The DCBC met on Sunday, August 28, 2022 to discuss August's book: Portrait of a Thief, by Grace D. Li (selected by Ashley).
Attendees were: Ashley, Miriam, Jessy, Sarah, Paige, and Lauren.
“This was how it always went. Museums overlooked colonialism, conquest, a history of blood, until it was laid in front of them, until violence was met with violence.”
― Grace D. Li, Portrait of a Thief
Portrait of a Thief is a wannabe literary heist novel in which five Chinese-American university students are enlisted by a wealthy CEO in China to steal back the five remaining zodiac heads from the Old Summer Palace in exchange for an irresistible $50 million. They ineptly plan and execute only two of the five heists (how they managed that many defies comprehension) before walking into a situation on their third where they know they are going to be caught.
“How to make this life their own, how to love a country that had never belonged to them.”
― Grace D. Li, Portrait of a Thief
For a heist novel, Portrait of a Thief is absurd, but without the awareness of its absurdity. Bumbling college students trying to pull off five art heists with no clue how to do it and even failing their way to success a couple of times had the potential to be really funny if the author had leaned into the absurdity, but this book takes itself far too seriously for that. Because there are serious themes of diaspora and cultural identity and the meaning of art and the impact of colonialism to be discussed, none of which, for a work of literary fiction, ever get examined to a satisfactory point.
“What's wrong with wanting everything?
Nothing, as long as you know how to get it.”
― Grace D. Li, Portrait of a Thief
Too many irrelevant descriptions of the sky. Too much overprivileged young adult angst. Not enough plausible heistiness, depth of thought or plot, or differentiable characters. This was an interesting premise, but which ultimately and disappointingly fell flat. Portrait of a Thief attempts to grapple with concepts of art, power, colonialism, etc. but doesn't quite get beyond surface level, probably because there was a sky that needed to be gazed at with indefinable yearning.
The Verdict:
Taken from the average DCBC member ratings on Goodreads who had marked the book as read and rated at the time of this writing:
Portrait of a Thief: 2.0 stars
Thank you to Ashley for hosting, and to all of the attendees for such a lively discussion!
Next Month: September 2022: Comfort Me with Apples, by Catherynne Valente (selected by Miriam)
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