Madeleine is SleepingSarah Shun-Lien Bynum
Where do dreams end and reality begins? After reading Madeleine is Sleeping, I'm not sure. Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum's ambiguous reality prevented me from being sure about what happened and what didn't. But it doesn't matter anyway. Simply put, Madeleine is Sleeping is a pleasure to read. Exquisitely written, it reads more like poetry than prose, and it is easy to become so wrapped up in the beauty of its words and images that the plot becomes secondary.
The plot is divided into about 250 chapters or vignettes, some as long as a page, others as short as a sentence. The story itself is not easily conveyed: Madeleine is both continually sleeping, unable to be woken, and yet also awake and living. The first chapter sets the scene: Madeleine is sleeping, her mother admonishes the rest of the children: do not wake her. And so Madeleine sleeps on, never waking.
But there is another Madeleine at work: one who is a precocious child, who is sexually curious, whose hands have been dipped in melting lye as a punishment for her behavior. Madeleine is sent away to a convent, her fingers melded into paddles.
From here, Madeleine both continually sleeps and yet leaves the convent, meeting up with a band of gypsies, a rag-tag group of freaks: a woman so hairy she can play her chest like a viol, a man who can create beautiful sounds by breaking wind, another woman who sings like a man.
Which of these is real? It is too simple an explanation to say that the sleeping Madeleine is dreaming these actions, although several chapters entitled "she drea
ms" indicate that interpretation is not altogether incorrect. And yet it is clear that Madeleine's dreams also affect "reality" -- both her dreams and her real life are inexplicably intertwined.In a nutshell: At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter which is the more "real." Madeleine is Sleeping is a beautiful, unique book that requires analysis and thought, but one that can also be enjoyed for its beauty.
Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars
1 comment:
Jenn: What a wonderful review of Madeleine! You write so well that I livid with envy. I am a sucker for anything that contains magic realism; hence I am such a big fan of Borges and Garcia Marquez. So, when I found Guerrero's Pill, I was so taken with the scenes of m. r. that I couldn't wait to review it. To find a h.s. teacher of your caliber who loves students and takes the time to blog brings tears to my eyes. I hope our chancellor in nyc makes you an offer you can't refuse. Much admiration.
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