Parabola

by Ms Lily Hoang

The simple act of a butterfly flapping its wings, and our journey begins. A tracing of modern day mythologies, Parabola weaves through genres, mathematical formulas, and photographs, all while following the curve of a parabola, stopping at various points to pick up strands of intersections or stories. Lily Hoang¿s debut novel offers readers tender snapshots of an Asian American girl coming-of-age juxtaposed with the Pythagorean belief in numerology placed right beside a physical manifestation of dark matter contrasted with interactive IQ, personality, and psychological tests. Smart, challenging, sad, and kind, by the end of Parabola, you will have moved through every emotion, and you will end right where you began, with that simple act of a butterfly flapping its wings.

Genres: Fiction

334 pages, Paperback

First published January 17, 2008

Reviews

[J.I.]

I have to be honest with you: I'm not entirely sure what this novel is about. It is about a Vietnamese girl, the youngest of three, and her family. Along the way it is also a description of astronomy, a series of IQ tests, the story about a man who is in love with a waitress and a waitress in love with the man and neither of them talk, it is about rape and molestation, and it is about a great deal of other things as well.

This is a difficult book to nail down because it is mostly about mythology and the problem with mythology, as Barthes would tell you, is that it is constantly naturalizing things, making them seem eternal, even when they change. This makes up the backbone of the point of the novel and it drives the narrative, this wanting to define and know, to clarify and unify the self, but the definitions are being fractured and they are being naturalized and they are elusive.

Either way it is clever and funny and unique and striking and very much well worth reading.

[Tarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to not compare this to her more recent work, which is utterly genius...overall this one wasn't as moving/impressive, but I still liked it and thought there were many beautiful/exciting moments. I also appreciated seeing her early work, watching her explore and stretch and try things on the page (to my eye anyway). I value watching other writers push the envelope of what fiction can be -- it inspires me in my own life and work.

[Jason Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A daughter’s image of her father is trapped in the past. A father’s image of his daughter is a prayer for the future”(p 248) - as a father of two girls, this hit pretty hard and true. Lily Hoang’s novel (?) doesn’t read as one - it, at first, appears to be a bit of a treatise on the butterfly effect, with fractured, but sometimes interconnected short pieces/fairy tales/poetry/vignettes bouncing off of each other, driven by mathematical equations. At times it is almost like a text of multiverses, with slight changes having massive impacts. But, I think, at its heart, it is at least semi-autobiographical, with Huang’s focus on a Vietnamese family (and her heritage?), and especially the relationship of parents with their children, and relationships in general in that culture, coming to the forefront. I am not going to lie - this text challenged me: there were parts I loved, parts that felt a bit like the author was trying a bit too hard (i.e. the multiple-choice self assessments), and there were some sections that bored me. But, that just made the following sections that must more impactful. Yet, there are moments of pedophilia and sexual abuse that I hated reading (but, am also aware of the reality of in life). The formatting of this book reminded me a bit of “House of Leaves,” but absolutely not in the horror genre. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this to everyone (or, even most people I know), but this is a text that I actually look forward to reading again in the future. Actually, I originally gave this four stars, but as I wrote this review, I actually updated it to a five. I didn’t love all of it, but the parts that I loved absolutely pushed it into a five for me. Such a challenging, unique reading experience. I am truly looking forward to reading more by Hoang.

[Melos Han-Tani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Experimental novel with a few structural tricks at play, chapters numbered -10 to 10 or so. I liked that there was some relation of the negative to the positive chapters: either we saw another side to a story, or some context was filled in (e.g., the types from a "personality test" in the negative chapters were woven into a story in the positive chapters). Chapter about the history of astronomy was paired with a chapter of mostly blank pages with occasional, constellation-like word placements. Stories with a creepy and annoying male protagonist describing a coffee waitress are paired with another story showing the woman's (almost as weird) side. I found much of the book hit or miss, but I really enjoyed the stories about a Vietnamese American family, interaction with the medical system, moving between houses. One of the stories (Little Red) I read in another collection by the author and I liked that too. Definitely going to check out Hoang's later work!

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waffling between 3 and 4 stars. I liked it; I really liked it; it depended on the point in the book, honestly. Definitely uncomfortable at times (there are plenty of references to abuse, and they are all so casually stated, that they are just kind of jarring each time); the narrative threads made it fun to read -- the "when will this character return??" -- and the structure in general (math! So math!).

I appreciate this like I appreciate good jazz -- it's technically and creatively quite amazing; it is not, however, a joy for me to consume.

[Chip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is skillfully done and cool, but, as is the case with so many concept novels, those seeking form and hypertext and manifold systems of thought as organization, it loses what makes a book engaging and memorable. It's cool, and a neat, fun read. Then you are done. And that's it.

[Clayton Bradshaw-Mittal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is experimental fiction at its best. The text is multidimensional, forming a complex equation that itersects the mathematical, the scientific, the philosophical, and the spiritual. There is a braided texture like only Lily Hoàng can accomplish.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 pennies in a dollar.

[Jaylynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most abstract things I've read, and now I’m so intrigued about this type of book. It's math and personality tests and a Vietnamese-American girl going through life & finding her identity, which put together some of my favorite things. There's some parts I don't really understand like sexual assault of boys, the planetary things, a man in love with a woman and vice versa but unrealized. However I really liked it and I liked how the structure went from 10 to 1 to 10 again like a parabola. Talk about a non-linear narrative.

[Evie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book... is a strange book. It isn't linear at all-- it's a parabola. I'm not even sure how to articulate what's going on here. At certain points, mirrored points, there are math equations, stories of a Vietnamese family, flashes of people in fantastical circumstances, and glimpses of mythology. This is all interspersed amongst personality tests, photographs, strangely formatted pages, and mathematical graphs. It's heartbreaking, uneasy, and yet, somehow kind. If you've read Changing, you'll recognize many stories and themes of family sickness and disorder, as well as the expectations placed on the youngest of the family. Parabola is one of those texts that you need to read a few times in order to find your bearings, if it's even possible to get them.