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Triptych of Times is the first and only novel by
M. Vincent van Mechelen.
It is a trilogy consisting of The Last Heavenly King,
Waiting Can Wait and Legends of the Future.
The manuscript is finished and ready for publication
--'finished' to the extent that any historical, artistic or
philosophical work is ever finished.
On the following webpage in Authorlink's Literary Fiction Category you
will find some basic information about this book and its author, together
with three excerpts, one from each part:
http://www.authorlink.com/writers/detail/1653
As the maximum length of a summary at Authorlink is only 100 words, it may
be too short for a good impression of an unusual trilogy like Triptych.
Therefore, you are given the originally prepared summary below.
It is five to six times longer, with a synopsis for each separate part.
Synopsis of Part One: The Last Heavenly King
In this first part of Triptych of Times, Hong Kuiyuan tells his personal
story of the collapse, in 1864, of the Heavenly Kingdom, referred to as
‘the Taiping Rebellion’ by its Chinese and foreign enemies. His father,
the Shield King, and his cousin, the Young Monarch, are captured and
executed by the imperial Qing. The sixteen-year-old Kuiyuan himself
escapes but is later captured and abused by pirates. And when he finally
arrives in Hong Kong, his hopes are shattered again. Yet, while the first
Heavenly King’s attempt to found his own Christian theocracy on Earth led
to the deaths of more than 20 million people, Kuiyuan manages to survive
and to start a new life in one of the Guianas. (The basics are fact.) In
Part Two, Hong Kuiyuan will live on as the great-great-grandfather of the
protagonist ‘Nancy’ Hong Waiting, and as the (fictional) writer of this
historical novella.
Synopsis of Part Two: Waiting Can Wait
When ‘Nancy’ Hong Waiting (pronounced “Why Teeng”) replies, “I can think,
I can wait, I can fast,” she is hired at once as a server in an Amsterdam
restaurant which, unfortunately, has not yet attracted any visitors for
weeks. Nancy, a young Dutchwoman of Chinese descent, can think, for she
graduated in philosophy; and she can wait, for the restaurant, which
serves no food in the normal sense of the word, will eventually become a
great success because of her; and she can fast, that is, do without food,
money or sex, if need be. After she drops her old, orthodox boyfriend (and
her ‘Nancy’ name), it is precisely because of her tragic dismissal that
she finds a new, much more interesting boyfriend, who is not averse to a
more modern present either. But her deepest, most critical and innovative
thoughts come from Soemati, her best friend (or alter ego?). Whereas the
traditional Christmas dinner at the beginning represents Waiting’s ties
with the past (and the first part of Triptych of Times), the solstitial
New Year’s brunch at the end establishes Waiting’s biological and cultural
ties with the future (and the third part of this trilogy).
Synopsis of Part Three: Legends of the Future
This third part of Triptych of Times consists of eight stories told by the
Namibian-born Sondaha Persoon, a great-great-grandchild of Hong Waiting,
the protagonist of the second part. The stories are interconnected by the
legend of the washer and the skater. In the course of four days the skater
develops from a bad brute into a good hoister. And the washer (a tramp in
the skater’s eyes)? After meeting a sage, a carpenter’s child, a chess
player, a swimmer, and a few more of such characters, it is up to the
reader to decide. This reader is confronted with a future in which the
Gregorian calendar is a thing of the past and gender irrelevant in all but
two contexts. On top of that, the main story is, perhaps, not really about
the flag it supposedly is about. The philosophy of life embraced in this
novella of ideas could hardly be more different from that of Sondaha’s
ancestors two to three centuries earlier.
Note on the language
Just as the use and spelling of words change in the course of time, so,
too, the language of the beginning of this trilogy (with British spelling)
is different from that of the end, about 235 years later (with American
spelling and real third-person singular pronouns).
Authorlink gives editors, agents, libraries, booksellers and consumers the
opportunity to rate Triptych of Times in an overall listing and on
the basis of its marketability.
Moreover, you can give your feedback on areas which, you think, need
improvement.
At the end of the Authorlink page there is a form which editors and agents
can use to submit their requests.
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