Tue February 23, 2021 11:55 pm
4/5 wrote:Impressions of each story with spoilers:
- Spoiler: show
Wed February 24, 2021 1:32 am
Simple Torture wrote:It probably wouldn't surprise you that Neon is the story in here that's the most talked about critically. I think as the years go by that Smithy is way up there for me, and I have a soft spot for Squishy, and Neon is just obviously great even though it's not my favorite. The Suffering Channel used to be a story I would teach in an Intro to Short Story class, but over the years it's fallen down the list for me.
I don't automatically recommend The Pale King because it's an unfinished novel and can certainly be unsatisfying in that regard, but it's the text closest to Oblivion in style and tone, so you might want to think about giving it a whirl.
Wed February 24, 2021 1:48 am
4/5 wrote:Simple Torture wrote:It probably wouldn't surprise you that Neon is the story in here that's the most talked about critically. I think as the years go by that Smithy is way up there for me, and I have a soft spot for Squishy, and Neon is just obviously great even though it's not my favorite. The Suffering Channel used to be a story I would teach in an Intro to Short Story class, but over the years it's fallen down the list for me.
I don't automatically recommend The Pale King because it's an unfinished novel and can certainly be unsatisfying in that regard, but it's the text closest to Oblivion in style and tone, so you might want to think about giving it a whirl.
Admit it, you taught The Suffering Channel because the class discussions were hilarious.
Yeah I'll probably read The Pale King at some point since there's a relative dearth of DFW. I'm sure my next DFW will be non fiction, though.
Wed February 24, 2021 2:08 am
Wed February 24, 2021 2:38 am
Simple Torture wrote:And yeah, for The Suffering Channel, there was a shock element I was trying to illicit out of students, but most of what they wanted to talk about was the specter of 9/11 over the story. There was a weird switch around 2012 or so when students became obsessed with reading 9/11 into everything they read, which I guess makes sense, because that's when I started to get students who could remember it.
Wed February 24, 2021 2:56 am
The Argonaut wrote:Simple Torture wrote:And yeah, for The Suffering Channel, there was a shock element I was trying to illicit out of students, but most of what they wanted to talk about was the specter of 9/11 over the story. There was a weird switch around 2012 or so when students became obsessed with reading 9/11 into everything they read, which I guess makes sense, because that's when I started to get students who could remember it.
Do you mean in 2012 you began to get students who could NOT remember 9/11?
Wed February 24, 2021 4:22 pm
Simple Torture wrote:The Argonaut wrote:Simple Torture wrote:And yeah, for The Suffering Channel, there was a shock element I was trying to illicit out of students, but most of what they wanted to talk about was the specter of 9/11 over the story. There was a weird switch around 2012 or so when students became obsessed with reading 9/11 into everything they read, which I guess makes sense, because that's when I started to get students who could remember it.
Do you mean in 2012 you began to get students who could NOT remember 9/11?
Oh yeah, sorry, I screwed up the timeline and made NO SENSE there. Let me rephrase that. From like 2011-2013, I was getting students for whom 9/11 was their first memory of something really big on the world stage (they would've been between 6 and 8 when it happened), and I think it had imprinted on them in a way that was different than kids who were a bit older when it happened. Like they knew it was a big, historical moment they lived through but their minds couldn't process it at the time. If that makes sense. So it was always a specter, but not something they had engaged with in a meaningful way yet.
Wed February 24, 2021 4:29 pm
Simple Torture wrote:The Argonaut wrote:Simple Torture wrote:And yeah, for The Suffering Channel, there was a shock element I was trying to illicit out of students, but most of what they wanted to talk about was the specter of 9/11 over the story. There was a weird switch around 2012 or so when students became obsessed with reading 9/11 into everything they read, which I guess makes sense, because that's when I started to get students who could remember it.
Do you mean in 2012 you began to get students who could NOT remember 9/11?
Oh yeah, sorry, I screwed up the timeline and made NO SENSE there. Let me rephrase that. From like 2011-2013, I was getting students for whom 9/11 was their first memory of something really big on the world stage (they would've been between 6 and 8 when it happened), and I think it had imprinted on them in a way that was different than kids who were a bit older when it happened. Like they knew it was a big, historical moment they lived through but their minds couldn't process it at the time. If that makes sense. So it was always a specter, but not something they had engaged with in a meaningful way yet.
Thu February 25, 2021 6:19 pm
Simple Torture wrote:Mickey wrote:ST, what'd you think of the Melchor book? I'm thinking of throwing it on a world lit syllabus for the spring.
Hey, I saw this before your PM and was going to respond, I promise! This book was wild, and it's got a bit of everything--it's about gender, sex, violence, class, race, etc. etc.--so I definitely recommend it.
