Book Review: “The Double Life of Benson Yu” by Kevin Chong
That’s (Not) Entertainment
Trying to figure out how to introduce Canadian Kevin Chong’s ferociously courageous new novel, The Double Life of Benson Yu, feels problematic. When you’re reading the book, it will feel as though you are wading through an oil slick, and the other feelings this book may conjure up may include loathing and revulsion. The reason for this is that this novel deals with the unsavoury themes of childhood sexual abuse and suicidal ideation — and the book, indeed, comes with a trigger warning. While pedophilia is suggested and not written about directly, the novel illustrates just how wide-ranging the damage caused by sexual abuse to a child can lead the victim to want to kill themselves when they become an adult. As such, The Double Life of Benson Yu is a difficult book to read — not because the text is challenging, but because there’s a prevailing feeling of dread that permeates it from cover to cover. You will want to take a nice, long hot bath after reading this novel. So one doesn’t come to this seeking escapism, because (admittedly) the problems being faced by the novel’s main characters are so repellant that it may be tough for readers to reach the end of this book — if I can be honest and admit that. While this is a significant novel and one that should be read for its daring and originality, it is also a bit of a burden. Your mileage may vary in terms of whether or not one can “enjoy” The Double Life of Benson Yu. Me? I had a hard time with this book, despite its brevity.
The Double Life of Benson Yu is a book lobbed in half — and those who are already committed to reading this upon the book’s release in April 2023 may want to skip this paragraph for this is one of those reads where the less you know, the more effective the story will be. The first part of the book is set in late 1980s Chinatown in what is presumably Vancouver, British Columbia. Benson Yu is a 12-year-old Chinese boy who lives with his grandmother in an apartment building. His mother is dead and his father is absent. When Benson’s grandmother dies in the hospital, he is left alone. A new neighbour named Constantine (or C.) decides to take the boy in but effectively kidnaps him. When Benson escapes, unharmed, he is taken by a social worker to visit his father. However, the book’s second part is strange. The young Benson is catapulted 30 years into the future and his “father” is an older version of himself: a successful comic book illustrator whose work has been turned into movies, and who is now teaching at a nearby college. The middle-aged Benson (known as Yu to presumably avoid confusion) is an alcoholic who wants to die, even though he has successfully started a family. Both Bensons are infatuated with karate and samurais, even though they are Chinese, and Constantine — who may or may not suffer from a mental illness and was abused himself as a child — was their sensei. Will the younger Benson be able to return to his timeline and live with what’s left of his family? Will the older Benson be able to escape the demon of alcoholism that came about from his sexual abuse as a child at the hands of C.?
As you can tell from that synopsis, this is not a novel for everyone. I found the element where the younger Benson is left alone in his apartment after his grandmother’s passing to stretch credibility. Surely, wouldn’t someone in authority know what was going on with Benson’s living situation and attempt to get him back in touch with his far-flung loved ones? However, I’m wondering if I’m missing the point there. Maybe author Chong is saying that Chinese kids are often forgotten about in white North American society and are abandoned and left to their own devices in places such as schools and on the street. Still, I found it difficult to believe that an author would treat his creation so callously and would effectively leave him in the hands of a stranger. As you can tell, this is a very pessimistic read and it may leave a hole of longing in the reader’s heart for the main characters in this. Not everyone gets a happy ending, either, if that’s not saying too much, and those who do may make the reader question who is allowed to get a better second chance: the abused or the abuser?
All in all, The Double Life of Benson Yu is a hard book to stomach. As noted, the subject matter is repugnant — even if the novel more than makes up for it in terms of its originality in how it treats the ideas of time travel and the metaphor that all men are fathers to their younger selves. I am finding myself torn here. I want to laud this book for its treatment of a very serious taboo and societal problem, especially as it may affect persons of color. However, this is not a book that one can enjoy conventionally. Many of the characters are not particularly likable and I found that the older Benson’s descent into alcoholism happens rather abruptly. In the end, I think this is a novel that is flawed but striking in terms of what it tries to do with some rather distasteful topicality. This book may indeed conjure a chord with those who have been subject to abuse, and the author is certainly brave in telling a story such as this — though I’m not sure how autobiographical it may or may not be. This is a book that says something about the ever-changing narrative of the truth, and it is also a novel about memory and what happens when we try to change or supplant bad things that may have happened to individuals within such flashbacks. I guess this, too, is a memoir of sorts about how one person can try to assuage the pain of the past by creating art or telling an unconventional narrative to deal with the pain. The Double Life of Benson Yu is about so many things, but whether or not you will want to come along for the ride is going to depend on whether or not you have a stomach for topics that you certainly can’t discuss at dinnertime. To each their own, then, but it’s good that something like this exists if it may help someone who has suffered sexual abuse as a child better process their feelings.
Kevin Chong’s The Double Life of Benson Yu will be published by Simon & Schuster / Atria on April 18, 2023.
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