Disclaimer: This post is a little conspiracy theorist and may bring you to laugh multiple times through your reading. I do not necessarily believe all of what is said here, I just listen to the following podcast for entertainment purposes. Please do not call me a crazy person, but instead, listen to the podcast (it's free and super fun!).
So, I've just started listening to this podcast called "Mysterious Universe". It's done by two Australian guys named Benjamin and Aaron, and their topics range from scientific breakthroughs, to alien-abductions and habitual encounters with Bigfoots. I know this sounds highly irrelevant and super corny and nerdy, but I promise you there is a point behind me telling you this. I was listening to their podcast this morning, and they began talking about the idea of multiple dimensions. Of course, they began with a story of a woman who saw a sabre toothed tiger who looked transparent, but the hosts began justifying her sighting by explaining that the tiger could possibly be in another dimension of space and time. They went on to explain how theories suggest that ghosts and alien beings are actually just a part of a different time, either past or future, and their dimension becomes crossed with ours when we see them (please stay with me, I promise there's a point to all this).
The idea of interdimesional travel got me thinking about Homebase. In this book, Shawn Wong travels from present to past, to present, and back to past, all within a hundred pages. He explains his great-grandfather's days of working on the railroad (11-24), but his attention to detail makes us think this is a firsthand experience. He then goes back to the present, and shares with us a story his father wrote, which takes us back in time again. It is this constant travel between past and present that makes this novel so powerful. Wong seems to travel between our dimension of time and that of his father, grandfather, and mother. He even delves into his own past when he talks about working in the flower shop with his mother (35-37).
It is his seamless transition from past to present that is so consuming. I think the most interdimensional part of the novel is in the final pages of Chapter Five. Through pages 87-93, we see Wong and his grandfather become one and experience the terrors of Angel Island together. These experiences are so vivid and real, as if Wong lived through this with his grandfather. He recalls how men were separated from their wives and children, and how some hung themselves in the night because of interrogation or because the waiting was driving them mad (88). Wong relives his grandfather interrogation, where he had to memorize someone else's family history in order to get back into the country (89-92).
In the last chapter, Wong hears his father in "every canyon I've journeyed into in the West" (96). After getting to his father's canyon near Gold Run, he says "we are old enough to haunt this land like an Indian who laid down to rest and his body became the outline of the horizon" (96). While this is not an interdimensional cross of time like in the rest of the story, it does show Wong's belief that his family haunts him and their old stopping grounds. Just like the sabre toothed tiger, Wong's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather are in another dimension of space and time.
If this post has intrigued you, and you wish to know more about interdimensional beings/sightings of Bigfoots/Alien encounters, please visit http://mysteriousuniverse.org/
I would like to know more about transparent saber-toothed tigers from other dimensions, please. How can I get one for a pet?
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I think you've touched on one of the coolest things about this novel. Rainsford's story is so intertwined with those of his parents', grandparents', and great-grandparents that he almost has to become a time-traveler to find himself.
In this respect, "Homebase" reminds me of "China Men" and Maxine Hong Kingston's other book, "The Woman Warrior." Both are works of autobiographical fiction (or fictional autobiography, depending on what you like to prioritize) in which a contemporary Chinese American finds him/herself through his/her familial, historical, and cultural ancestors.
Kingston said:
"'I' am nothing but who 'I' am in relation to other people. In The Woman Warrior 'I' begin the quest for self by understanding the archetypal mother. In China Men, 'I' become more whole because of the ability to appreciate the other gender" (Shirley Geok-lin Lim, "Approaches to Teaching Kingston's The Woman Warrior," 23). I like this quote a lot, and I think Shawn Wong would like it too.
Hey you... Did you get a chance to listen to Dr. Lawrence Krauss' seminar on Youtube.com yet? In case you misplaced the information I gave you search in Youtube Dr. Lawrence Krauss and locate his seminar titled "Universe From Nothing." There are several videos on him select the one that has a runtime of 1 hour and 4 minutes. He will fascinate you to no end, he is the reason I love physics and do what I do :) Talk to you soon Gina...
ReplyDeleteHi Gina,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I have checked out that website and it is definitely awesome. I will definitely willing to discuss more about those alienated and mysterious topic with you, but this time I wanted to discuss something about your post.
I have same opinion as your post that the story is an “interdimentional cross of time”. It is very easy to get confuse if we, as readers, don’t pay much attention on it. It is for sure a very interesting writing style that makes the reader feel the scene vividly; however, in most of the time, I actually got confuse that I have to go back and read it again. I am impressed with his braveness of exploring his family’s history and playing the role of each era, from great-grandfather to grandfather to his father and himself. Personally, I think this cross of time could actually be one of the reasons that he is claiming some of the lands in this country should belong to his family, because he felt the hard times that his family had been through during the past 125 years.
