She grew up in New York City. She can have any cake she wants.
March 23, 2022 2:44 PM Subscribe
Sunday March 20, 2022, This American Life. In the prologue to this week's episode "765/Off Course", Ira talks to Yibin, who grew up in China, in the Gobi Desert in the 1970s. Her dad was lucky to have a better than average job, as a musician (though the music was in service to government propaganda). He knew his daughter would have a hard life in their town of Jiuquan, so he was determined to make his daughter a violinist, in the hope of a better life.
What follows is an entirely charming and gripping story about her learning the violin, about her father's painstakingly hand-written copy of 90+ pages of music which he copied from a musician friend, who had copied from another, and so on. There is as 36-hour train ride to her audition in the big city. She is amazed by the moist air and abundance of trees. As the auditions begin and the story develops, you may find yourself on the edge of your seat.
It is the best story. One thing that might happen, is you may realize just how many things you take for granted. Is this too much editorializing?
Go listen, if you can, or you can read it here.
What follows is an entirely charming and gripping story about her learning the violin, about her father's painstakingly hand-written copy of 90+ pages of music which he copied from a musician friend, who had copied from another, and so on. There is as 36-hour train ride to her audition in the big city. She is amazed by the moist air and abundance of trees. As the auditions begin and the story develops, you may find yourself on the edge of your seat.
It is the best story. One thing that might happen, is you may realize just how many things you take for granted. Is this too much editorializing?
Go listen, if you can, or you can read it here.
So good - and hits very close to home, as someone whose HK parents made him learn violin as a child!
posted by adrianhon at 3:14 PM on March 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by adrianhon at 3:14 PM on March 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
This episode was among the most spellbinding episodes of TAL I have ever heard. I'm continually amazed at where they find such fascinating stories.
posted by bluesky43 at 3:25 PM on March 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by bluesky43 at 3:25 PM on March 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
I thought I was jaded on the rhythm of TAL stories but this one made me cry real, hot tears while I waited to pick up my kid from gymnastics. It’s a sublime 15 minutes and a great cold open for a radio show.
posted by q*ben at 6:35 PM on March 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by q*ben at 6:35 PM on March 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is a fantastic segment. I'm going to start abbreviating a whole bunch of things around parenting with "she can have any cake she wants."
posted by Mayor West at 7:52 AM on March 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Mayor West at 7:52 AM on March 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
It was a really great story. It made me think of Madeleine Thien's Do Not Say We Have Nothing, which is also (in part) about musicians in Chinese conservatories during the Cultural Revolution.
posted by oakroom at 9:39 AM on March 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by oakroom at 9:39 AM on March 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
oakroom, that book looks fascinating.
posted by Glinn at 4:21 PM on March 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Glinn at 4:21 PM on March 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by BlahLaLa at 2:50 PM on March 23, 2022 [2 favorites]