Quemoy War

On page 274 of The Golden Notebook, a newsman in the background of a scene shouts about, “War in Quemoy”. The scene between Anna and Reggie, the man from the TV company, is littered with this single line. Toward the end of page 275 (and of the scene itself), Anna remarks that, “This is going to be another of the places we know about only because there’s been a war in it.” After reading this small reference, I had to agree; I had never before heard of Quemoy, and I was interested to learn more. Quemoy is actually an island in the Taiwan Strait, and was one of two islands attacked by the People’s Republic of China during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. It took place in the year 1958, and was one of a serious of conflicts between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China. The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis ended in a stalemate between the two sides.

I chose a picture of a damaged book because Anna dislikes, if not outright hates, her first novel. The Golden Notebook as a whole seems to criticize writing, or the popularity of writing. Many characters or people Anna meets throughout the novel, whether they're named or just a part of the mass, seem to be in the process of writing a novel. Along with the constant attempts to have her novel turned into a film, the book seems to hint at the degradation of the written word.