I started to think of more explanations on why will Rainsdord trying to act every single character from different time period, and one interesting assumption that I made is that because Rainsford really admires every man in his family, and he sees them as heroes. Due to his overwhelm respects toward these characters, it actually made him even more wanted to be like these heroes, do what they did and feel what they felt.
Hey Gina,
ReplyDeleteI like your post. It is very interesting. I love science, especially if those things that are mysterious or claiming as unknown objects. I recently watched a movie called “The King of Fighters”. All the chosen fighters were sending to a different dimension where they will not be bothered. The movie also described that there is nothing different in other dimensions and they are co-exist with the world that we live right now.
“Homebase” is more of a mixture of memory in Rainsford’s current and pass life and his family history. He always randomly recalling different pieces of memories and put them together. I was thinking if it is possible that there were many of Rainsford in different dimensions and they were all recalling things and were bring together in the major dimension. As in, pieces of memories were joining together in the end when different Rainsford merged as one.
The whole story of “Homebase” is more of a cycle of treatment for Rainsford because he cannot step out from the fact that he lost both of his parents at young age and became an orphan. It is a process of finding his identity. I like the book in the way were Rainsford is not only claiming his own identity, but also for those people that claimed to be not existing in the US history. I think he wanted Chinese culture to be rooted and merged into the US culture instead of being viewed like a separate entity.
Hey Gina,
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you are getting all the attentions, just kidding. Well I have to admit that your blog on this Homebase reading is very interesting. You brought up a very new topic to the table that is “inter-dimensional traveling.” I like science and science fictions, therefore your blog totally got my interest. Anyway, you mentioned about a very interesting point in your blog. That is you are trying to explain the ambiguity in the reading when the author keeps switching between past and present by the theory of inter-dimensional traveling. Although what really happened in the story is just the author reminiscing about the past while mixing histories into his dreams, I think it would be cool if he could actually go back to the past and experience what really happened. I think it would be even better if he can only see the past, but does have to be a part of it. For example he should be able to walk around and see what happened in the past, yet no one at that time should be able to notice his existence. I am pretty sure there are some scientific theories about that kind of phenomenon. If I understand your blog literally, I will say that you believe that the author was actually time traveling. If I take it in a metaphoric way, it would be that the author was trying to create the past inside his brain and travel through those times. Either way, your blog on this subject brought us into new ideas and possible understandings about Homebase.
I really like your post. It's very interesting. You introduces us the interdimensional travel theory, which maybe something I always dream of. I'm a person who like imagining all the time, and I always think that there exists parallel world. The space is not fixed, it can transfer and move according to the identity of human beings. If we ignore the real world and try to forget our body, it's possible for us to travel through the time, because that's our memory, which we can take control of.
ReplyDeleteFor the story, I feel it's a smart idea for the author to write it in that way. The author may not know the interdimensional theory, but he understands that one's present condition is tightly connected to his past. And his emotion is influenced by the people around him or the people who have a tight connection with him. That's why the author writes that Shawn Wong travels from present to past, to present and back to past. That offers the readers clue to understand this complicated character.
Hi Gina,
ReplyDeleteWho are regarded as the interdimensional travelers? What did they say? If there any relationship between the original fiction and your post? … Well, actually I was wondering what you want to do say when I started reading your blog. In another words, I think you helped me develop my better understanding about this novel. I like new things, so I’d like to read your post, and… I do like it!!!
The word of “Interdimensional” here means “multidimension in different times”. In “Homebase”, time changes a lot, and we readers have to go back to know his background and his history! So interdimensional travelers are talked of their past, their unique experiences, their stories, and their influences to our narrator, Rainsford Chan. Cool cool!
As you said, through page 87-93, “We see Wong and his grandfather become one and experience the terrors of Angel island together” Through these vivid and read experiences, I can also feel the sense of loneliness throughout Homebase. What’s more, the elusive narrative consists of interwoven flashbacks recalled by Rainsford as an adult. Not only this, you gave a lot of examples in your post to express the interdimensional things, which was really coherent and easy to follow.
The same here, I also like the one case shown in 89-92, said “Wong relives his grandfather interrogation, where he had to memorize someone else’s family history in order to get back into the country. ” By this point of view, Rainsford might be eager to know who on earth he is. “Am I a person? Am I a man? Am I an American??” He cares about his identity a lot, and feels uncomfortable to be treated as Chinese. From my point of view, he might just want a home. No matter where I originally come from, I want to be with my family (at least with my parents) , and I want to stay where I belong to. No discrimination, no isolation.
At the end of your blog, I can also simply conclude that the metaphor theory (you used in your last paragraph) through these cases or examples works to connect to “Homebase”.
Thank you Gina. I enjoyed.
All best,
Chao