Ugresic’s book does not conform to typical plot structure but her approach to writing seems to better reflect human experience: reality doesn’t consist of an introduction followed by a rising action, climax, and resolution. Reality is disorganized and chaotic. Part three of the novel, Guten Tag, is a series of short fragments that come together to conjure up an image of solitude in the city of Berlin.
The disjointed story mirrors the narrator’s dreamlike trance as she tries to endure exile and an overwhelming sense of isolation. Living in Berlin without companionship or a country to call home leaves the speaker feeling “shipwrecked”. She drifts through each moment not fully aware of her surroundings but deeply aware of her loneliness. In fact, the only part of the story in which there is a spark of emotion is when she reminisces over the map of Yugoslavia. It made me think of my friend from New Mexico who told me she was considering transferring back home. She said: “It’s just hard. Being somewhere and constantly wishing you were somewhere else.” Except in the novel, the writer cannot return home.
That's a really interesting way to put it, Thuy. If you think about it, a story consists of a single chunk of a person's life which may or may not have a beginning, middle and end, unless you take into account birth, middle age, and death. I think that Urgresic's book is a beautiful rendition of the experience of human thought and emotion, and how it relates to the surroundings.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way Thuy said the author" drifts through each moment not fully aware of her surroundings but deeply aware of her loneliness." I think this is exactly what the author was trying to portray though the disconnected writing and this was a great way of phrasing it.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you pieced together the comparison of how the plot structure reflects human experience; it is true that we do not know our planned course of life and that "reality is disorganized and chaotic." I also liked how you used your friend as an example to help understand the point you got across.
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