July 11th & 18th, 2022 - Peking Duck
Dear TNY,
I fully expected to not like “Peking Duck”.
But, there were parts that were good.
First, what is this format? We have this bit in the beginning from the perspective of the MC as a child coming to America. Then a memory of the cleaning man incident. Then we have some MFA shit (which, fuck MFA shit, Jesus, I could not care less about writers writing and writing programs), in which the MC submits the cleaning man incident as a story of fiction and it gets discussed. Then we have the MC and her mother discussing the stories to be published, notably the one containing the incident. And then…we have the fucking story of the incident? Like, it’s just tacked on to the end? I think…I think…I think this is very original, the structure. But, I wonder what the intention was, as this fucking author most certainly has intention.
So, breakdown wise, the beginning section is so fucking boring I almost quit reading this story. Then as I was skimming, I saw MFA. And at the mention of MFA, I actually shut the computer and was about to give up. But I kept reading. And wouldn’t you know it, Matthew specifically brings up what’s wrong with most of your “cultural” stories, TNY. He’s fucking spot on about the stereotypes and the same fucking hardships. Like, I was shook seeing that you published this story because it concisely describes what’s wrong with most of the dumb shit you choose to print to paper. And that’s not to say hardship stories don’t matter. They do matter. But if they aren’t doing something fresh or new, then it’s just tired shit, like he said, and that’s most of your stories, actually, cultural or otherwise. So we have a character in this story who is basically summarizing my rants on FTNY. Surreal. And then we have a dumb scene with the MC and her mom, which, if I’m honest, all the scenes are dumb in that story except Matthew’s speech in the MFA discussion. And then we have the story.
Now, the story in the story is a different story. It’s still first person POV, but it’s from the mom’s perspective. And the psychic distance is good, consistent, right up front and doesn’t sway. And I’m thinking, as I start it, how the fuck is this author going to put in a story which has already been called out by a character in the story to be stereotypical and tired. Bold move. But it’s NOT stereotypical and tired at all. It’s actually good. Now, I’m not here to comment on the English/Chinglish aspect of the story, because that’s an author’s choice and if it’s smooth then it shouldn’t matter that much. But I am here to say that Matthew was wrong. This story had tension, something fucking happened in it, we knew shit was at risk, and even when we thought the risk was over there was more risk. The story didn’t focus so much on the agenda, Asian American hardships, instead leaning more towards pacing, and the aforementioned tension, and clean, unencumbered writing. And, as I have been saying all along, if the storytelling is on point, then the people in the story matter, and then their issues matter. But if the story is all issues and no storytelling, then the people, the story, and the issues NEVER matter.
So, why put five parts in front of this sixth part? I don’t get it. The sixth section is standalone good. But I guess, do I actually know that? Because I had five parts previously to set me up in a place. Was that the intention of the author? To first let me believe that once again I was going to read some tired ass shit and then spring the sixth section on me? If so…is that good? Because without the last section in this story, it’s fucking brokedick tired bullshit. Like, more unreadable drivel from good ol’ TNY, pushing agenda stories like crack. But with the sixth, it’s not. Is it trying to call out all the phonies that came before it for being so bad and then displaying how to do it, all in one story? If so, that’s baller. But is that believable? That the author would intentionally write five bullshit tired sections to mislead us to give bigger bang for the buck on the sixth? Not to me. There’s something else going on. Regardless, fascinating.
This is worth reading, in my opinion. But I might just be fixating on the gimmick and that’s distracting me from the fact that, overall, the story might be bad.
I don’t know. I don’t know what to think. It’s interesting. At least it’s fucking interesting.
This’ll stick with me for a while from a storytelling perspective. What a weird frame.
Well, at least one of the three was okay. Back to my adventure, in which the colors are far richer than you’ll ever know from your insulated shitheap.
Nick
