In The Art of Hearing
Heartbeats, storytelling is a repeated motif. U Ba is telling a story to
Julia, but the author Jan-Philipp Sendker is also telling a story to us as the
readers through his novel. Because stories tend to be more captivating and
entertaining when there is an element of surprise, Jan-Philipp Sendker keeps us
on the same level of information as U Ba keeps Julia; there is an intentional
lack of dramatic irony and the audience is as surprised as her. We only know as
much as Julia knows as we are learning about her dad through U Ba’s
storytelling and outspoken descriptions of him. Jan-Philipp Sendker’s style in
the novel as being slightly secretive and subtle makes us experience the same
feeling of confusion that Julia feels about her father’s history. The author is
able to make his novel a storytelling experience for the readers through
situational irony through lack of mentioning names of mysterious characters,
repetitions and similarities, and tricky foreshadow.
When being told a story, it is
important to remember who is who by taking account of important characters’
names so that the audience can make connections. However, Jan-Philipp Sendker
withholds mentioning two important character’s names, Julia’s dad and the
astronomer. Because of Julia’s dad’s hidden identity, I was left trying to
guess which character in U Ba’s story he might have been. At first I thought
that Julia’s father might be Khin Maung because his characterization, “He was a
quiet individual…She had never seen him cross, angry, or agitated. Even joy and
satisfaction were barely perceptible…A smile flitting across his face was all
he would reveal of his emotions.” (Sendker 56) matched that of her father, who
was also passive, quiet, indifferent, and was always smiling. With this
thought, I began thinking and trying to find evidence about how Julia’s father
could be Khin, such that Mi Mi, his Burmese love interest, could be short for
Mya Mya, and his reluctance to talk about his past to Judith could come from
the fact that he was married and with a child once, but my theory soon crashed
when Khin died in the story and the repetition in character type became a
father-son similarity rather than a hint on Julia’s dad’s name. The astronomer
was also not referred to by name, and similarities with him and U Ba lead me to
believe they too could be the same person as well. U Ba is introspective, wise,
and seemingly all knowing as he can predict what Julia is thinking, “You must
be asking yourself how on earth I know your name when we have never met before…I
know your name even as I know the hour of your birth.” (5). He was also revered
and respectable, displayed by the waiter in the teahouse “’U Ba’s friends are
our guests,’ he said, bowing.”(9). These character traits are repeated in the
astronomer as he was also respected by
the whole village as an authoritative and intelligent figure, and also seemed
all-knowing. “The old one looked at the slate, which revealed to him all the secrets
of the universe. It was the book of life and death, the book of love. He could
have told the parents what else he saw, the exceptional capacities this child
would develop, the magic and power latent in this individual, and the gift of
love.”(58). It would make sense, as U Ba and the astronomer were both very old,
wise, both touched by the power of love, both knew Tin, and both knew the hour
of childrens’ births (as U Ba knew Julia’s), but as it has not been stated yet,
it is only a possibility that Sendker may have provided to increase confusion
for the reader. Sendker also provides an outlet for reader confusion through
foreshadowing, such as when Julia refuses to believe her father could be Tin
Win because he was not blind, and if he was as a child he would have told her
family, but U Ba questions this, foreshadowing that Tin Win truly is Julia’s
father. This subtle foreshadowing of knowledge is hardly an answer and very
discrete, contributing to the confusion. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats
is a wonderfully captivating novel so far as the story is unraveling, and these
stylistic elements that Jan-Philipp Sendker added create an overall sense of
mystery that keep the story of Tin Win fascinating.
