So while I haven’t quite finished the first half of Lost Children Archive, I think I am far enough into it that I want to start my blog now. A few things strike me as peculiar about this novel, but I have to say, so far I am thoroughly enjoying it; it may even be my favourite of the term.
The first thing I find peculiar is the fact that none of the main characters are named. We know of Manuela, the woman whose children migrated from Mexico (I think?) but that’s it. The
first-person narrator is the main character in the story. We know her as Mama or Ma. She refers to her children coldly as ‘the boy’ and ‘the girl’—sometimes out the determiner. Only twice does she stray from this: the first time on page 5 to tell us that she refers to her son (stepson) and daughter as ‘boy’ and ‘girl’; the second time on page 16, when she says “…I had a conversation with the mother of one of my daughter’s classmates”. Even then, the narrator isn’t referring to her daughter; she is merely a point of reference for the mother of the classmate. It stuck out like a sore thumb to me and I am waiting to see if at any other point in the narrative this comes to light…and what this means. Is it foregrounding? Is it simply a slip in style?
The other thing I find interesting about this book is the first-person narration. We don’t get to see exactly what the characters are thinking, only the narrator’s opinion or interpretation of their thoughts. We also only see things unfold from the narrator’s point of view and through her participation in the events she describes. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book written in this manner, which is perhaps why I like it so much. In my youth, before computers, I used to write letters—pages upon pages—to my best friend after I moved away. To this day, she has seven
2-inch binders filled with my letters and I too have about the same from her. From time to time I revisit these letters and I get a snapshot, in detail, of what we were doing back then. This novel provides us with sequential snapshots of the events as they unfold, almost like the scenes in a movie. Each scene is titled as if the camera angle changes, giving a slight different perspective of the surroundings, whether it is the children playing ‘Apache games’ with their father, the next chapter is the narrator/ mother, in the same scene, reading up on how to use Boy’s polaroid camera (which for you iGeneration folks was a camera that developed it’s own film…back before photos turned up instantly on a cellphone… 😉 ).
No song specifically comes to mind so far in reading this book, except that they are on a road trip which seems to never end. I love road trips and I usually revert back to my high school days, when I used to write all my letters, and make playlists which provide us for hours (or days) of endless music. One of the best road trip songs, in my opinion, is Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer”. The words almost apply to what our world is going through. So I am making it my blog song. I hope everyone is well and staying healthy.