There's something about historical fiction that draws me in like no other type of literature.Reading The Headmaster's Wager (by Canadian author Vincent Lam) made me feel as though I was plunging into a different world, a story world, yet one that seemed utterly plausible, especially given my Chinese heritage. ~ Although the protagonist spoke Cantonese, and the story was set for the most part in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), the themes of family, duty and sacrifice spoke deeply to me. The usual fiction I read puts me in the position of a male, Caucasian young adult braving challenges both self-inflicted and externally imposed. ~ Reading from Percival Chen's perspective was different. Although male and middle-aged throughout most part of the novel, the hou jeung possessed such an intricately Chinese kernel that I could not help but identify with him. ~ Reading from his perspective made me realize how disconnected I actually was from the majority of protagonists whose stories I have cherished in the past. ~ I remember tearing through books, imagining myself in the main character's shoes. ~ But when reading The Headmaster's Wager I was never deluded into becoming the protagonist - only listening to his story with the respect I would owe to a real person telling me their life's tale. ~
The tragedy of the story, the plot twists, and the beautiful language of the text cannot be overlooked. But most importantly to me, the novel felt uniquely like an adult novel, in the sense that although events that occurred to Percival during his childhood were integral to his actions, thoughts and world view as an adult, the happenings of his adult life were just as momentous, just as passionate, just as significant. ~ I remember all the children's and young adult novels I used to read - how they seemed to suggest with their exciting plots and fated-to-be romances that everything exciting that would ever happen to you would happen before you became an adult, that you would meet the one on a quest and fall in love over the course of some trying adventure that you shared. ~ I remember worrying - and sometimes I still do - that once I became an adult (and I guess I am one now), I would have lived all of my life already, and the rest of my years would be spent perusing a series of fond but nostalgic recollections of the glory days of the past. ~ The Headmaster's Wager made me reconsider this belief. Adults lead meaningful lives. Adults are not tied down by their children, who supposedly go on and have the adventures that will replace their parents'. Adults feel, experience, cry, and above all, feel love, shame, fear, guilt, just as vividly as children and teenagers do. ~ Lives change, keep changing. ~ I've been naive, perhaps, living in my fictional world, still dreaming for that one adventure to happen that will change everything - that one letter from Hogwarts, that one visit from Mister Monday, that one discovery of a closet that opens to a whole other world. ~ Here's to another step in the journey of growing up. ~
P.S.: I've also read Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, by the same author. Although it was a great read, with characters whose lives I became invested in and were eerily similar to my own, I didn't find the ending quite as satisfying as this one. Granted, that was a series of short stories connected by the characters. ~ However, the way that Lam tied up everything so neatly, yet so heartbreakingly, in Headmaster vaults this book miles ahead on my list of must-reads. A definite two thumbs up and rec on my part. ~
P.P.S.: While reading, I discussed the rules of mahjong with my dad and realized that I've played a game very similar to it in the past, in card form. Just another connection with my Chinese self, lost in the miles I've traveled in my childhood.
