Carlo Fuentas' Aura is a nice little short story about an obsessive narrator who is seduced by a witch(?). At least I think that's what happened. It reads like so many horror movies, especially when he recognizes the photos as himself and Aura.
But, I have to say, reading something written completely in the second person was interesting. Don't think I've ever read that. I liked th detail of the plants in the porch garden. It was interesting that they were all poisonous, but also interesting that the narrator could identify all of them.
The cats are ghosts of the ones she strangled, I think?
Overall, something a little Skinemax about it, like late night erotic horror b-movie, but still very well-written. He jumps from future to present tense, too. A very quick read.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Cortazar's The Pursuer
I absolutely loved this story. By far the most inteesting, for me. I love how you see this life of excess and tragedy through a self-righteous gaze. it remnded me a lot of the movie and novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. When Bruno was trying to get feedback about his book near the end and they were by the river I got the feeling who would try to kill Johnny maybe.
So, basically, I thought it was very international. It refers to a lot of different locations, and I feel like there's a sort of modern clarity to the language. There's also a sort of clean/orderly/matter-of-fact element that works well with the narrator being a journalist. I always like stories told through a sort of side character.It was like a jazz Gatsby.
I tried to take notes throughout the text, but it's difficult to react to because I just enjoyed it so much. The past is referenced in a way that seamlessly provides background information. The characters are also really interesting, absolutely all of them. I like how a lot of detail is paid to clothing and setting. It's important in fiction, but also a journalistic technique for establishing a scene, and it really works well with this story. I just saw the Runaways movie (haha!) so this kind of read like a very good behind-the-music movie. Cannot wait to learn more about it in class.
So, basically, I thought it was very international. It refers to a lot of different locations, and I feel like there's a sort of modern clarity to the language. There's also a sort of clean/orderly/matter-of-fact element that works well with the narrator being a journalist. I always like stories told through a sort of side character.It was like a jazz Gatsby.
I tried to take notes throughout the text, but it's difficult to react to because I just enjoyed it so much. The past is referenced in a way that seamlessly provides background information. The characters are also really interesting, absolutely all of them. I like how a lot of detail is paid to clothing and setting. It's important in fiction, but also a journalistic technique for establishing a scene, and it really works well with this story. I just saw the Runaways movie (haha!) so this kind of read like a very good behind-the-music movie. Cannot wait to learn more about it in class.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
