朱天心小說從《我記得……》轉型以來極用心於社會觀察，但於寫實之對象較爲專注，形式技巧似乎嘗試不多。至於《古都》書中篇章，雖仍是歷史社會的議題，對於書寫的策略卻已有多方的試驗與實踐，使文本的解讀層次更爲繁複，尤其〈古都〉一篇，透過文本中的多重互文與文類混融的書寫方式，展現更爲寬闊的文化、歷史視野，思考與想像空間也得以延伸更廣，議題的探討也可以更多元、開放。〈古都〉糾結千絲萬縷交織的文本來源，加上它文類混雜的特點，呈現了作品的複雜性，它以繁複、交錯、混融的寫作形式指涉了台灣殖民歷史中兼容並蓄、錯綜複雜的特質，同時也透露了作者對於本土論述朝包容多元聲音的方向發展的期待。

Since the publication of her novel I Remember…(《我記得…》), Chu Tienhsin (朱天心) has paid much attention to society and life in her works, emphasizing more on realistic descriptions than presentational techniques. The stories collected in Ancient Capital (《古都》) still focus on issues of history and society, but Chu has started to use different narrative strategies, which have, consequentially, multiplied the complexity of her stories. The story by the same title as the collection, ”Ancient Capital,” is a good example. By using narrative strategies such as ”intertextuality” and ”fusion of genres,” the story covers a wide scope of culture and history, creates a space for meditation and imagination, and opens up varied issues for investigation. Rich sources of the story and usage of the narrative strategies are combined to present the intricate situation in colonial Taiwan. This writing device also reveals the author's wish for a Taiwanese discourse in multiple voices.