“The Contest” · Grace Paley (Response)

Some of the phrasing sounds dated to me, but that's only partly the reason this reminds me of Catcher in the Rye. Freddy seems like a perhaps adult version of Holden Caulfield. He's generally aloof and uncaring, which leaves him isolated. I can't honestly say I feel sorry for Freddy when Dotty uses him & dumps him. I don't feel sorry for her either; it's clear she manipulated him.

“Big, Black, Good Man” · Richard Wright (Response)

Great story. It kept me engaged and wondering about the black man's story. It was clear there was something more there, but Olaf's obsession kept it at bay.

Olaf shifts from a meandering reminiscence on his life to a neurosis, steeped in racism. It's similar to some of the accounts I hear of Vipassanā, where one goes through a complete relationship with someone perhaps only briefly met (a crush, obsession, then a break up for imagined flaws), the entire time only in one's mind.

“I’m Your Horse in the Night” · Luisa Valenzuela (Response)

This story was amazing in its intensity, despite its brevity. I have never had cachaça, but I feel this story must be like it; a strong concentrated liquor. Gal Costa is one of my favorite singers. I had never heard the song in this story (Sem Açucar?), but I could hear her version of Sonho Meu as they were listening to her record.

“One Arm” · Yasunari Kawabata (Response)

"People walk around
looking for selves, far away."
"And do they come upon them?"
"Far away," said the arm once more.

What part of other people do we take with us? Memories, and our view of them. Experiences we've shared.

I'm not sure what to think of this story. The magicality of the arm is fascinating, but the nature of the relationship between the narrator and the girl made me uneasy, although it seemed innocent.

The conversation with the arm reminds me of something from Parasyte, where people's bodies, or in one case simply a limb, are taken over by an alien race.

“Spring in Fialta” · Vladimir Nabokov (Response)

While I love Nabokov's turn of phrase, this story had a sad futility to it. Victor's unrequited love is something I'm sure many can identify with, in some fashion or another.

“The Life of the Imagination” · Nadine Gordimer (Response)

Barbara is lonely, and an affair is partially the result. I wonder about her imaginative following of Dr. Usher through the streets. Is the entire story a fantasy? The little details of their covert communication and rendezvous seem too specific, as well as her personal reactions.
"She learnt that shabbiness is the judgment of the outsider, the one left in the cold; there are no shabby love- affairs for those who are the lovers."

“Fat” · Raymond Carver (Response)

This man seems tortured. No just by his enormous and insatiable appetite, but also by his seeming inability to control himself, and perhaps mostly by his use of the pronoun 'we.'

The narrator is a kind soul; she's the only one who doesn't seem disgusted by him. Perhaps this compassion is what afflicts her once she arrives home - plus that fact that no one around her seems to share it.

“The Adulterous Woman” · Albert Camus (Response)

It's been years since I read Camus, and I was instantly taken by his turn of phrase. He seems to be able to pour so much meaning into one sentence.
"By so often making her aware that she existed for him he made her exist in reality."
"The years had passed in the semi-darkness behind the half-closed shutters."

What a wonderful story! Janine found herself and experienced a sort of spiritual awakening in her nocturnal stroll. Despite that, it seems she'll never leave Marcel, even after having this glimpse of her possibilities. Perhaps we are all a bit like that.

The Adventure of a Traveler” · Italo Calvino (Response)

Curious title, perhaps tongue in cheek? Federico seems rather neurotic; he has a hard time focusing on the present unless everything is perfect. He is nervous before leaving for his trip, constantly irritated and trying to adjust his surroundings during his trip, and encumbered by a tension after he arrives. Then again, I've experienced this same nervousness when preparing for a trip, but once I'm on my way, I try to relax and am not too concerned about my surroundings (other than appreciating new sights and sounds). There is a certain calm in traveling; you only have to be concerned about yourself and the next stage of your trip, when it comes. I'm able to detach a bit from my other concerns when I arrive, and I find that fretting about limited time is counterproductive to the purpose of the trip. I suppose he is in love; many of his thoughts seems to carry him toward his lovely Cinzia. However, he seems more taken with a nervous anticipation than a sincere appreciation for his situation.
Is there a Zen koan in each of these stories?

Home - Project 3 - Racial housing segregation in Tri-Cities

Home - Racial housing segregation in Tri-Cities