Hey sarg -
It has indeed taken me some time to get here, but I am here. (You know, I read everything you write ). And I must say that I enjoyed this better than your other piece(s) - I apologise that I cannot remember how many of your short fic I've read (all, yes, but) - since there is something so wonderfully effortless about the way you write. The flow is brilliant - for the most part - and by this, I really do mean flow flow: the attention paid to the sounding out of the sentences after each other, the long-short-short-long sort of lilting balance that drives it through to the end. This kind of aural quality is what makes this so easily read and digested; coupled with a clear conversational tone, and we have a story that is easily grasped and unravelled.
At the same time, though - and I am not sure if this is personal preference or fact - there is something one loses by being too aural, conversational. While flow is all very well and good, perhaps one of the reasons I didn't mesh with this as deeply as I wanted to was exactly that...lack of depth. And here, I by no means am referring to depth of thought or emotion (although there's that, too, in places), since you have something intelligent to say in just about all the mini-sections. No, instead what I am referring to is a sort of need to visualise just a bit more, to combine the visual and aural masterfully together - perhaps what I would be asking, then, is for a tad more description in places; more aesthetics alongside the sound of the tale. I mean, sure, I can see what's happening clear as day, but it's all very literal, really. Hardly any use of figurative language, which is what can help strengthen the emotion by portraying the scene through the more abstract senses of the narrator. Flesh, I think, is the right word. I'd love some more flesh to this, some reason to keep coming back and gnaw at it. The skeleton is a glorious white, supple and fluid - but it is not enough, inasmuch as the concept of a balanced body of writing is concerned. Imagery - without overwriting, of course.
I have this feeling I know why there is little imagery, though. I think it's perhaps because it feels pretentious to you to be slotting it in at intervals, sort of like you have to make an effort to hunt around for the right words, yes? I just think this because it feels like that for me at times; but with the control you already have over the narration, the voice, I hardly think you will muddle up your prose with a bit more detail. Sure, still let the voice drive it; some more outside-observation to back up the introspection would be lovely, though.
I'm not too sure how keen I am on the gesture itself, either. I appreciate this idea, definitely, of having a single gesture be meaningful in some way across many generations, many ages; just this particular gesture seemed a little bland for my tastes. Maybe it's more poignant for males, I don't know, but I guess I just don't see how brushing one's hair out of one's eyes is particularly intense. Intimate, light and secretive (smile-wise), yes, but possibly not so striking so as to devote a whole story - and one that is so intense in places at that - to this somewhat mediocre gesture.
I didn't mind the disconnectedness between scenes, myself, but I think that was because I knew from the outset that this was a more experimental piece than anything, something already outside the realms of the norm, so it was alright, in that sense. The first part I felt was too short, too stunted to achieve any kind of deeper impact - although it was, of course, interesting to muse on. I felt like I was a sideline spectator in the second, like watching a T.V. commercial and just sort of knowing how it'll end even if I have never seen it before...and I'd probably go so far as to say it was like I was wanting it to end. It didn't strike any chords, despite its length.
I rather enjoyed the sass in the third part - Katie being a very distinctive kind of a character (unlike the first two, which, in retrospect, seem all too generic, really) - and it had a very rough sort of restlessness to it, a kind of externally dirty conflict but was sort of still white at heart. If that makes sense. But that gesture fell utterly flat in this scene - didn't belong as well. Sort of dragged us back into the dusty and boring world of repetition and anonymity, just when you'd given your character such flair. And Callan was my favourite as well; something so earthly, so sensuous about this character coupled with the agonising internal conflict that you drove on and on was just superb. Here is where I really started to click with the piece. But - and I think I have discovered what the problem with the gesture is - the gesture seemed contrived here also. It seemed out of place, something for a happier woman, a happier, more carefree time. Not here, where her knee-jerk closing reaction seems melodramatic in light of the gesture. Ruth was entertaining, I guess - perhaps it is my unfamiliarity with Texas grandmotherly figures that made her seem a tad unrealistic (would they really talk so colloquially?) - but I'd already chosen my favourite by this time, so yes.
Anyway, there were minor things as well - I am not going to point them out since I daresay that you'll be more than capable of finding them yourself. I think just a teeny thing that I would think could help the flow even more is throwing in some longer, more drawn out, unspooling sort of sentences amidst all your pointed little ones. Generally, there were good medium-sized ones and many charming little ones, but overuse of each made me feel this incredible need to read something that was dwelt on for just a bit longer, and in more depth.
Enough from me. A great read, regardless.
Navita
Points: 62375
Reviews: 315
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