Introduction and Conclusion to Journals about 'Paradise of the Blind'

I had written the introduction before, but I decided to post them together to see any changes in my thoughts and opinions on the book.

Introduction
Paradise of the Blind, is a book about a young adult named Hang and the problems she faces as she's left between two feuding families. Her uncle Chinh has ruined the lives of her father and aunt. Her mother, Que, seems to be forced to take a side: her brother, or her husband.
I haven't finished the book yet, but I like it so far. Currently the characters have captured my interest, and I'm trying to understand Que's true motives and waiting for her to pick a side. I cannot decide if she is simply a weak-willed character who is easily swayed by manipulative people, or if she submits to her brothers requests because she is holding onto something selfishly in fear that she will lose her family and be left alone.
Currently, my favourite characters are the Bohemian and Aunt Tam. I find the Bohemian interesting because he seems to be neither good nor evil, but he is kind. Also the fact that Hang doesn't refer to him by his real name amuses me. I'm looking forward to seeing his interactions with Hang.
I like Aunt Tam because she is a strong female character, and seeing someone like her in a book about slightly older times is very rare and pleasing. I admire how she appears to be much stronger than her brother, and has reached her goals all on her own. I will write my journal entries from her perspective, because I'd like to learn more about her.


Reflection
Duong Thu Huong's novel, Paradise of the Blind, didn't interest me too much at first. We'd read books that reminded me of this: about family and traditions and food (for example: Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai). What really grasped my attention in the book was the political side, and the characterisations. When I learned what the title meant, that the whole book was basically criticising communism, I was intrigued, because for the whole time I'd thought it was simply a story about a family in Vietnam. Yet it was so much more than that. I started to notice things I hadn't, like how some characters seemed to represent political viewpoints. The family feuds were much bigger than they seemed as well. Chinh and Que seemed to symbolize a side of Vietnam that wanted or gave into communism, and Aunt Tam was one who resisted it and stuck to the old days. Their fight for influence over Hang might have been representing this battle. The 'blind' were the ones who hoped in vain that communism would bring them their paradise.
The presentations in class about the history of Vietnam helped me better understand the story, as before all I knew about the country was its location and that America had had a war there. I found it interesting to learn about a culture so different than anything I'd read about before. Vietnam was not all that similar to China or India as I'd thought it might be. This culture was explained through Hang's elaborate descriptions of food, festivals, opinions, and dialogues between characters about certain events. It was very fun to learn about these things (though 'rice' was probably the most repeated word in the book and it got me thinking how bored I would get if I ate rice as often as these Vietnamese people did).
To write my journal entries for Aunt Tam, I had to read through most of the book again. This way I caught things I'd missed my first time reading through, and I learned much more about the character. She had ambition, hope, and many plans she never talked about until she put them in motion. I tried to capture her possible thoughts as she worked her way from poverty to luxury, and my opinions on her relationship with Hang. I believe she loved Hang, but she also desired to put Hang on the path she wanted, and drive her away from Chinh and Que. She was a mysterious, fair, and inspiring character.
The end of the book really surprised me as well. I liked that in the end Hang kind of went her own way and made her own decisions. She seemed to finally be free from the two women who were constantly trying to pull her one way or the other. I was also very impressed with her skills of dealing with adults who used and manipulated her.
 I enjoyed reading this novel as the author had paced it very well and did not unravel all the mysteries at once. It helped widen my view of the world and educated me on many new things I would most likely not have come across on my own.