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Oct. 19th, 2008 05:37 amSo during the election, I finished The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy. I had high hopes for it, as I'd heard nothing but good things. I also attended an author's lecture of his, and he seemed like a really interesting person.
I was a bit disappointed. He does some things marvellously well -- character creation, and setting individual scenes, exploring certain themes. I had two serious problems with it, though.
The first is that there's no structure or plot of any kind -- no buildup, no climax, just a series of episodes in the life of a Chinese-Canadian family in the 1920s that don't really reach any final conclusion. The literati might treat plot like it's lower class, but that's why so few people read their books. Plot is engaging -- it keeps interest. And there's none here at all.
My second problem with the novel is that his prose is lacklustre. Maybe I've been spoilt by authors like Heather O'Neill and Margaret Atwood and Douglas Coupland, but there's no remarkable turns of phrase here, no startling metaphors -- but there is plenty of clichéd language.
Still, one of the identifying traits of really good writing is that it's haunting. And there are scenes here that haunt me, and probably always will. There's arrival of the old man who the young daughter is convinced is Sun Wukong/Son Goku from the Journey to the West/Saiyuki story. There's streetfighting in the temple of a Tong Association while the old gods look on. And those scenes make it worth the read.
(Of the three stories, I liked Jung-Sum's story the best, for reasons that'll be obvious to anyone who's read The Jade Peony.)
I also finished a book of Quebec folklore -- Créatures fantastiques du Québec. Most of it was the usual fare you get from European folklore -- werewolves, sea serpents, ape-men, mermaids, angry ghosts.
One that made me laugh out loud was the evil witch Margeurite le Boeuf, who was forever followed by a Satanic cow. According to the author, the cow was "apparently possessed by the forces of darkness," and that you could see "the animal envelop itself in a nimbus of fire the colour of blood before it danced pagan dances in front of the houses of those who had laughed at her mistress." This magic cow-dance would light the trees on fire.
They really needed to bring Gary Larson out of retirement to illustrate that.
I was a bit disappointed. He does some things marvellously well -- character creation, and setting individual scenes, exploring certain themes. I had two serious problems with it, though.
The first is that there's no structure or plot of any kind -- no buildup, no climax, just a series of episodes in the life of a Chinese-Canadian family in the 1920s that don't really reach any final conclusion. The literati might treat plot like it's lower class, but that's why so few people read their books. Plot is engaging -- it keeps interest. And there's none here at all.
My second problem with the novel is that his prose is lacklustre. Maybe I've been spoilt by authors like Heather O'Neill and Margaret Atwood and Douglas Coupland, but there's no remarkable turns of phrase here, no startling metaphors -- but there is plenty of clichéd language.
Still, one of the identifying traits of really good writing is that it's haunting. And there are scenes here that haunt me, and probably always will. There's arrival of the old man who the young daughter is convinced is Sun Wukong/Son Goku from the Journey to the West/Saiyuki story. There's streetfighting in the temple of a Tong Association while the old gods look on. And those scenes make it worth the read.
(Of the three stories, I liked Jung-Sum's story the best, for reasons that'll be obvious to anyone who's read The Jade Peony.)
I also finished a book of Quebec folklore -- Créatures fantastiques du Québec. Most of it was the usual fare you get from European folklore -- werewolves, sea serpents, ape-men, mermaids, angry ghosts.
One that made me laugh out loud was the evil witch Margeurite le Boeuf, who was forever followed by a Satanic cow. According to the author, the cow was "apparently possessed by the forces of darkness," and that you could see "the animal envelop itself in a nimbus of fire the colour of blood before it danced pagan dances in front of the houses of those who had laughed at her mistress." This magic cow-dance would light the trees on fire.
They really needed to bring Gary Larson out of retirement to illustrate that.
