Pao

I liked it a lot. The author, Kerry Young, has written three novels from the perspective of three different characters, namely Pao, his wife and his lover. I had read the novel from his lover's point of view, 'Gloria' a few years ago, and had wanted to read 'Pao' ever since. It has fulfilled, if not exceeded my expectations. Told from the point of view of a Chinese man who came to Jamaica as a boy it is a novel intertwined with the history of Jamaica. Like, 'Great Small Things', there is a sort of educational purpose, but this time relating to history and politics. However, there is no preaching nor are there stock characters. Some years ago I attended a reading event with the author, and the language came to life. The story is told well, and the Jamaican Creole lets the characters speak for themselves. They live through turbulent and violent times. The main character is anything but a standard 'good' person, but a complex person full of contradictory traits who makes some wrong decisions which he is able to reflect upon later. There is a more positive ending which leaves the reader with hope, but not a traditional 'happy ever after'. You could say that Kerry Young uses some traditional building blocks of novels but uniquely transforms them. She creates a new form of novel in what she calls 'true Taoist style'. The relationship between the privileged white people and the Chinese, Indian and Black communities of Jamaica is part of this story.

This is a gentle tale of a young Chinese boy who is brought up in Jamaica following the death of his father. I struggled with the writing style to begin with but then found I could read it easily without 'translating' into more conventional text. From youth to old age Pao finds his own solutions to the difficulties life throws at him.