Time and Chinatown
Ng uses time to tell the story differently than the novels that we've read so far in Professor Schaub's class. The novel starts off in the present and goes back in the past in an orderly fashion, much like how we would evaluate our past because of difficult events or situations. This is very different than how time was used in novels we've read such as The Sound and the Fury and In Our Time. Do you think that the way time is used in this novel is efficient at getting across Ng's story?
Also, Ng writes about Chinatown and how tourists come to see the bright lights and colors. Have you ever been to Chinatown and how does her representation of it change your views about it? What were your opinions towards Chinatown before reading about why it is the way it is today and the hardships the Chinese have faced?
9 comments:
I feel the way Ng uses time in this novel is understandable. It starts out with what happened, then goes on to explain it in more detail. As far as Chinatown, the way I experienced it when I went is differently than described by Ng. Perhaps if I would of read this book first I would of realized the struggle the Chinese had on getting there.
I feel it could have been represented better in past to present manner. The sponsors for many of the families had to come to the states before their "paper sons" did, thus what happened in the past was very important to the futures of many of the Chinese immigrant men. That is why a past to present manner would show the importance of these previous events.
I think it is efficient and i also think that it is a very interesting and engaging way to display the information needed. I think that leaving out information and displaying it later in the book is a very engulfing way yo engage readers. The story is very easy to understand also. I have been to chinatown in Chicago and I do have a very differnt view of it now. When i first went there i was enthralled by the colors and the madness, but seeing an insider perspective is very eye opening. My opinions before were all these big beautiful buildings, but I don't know what to think now.
I guess the way time is used in the story works, but I also find it kind of frustrating. I don't know how far back in time the reflections go, but I can't quite see what the revelation at the end of the book will be. We already know Ona jumped, so I'm hoping we'll get some clearer motive for it, perhaps one which Leila may have missed earlier.
As far as the colors go, I've never been to Chinatown. What it does remind me of is something I heard about South American--that the poorest neighborhoods are the most brightly colored so as to not scare away the tourists.
I think that the novel written this way is the only way it could have been written. Because of Ona's death as shown from Leilas perspective it is represented how she thinks of it. You can't write this book in a straight order because that isn't how the mind processes thought. It has to be done in such a way so that the reader knows that this is her train of thought, this is how she veiws events, and discovers more about herself, because this is how the reader will think on these situations in his/her own life.
I think it works nicely in this novel because as you said it works in the same way our minds would in remembering the past. You remember bits and pieces but rarely remember everything at once. It can get confusing but i agree with Meghan that it engages the readers to find out the explanations behind what Ng had written earlier
I think that the way the book was written is a branch of the cliche, "Hindsight is 20/20". Things at the beginning of the novel are way more calm and less tense compared to what their family has been through in the past. For the most part, I think that the beginning of the book (if you were able to read it from back to front) would deal mainly with coping with loss.
Yes and no. If you follow along you understand why Ng wrote the novel this way. I feel it's because Ng wanted to analyze not the plot, but the people and their feelings with what life has presented these characters so that the reader can relate them to their own lives. I have seen what is called Chinatown in the Twin Cities and would have to agree with the author. I would say my opinions before (when I was younger) wondered why is Chinatown so "shaddy" but over the last few years it has really developed and expanded so I can see why Ng mentions this.
I think the structure of the book is interesting, but confusing. Starting out with a suicide gets you to read on, but when you do you find that there are no answers. You never find out why Ona committed suicide; arguably the most important detail of a story like this. Why start out with a suicide if you're not going to explain it?
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