Similar experience

hey girls,

For The Gangster We Are All Looking For, I, like Precious, did not really understand the book. Her writing is too lyrical and poetic that it takes my mind away from the story and toward trying to understand what she means. But I can feel what the author is trying to depict. I can feel the poverty, the entrapment, the pain, the hardships, and the joy felt by each of the characters. I think, in order for an author to transfer these emotions to the readers, the author has to write well. So even though I did not really appreciate or comprehend the author’s writing, I value her story.

Actually, like Dao, my dad had to escape Vietnam during the war too. My dad is Chinese but was born in South Vietnam. At the age of seventeen, my dad was instructed to escape Vietnam. My aunts and grandparents got on a ship and hid there for several months out at sea, landing in the Philippines. One of my uncles was actually rescued and taken to America. As for my dad, he had to suffer a lot. He wasn’t told where to escape to, but just to escape. He got on a boat and left Vietnam. But along the way, he got caught and was thrown in jail in Cambodia. I don’t know how long he was there for (my dad never told me) but the conditions they were under were excruciating. After awhile, he managed to escape again and ended on the shores of Hong Kong. There, he was able to start a new life. He worked his way through college and eventually became an architect. The point I want to make is that, even after escaping Vietnam, there are still hardships ahead. So coming back to the book, even though the girl’s family escaped Vietnam and the author never told us what they went through between the times they escaped Vietnam to the time they arrived in San Diego, we should realize that they went through a lot. We can hardly blame the parents for their bitterness. When my dad told me his stories, even I don’t know how to react. One time, he talked about how they escaped on a boat but the “police” caught up to them and pointed a gun at one of the escapers and killed him. At this point, recalling this incident, my dad broke down and cried. At that time, I really, really don’t know how to react. Whether to console him or to leave him alone. I don’t think I will ever be able to understand fully his past pains and sufferings.

For my essay, I decided to write about The Namesake because I had such a hard time with Thuy’s book. I had such a hard time finding what I was going to write about. There are so many things I want to cover. But after my conference with Christine yesterday, I am able to finally able to narrow down my many ideas to a narrower topic. I’m still not quite sure what I should focus on but I’m leaning toward the topic of Gogol’s increase of understanding toward his parents’ points of view. Through his various relationships, he was able to learn something about his parents in the process. I guess I’ll see how things go~

Thanks for listening to my ramble.