Reading 1001 discussion

3. Talk about the book's structure.
• Is it a continuous story...or interlocking short stories?
• Does the time-line move forward chronologically?
• Does time shift back & forth from past to present?
• Is there a single viewpoint or shifting viewpoints?
• Why might the author have chosen to tell the story
the way he or she did?
• What difference does the structure make in the way
you read or understand the book?

Linear, fairly chronological, shifting focus through the many characters inhabiting the novel.

Agree with Patrick

Yes, I agree as well.

There were frames within frames, although these only peeped through on occasions when the story bumped against the supernatural. The largest frame was the story of the Stone and Crimson Pearl Flower, who vowed to repay the Stone with her tears if they were to live as humans. Then there is the overarching frame of the two families and their rise and fall. Within that are the stories of the family members and their servants. The mangy monk and the lame Taoist make walk on appearances in each volume as does the Taoist hermit called Zhen Shi-Yin, who is Caltrop's father. All very, very complicated!

I agree, Pip. Very complicated. A re-reading or two may help. Maybe the next time it is our Annual Read.