Thu February 25, 2021 6:20 pm
Mickey wrote:Simple Torture wrote:Mickey wrote:ST, what'd you think of the Melchor book? I'm thinking of throwing it on a world lit syllabus for the spring.
Hey, I saw this before your PM and was going to respond, I promise! This book was wild, and it's got a bit of everything--it's about gender, sex, violence, class, race, etc. etc.--so I definitely recommend it.
Just had our first class session on this and I was worried because it's so graphic, but they *loved* it. Looking forward to Tuesday's class.
Thu February 25, 2021 7:30 pm
Thu February 25, 2021 7:34 pm
Simple Torture wrote:Mickey wrote:Simple Torture wrote:Mickey wrote:ST, what'd you think of the Melchor book? I'm thinking of throwing it on a world lit syllabus for the spring.
Hey, I saw this before your PM and was going to respond, I promise! This book was wild, and it's got a bit of everything--it's about gender, sex, violence, class, race, etc. etc.--so I definitely recommend it.
Just had our first class session on this and I was worried because it's so graphic, but they *loved* it. Looking forward to Tuesday's class.
Nice!
Fri February 26, 2021 3:16 am
4/5 wrote:It's funny that you say this because as I read it I constantly had 9/11 in mind and I had certain thoughts about how that would affect the characters and the magazine and the particular story that they were working on, but I don't think I realized until you mentioned it that that's where the story derives its power. I also remember thinking that the Suffering Channel would have no shortage of content very soon, or that all channels were about to become Suffering Channels. I feel dumb right now because I took all of that as interesting little asides instead of the heart of the story.
Based on what you said, though, do you believe that group of students was overreading 9/11 into the story? Or did this story become less compelling for you to teach when younger students ceased having that 9/11 connection to the story?
Sat February 27, 2021 12:26 am
Simple Torture wrote:4/5 wrote:It's funny that you say this because as I read it I constantly had 9/11 in mind and I had certain thoughts about how that would affect the characters and the magazine and the particular story that they were working on, but I don't think I realized until you mentioned it that that's where the story derives its power. I also remember thinking that the Suffering Channel would have no shortage of content very soon, or that all channels were about to become Suffering Channels. I feel dumb right now because I took all of that as interesting little asides instead of the heart of the story.
Based on what you said, though, do you believe that group of students was overreading 9/11 into the story? Or did this story become less compelling for you to teach when younger students ceased having that 9/11 connection to the story?
I don't think they were overreading 9/11 in that particular story, no, because, as you say, it pulls a lot of power from the references to 9/11, even the very small ones. I have a great big list of notes somewhere, and it includes little bits like how the floor that the magazine's offices are located on are mentioned, and it's for sure above where the plane hit, stuff like that. There's that line that always hits like a ton of bricks, where about halfway through the story, as two characters are working literally through the intricacies about how another character takes a shit, and the text says, "She had ten weeks to live." I was referencing my students' tendency to relate everything and anything tragic in a fictional text to 9/11, whether it was written before or after; their response papers and even their lengthier work was full of it. For them, tragedy = 9/11. I saw, for the longest time, a similar thing where every character who was unquestionably evil was compared to Hitler--a myopic historical reading like this would invariably arise even when a story was clearly foregrounded with colonialism, or 21st century geopolitics, etc.
Sat February 27, 2021 12:39 am
Sat February 27, 2021 3:22 am
The Wind That Lays Waste begins in the great pause before a storm. Reverend Pearson is evangelizing across the Argentinian countryside with Leni, his teenage daughter, when their car breaks down. This act of God or fate leads them to the workshop and home of an aging mechanic called Gringo Brauer and a young boy named Tapioca.
As a long day passes, curiosity and intrigue transform into an unexpected intimacy between four people: one man who believes deeply in God, morality, and his own righteousness, and another whose life experiences have only entrenched his moral relativism and mild apathy; a quietly earnest and idealistic mechanic’s assistant, and a restless, skeptical preacher’s daughter. As tensions between these characters ebb and flow, beliefs are questioned and allegiances are tested, until finally the growing storm breaks over the plains.
Selva Almada’s exquisitely crafted debut, with its limpid and confident prose, is profound and poetic, a tactile experience of the mountain, the sun, the squat trees, the broken cars, the sweat-stained shirts, and the destroyed lives. The Wind That Lays Waste is a philosophical, beautiful, and powerfully distinctive novel that marks the arrival in English of an author whose talent and poise is undeniable.
Sat February 27, 2021 3:32 am
Sun February 28, 2021 11:15 pm
Tue March 02, 2021 2:53 pm
lennytheweedwhacker wrote:jesus' son
Tue March 02, 2021 10:00 pm
lennytheweedwhacker wrote:lennytheweedwhacker wrote:jesus' son
this was so good