Gish Jen’s Tiger Writing is an interesting biography of her family. It chronicles her family seeming from the dawn of time, coving a couple thousand years. The story is not the fiction Jen is known for, but contains all of her literary talents in the story delivery.
Jen tells the story in first person. This is the way she captured the reader’s attention bringing then into her family; their culture and taking the reader back to her mother country of China. . She also gives the reader the perspective of what it is like to be an immigrant in the United States and what it means to be a second, third, fourth, etc., generation immigrant in America. Jen uses this as a strategy to bring in a deeper discussion of her family stories over the course of time.
Jen narrates the story, but tells detailed stories of her ancestors, parents, and the origin of her family name. This technique keeps the writing fresh and entertaining for the reader as they progress through the story.
The story is accompanied by visuals of the images such as the set up if the traditional Chinese home and of her family members. These images give a more concrete image of what Jen describes in her writing. If the story was presented without the images, the story itself could stand alone given Jen’s gift of providing a detailed description.
The story further shows a great deal of information has been gathered over time. The historical information adds a sense of awe allowing the reader to ponder what it would be like to trace their family as far back as Jen has been able to do This is reminiscent of stories like Roots by Alex Haley. At one point in the story, Jen compares her ancestors’ stories to that of stories told by African Americans. The elements she mentions that are the same are there themes of overcoming struggle and of the chosen one.
This analogy gives more credit to Jen as a writer showing her depth of knowledge about literature, history, and humanity in general. Her choice to include this information makes the story more relatable to a reader of a different ethnic background.
If I had a chance to ask Jen a few questions, I would ask what inspired her to choose the literary elements included in the story to tell her family story. I am also curious to know how long it took her to realize she wanted to turn the stories into a novel. Since the story takes the reader back to China, I am would want to know if at any point did she travel to China to gain more inspiration, sources and visuals to include. The writing process is another area of interest to me. What was it like? How long did it take? Did you find yourself on edge about what to include or did it come easily? Will the story have a sequel or is everything that was needed to be said, said in this piece.
