"A Perfect Night to Go to China"

Paper Summary:

The protagonist of David Gilmour's novel, "A Perfect Night to Go to China", is an unappealing Toronto media celebrity who endures a catastrophic personal tragedy in the form of the mysterious disappearance of his son one night while the protagonist has stepped out for a beer. This paper argues that this tragedy at the opening of the novel provides the impetus for the inner journeys that the protagonist - Roman - embarks upon through the course of the text. The paper attempts to show that the novel can only be fully understood through an acceptance of the fundamental reality of the surreal. It is only through this that the protagonist's inner journey can be understood as not simply a destructive escape from the tragedy of the world but as a quest for redemption.

From the Paper:

"The protagonist's perception of this accusatory atmosphere is important as this perception reflects his fundamental feeling that he has done something wrong; inadvertently made mistake for which he and his family will now pay. He confesses as much to his wife, accepting responsibility for his son's disappearance in the simplest possible language: "I took an involuntary gulp of air. "I made a mistake"" (Gilmour 16). The fact that his wife has to pry these words out of Roman is significant. Roman is, as most readers of the novel would note, an unappealing figure in many respects as he is consumed by his own egoism and arrogance (Wiebe). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dinka, Nicholas. "A Perfect Night to Go to China." Quill & Quire. April 2005. Accessed: November 28, 2006.
• Gilmour, David. A Perfect Night to Go to China. Toronto: Thomas Allen, 2005.
• Wiebe, Christopher. "Print Culture: More Tales of the City." Vue Weekly. Accessed: November 28, 2006.

More papers on "A Perfect Night to Go to China":

• Book Review # 131040 : "'A Perfect Night to Go to China' and Tragedy"
• Essay # 73640 : "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
• Analytical Essay # 125674 : "Dark Side of "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

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