A Paper Son

Buchholz, Jason. A Paper Son. New York: Tyrus 2016. Print

First Sentences:

It was the day before the storm hit, the storm we'd been watching on newscast Doppler as it approached from Alaska, devouring the coast like a carnivorous planet made of teeth and ice and smoke.

The weatherpersons pointed to it, their expressions mixes of glee and trepidation, their predictions heavy with superlatives, italics, underlining. 

Description:

There is one word that comes to my mind to describe Jason Buchholz's debut novel A Paper Son and that word is "intriguing." It's a plot that cannot be predicted, full of scenes and people that are completely, unexpectedly interesting, mysterious, and slightly quirky. It is the kind of book that one cannot stop reading, becoming completely immersed in the lives and situations portrayed. And then, once we stop reading for whatever reason, the characters and story stay with you like a haunting melody or a puzzle that needs to be examined over and over in order to understand it and wonder how to solve it.

In A Paper Son, Perry Long is an third-grade teacher in San Francisco, happily giving his charges interesting assignments during the day and writing unpublished stories at night. But one day he sees in his cup of tea a vision of a small Chinese family looking off into the distance. Although the vision quickly dissipates, the people in the image capture his interest and he writes a story that night about them and their possible lives on a boat he imagines is taking the family to China.

The story appears in an obscure magazine and leads to a knock on his door from Eva, a elderly Chinese woman. Eva demands to know why Perry has robbed her family's history by telling its story. She then questions him about the fate of one of the figures in Perry's fictional story, settles in to Perry's apartment and vows not to move out until that boy is found and her family's complete story unfolded. It is up to Perry to keep writing their stories to somehow reveal an ending that solves the mystery of Eva's family.

Huh? See what I mean about intriguing?

Perry begins to experience other inexplicable situations and people. While swimming, looking into a puddle, gazing at a distorted figure in a mirror, or listening to Eva comment on the accuracy of each new chapter, he witnesses unusual daily occurrences in his life which no one else notices. For example, he repeatedly hears a mournful Chinese tune and sees a group of quadruplets playing mahjong. 

When the second chapter in "Eva's family story" appears in the same magazine (although no one had submitted it), Perry, completely confused now, sets out to explore what really is happening in his life and the "real" lives of what he knows to be fictional characters of his own creation. 

What is real and what is Perry's own imagination somehow come to life? Is it possible he is writing a story as it really happened to characters that somehow, somewhere, sometime actually were real? Each day presents new visions that challenge his grasp on reality, fiction, and his role in it all.

Absolutely fascinating, extremely well-written, and absorbing plot and characters make this a highly recommended book for anyone willing to jump down a rabbit hole into the "intriguing" world of fiction at its finest. Memorable in every aspect of the world of great writing.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

See, Lisa. China Dolls.   

Three young Chinese women meet at the 1938 San Francisco World's Fair and become friends, if albeit different personalities. The novel follows their lives and relationships in the United States, good and wrenching, as they find their place and personality in the new country. Lovely writing with interesting descriptions of cities and people of that era. (previously reviewed here)

China Dolls

See, Lisa. China Dolls. New York: Random. 2014. Print.

First Sentences:

I traveled west -- along -- on the cheapest bus routes I could find

Every mile took me farther from Plain City, Ohio, where I'd been a fly-speck on the wallpaper of small-town life.

Each new state I passed through loosened another rope around my heart, my legs, my arms, yet my whole body ached and I couldn't shake my vertigo. I lived on aspirin, crackers, and soda pop.

I cried and cried and cried.

Description:

So often books idealize friendships between central characters as unwavering through all circumstances and separation, a constant source of strength for times when a friend is needed. It takes a great writer like Lisa See in her newest historical fiction novel, China Dolls, to explore the truth of friendships, the variations and changes that occur between even the closest of friends over the years and events.

China Dolls opens with three young Chinese women meeting in San Francisco for the World's Fair in 1938. All are seeking employment as they try to escape from their current lives of difficult families, abuse, and dead-end careers. The World's Fair offers a few jobs for Chinese dancers, but eventually it is the new Forbidden City nightclub outside the fairgrounds that hires them for an all-Chinese floor show.

The girls become fast friends despite their different backgrounds. Ruby, defiantly ambitious and worldly; Helen, wealthy and traditional who still lives with her extended family; and Grace, the premier dancer who is fleeing from an abusive parent in a small town in the Midwest and has never met another Chinese person.

All of us, in our own ways, were doing the best we could to erase who we were. 

The world of the dance club performer is exciting and tawdry at the same time. Grace becomes an acclaimed dancer, while Ruby develops a Sally Rand-like bubble dance that vaults her to stardom. Helen creates a popular pairs dance act with the handsome Eddie, who has secrets of his own. The love and friendship of these women faces many challenges, and their relationships waver between support and jealousy as opportunities, betrayals, and secrets are introduced.

Each chapter is narrated by a different woman, offering her own thoughts and interpretation of the world she is starting to learn about. From life in a nightclub as a "pony" (chorus line) dancer to headliner stars, from the temptations of San Francisco to searches for individual identities as Chinese women in a Western world, the women reveal the world of 1938 and later years from three completely different perspectives. Each woman has secrets she keeps from the world and her friends, secrets that destroy their individual secure worlds and drive her friends away.

A woman isn't just one thing. The past is in us, constantly changing us. Heartache and failure shift our perspectives as do joy and triumphs. At any moment, on any given day, we can be friends, competitors, or enemies.

See is a talented writer fully in control of her characters and plot. She skillfully interweaves historic locations like the Forbidden City nightclub, the Treasure Island World's Fair, and Japanese internment camps into the story, making the world of the 30's and 40's come alive for those of us unfamiliar with the challenges and opportunities Chinese women faced then. And those women -- Ruby, Helen, and Grace -- become permanently etched in our minds as strong survivors, loyal, ambitious, and willing to live life.

I had made it this far without revealing my deepest secrets, and, for a moment, I forgot that to believe in dreams is to spend half your life asleep.

Great strong characters, interesting historical research and plot, and most importantly honest, clear writing make China Dolls an engrossing, unforgettable read. Dive into that world and you quickly won't want to break the bubble and return to our modern world.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

See, Lisa. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Two young girls in nineteenth century China exchange secret messages throughout their lives via notes on a fan they send to each other, sharing events in their lives, their hopes and loneliness, including the experiences of foot-binding, arranged marriage, motherhood and more. Delicately, exquisitely written.

Yutang, Lin. Moment in Peking: A Novel of Contemporary Chinese Life

Sprawling novel follows the lives of two lovers and their families for forty years in old, traditional China from the Boxer Rebellion to the invasion of Japanese in the early twentieth century. A beautiful book full of love, relationships, Chinese history, and traditions.