. But that’s another review. Take Blair along for the ride and keep the roads safe.