Are These Actual Miles?

I didn't care for this story. I felt like it was a little anticlimatic. Also, the dialogue was bad. That's not how people talk, a lot of times there was something said which didn't make any sense, or there was some sort of feined depth. In fact I thought the whole thing was feined. Those moments when you're supposed to draw something out of a confrontation that isn't directly on the page, there isn't much to draw. didn't like it.

Are These Actual Miles

I liked how this story was a deeply personal look inside someone's shitty life. Leo is facing bankruptcy, and just selling his car so the court won't take it, and this involves his lady whoring herself out. The narration felt voyeuristic, and I felt like I shouldn't be inside Leo's space or head. I sympathized with him, how the guilt of his infidelity and the intense panic of his wife's one night stand, combined with his financial problems, almost makes him crack. However, despite my empathy towards the characters, I think they got what they deserved; they sounded like irresponsible and greedy morons who lack the self control to keep their shit together.

Never Marry a Mexican

Wow! "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
Her style has an interesting, kind of punchy, sentence structure. It's as if she just wants to get to the point of the sentence and doesn't have time to be bothered with verbs or adjectives which may be unnecessary to make a specific point. However, this does not seem to be due to any shortcomings on her part (as is too often the case with very stylized writers... or very stylized anything for that matter*). There are portions of this story which are beautifully written in which the author brandishes language quite decoratively to describe this or that scene, though I think that she prefers to use concise descriptors for much of the body of her work. Such as in her description of her father on his deathbed and what that was like and how it looked physically, as well as emotionally, to her; that was concise. But the ending was definitely much more poetic, what a beautiful way to use the English language!
I don't want to be over-analytical here, but if this is a purely fictional piece, than I think that the author put a lot of thought into every word in this piece. Which is funny considering that it comes across as very disjointed and funny because the tone rings slightly of a "prose-oem" (that's prose and poem stuck together... Yeah, I just did that, pretty smooth right?) rather than straight-no-chaser prose. I say this because, you can draw a lot of parallels between her life/relationship and her childhood (i.e. her father dying while her mother cheats on him v.s. her and her lover sleeping together while the wife of her lover gives birth to their child). This tells a lot about the character's possible motives in regards to sex/romance and leaves a good sized well in her character from which to draw your own conclusions. For example, I would say that the young woman, in some strange way, mirrors her mother's morality as she dredges through what seems to be an existential dilemma about revenge. And, I would say that the narrator is actually very like her mother. But you might draw an entirely different conclusion than I did and be correct. If this is pure fiction, than that is a well thought out character, and that is a much more complex relationship than it seems on the surface.
I liked that I couldn't decide whether the main character is deeply self-involved or incredibly out of touch with herself, whether she actually believes herself to be empowered by all of this or whether she fully realizes the effect that this affair is having on her self-esteem. I thought that this was very true to life, it's not cut and dry and in fact, there's a level of polarity in her personality which probably would arise from this ordeal. She can't figure out if she's broken, trodden on, and worthless or if she is the strong hand which wields the blade. She is all wrapped up in this revenge which involves sleeping with the son of the man who broke her heart when she was young, in order to (I guess) break the son's heart as well as expose the whole affair to him, but at the same time she kind of places herself in a position to once again be victimized, and for what? To completely loose what little self respect she has left? The point that I'm making is that there is a lot to chew on. That it was very well thought out, but presented in such a way that you are lead to believe that you are reading the ranting of a woman who is going mad, meaning, it seems as though it's not well thought out, which I think was the intention because that was the mood which the author wanted.

*Note: I am not saying that style is not important or that some of the best books that I have ever read did not have very specific styles (Salinger for example) I'm only saying that it can be a crutch, and it often is.

Are These Actual Miles?

Are These Actual Miles? was interesting to me. The language he used was very vivid. I liked how he explained in detail what Toni was wearing and how she looking in the mirror to make sure she looked OK . That part seemed realistic to me. I liked the characterization of Toni and Leo I think the author did a good job illustrating what kind of people they were. I also liked how the author showed the relationship of Toni and Leo. I reread this story though because I wasn't always aware of what happened for the character to say that or react that way. Were some parts of the story hard to understand for you guys as well?

"Are these actual miles?"

... The title is so vague and ambiguous. I actually liked this story. It reminded me of "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe. Leo seemed very paranoid once we learned of his infidelity, and it seemed to very much get the better of him by the end of the story. I feel that the lesson at hand was well-deserved, however I'm still convinced that Toni might've known of Leo cheating on her and had a fling of her own after the sale was done. I feel that the story was sharply written and it keeps you guessing along with the protagonist. I really liked it a lot, and I wonder what was everyone else's take on the story.

Are These Actual Miles

I like this story. It was a little hard to read but after rereading it and completely understanding it, i enjoyed it a little more. This story was based upon selling a car so that when they go to court on Monday, no one can take any of their things. The manin character, Leo, was intriguing becaue he was a very paranoid person. This descriptions about the way he was acting and the way he was talking to his wife show that he is a jealous person and can be very controlling. But he also has a lot of trust in his wife to do the right thing in selling the car and making money for their family. I got nervous when the man who bought the convertible showed up, I thought Leo was going to start a fight with him becaue he was slightly drunk when went out there to confront him. But all he did was say, Monday, knowing that that day was more important than getting his car back from this person. When the question was asked "Are these actual miles?" he is reffering to how low the milage is on the car ... this makes it seem like these people really cared for their car and treated it as if it were their child. They bought it brand new and really appreciated its value in their life. I think Leo was really sad to have to sell it because he really cared for it, but he knew it was the best decision at that point in their life.

Never Marry a Mexican

Never Marry a Mexican was a story that Expressed a lot of emotion. It mostly expressed the anger the main character had from being the other woman. The main character seemed to be ruthless and have little morals. She would constantly brag about being intimate with the woman's husband. The life she chose to lead Seemed to have corrupted her which also made her sad and angry. The author wrote the story as if the woman was crazy And was releasing all the frustrations that she had bottled up inside. The story also seemed surreal. She said that she was doing something but it didn't seem like it actually happened, for instance She talked about how she was sleeping with their son but it didn't seem like she actually did it it. It seemed like she wanted to do it.Do you believe she really took advantage of the son?

Never Marry a Mexican

I thought this story was very bizzare. I really disliked the character and thought she was a little crazy and kind of a slut. I was also a little confused while reading it cause I didn't catch the transition, from when the narrator was talking about her family and where she grew up to how she was having sexual relations with this married man and how it kind of turned her on when she was having sex with the guy while the guy's wife was giving birth. I thought the story was going to be about why not marry a mexican and cite someone as an example like her father, instead it was just a strange story of a woman's sexual endeavors and how she got off on ruining relationships. Overall I hated the sotry and the charcter though I thought the writing was decent, as the writer goes in depth about certain details that really help illustrate the story.

Never Marry a Mexican

My grandmother was born to Irish immigrants in America and married a man born and raised in Ireland. She told my mother growing up, "Never marry and Irishman!", so I read this story kind of picturing my mom as the narrator. That may be why I had difficulty reading it.

I thought the writing style was poetic, and the story seemed messy and complicated, which is true to real life I guess. I feel like the narrator was royally effed up by her parents' relationship. She is proud of her Mexican ancestry, but she can only be with white men. She sprinkles the narrative with Mexican language, but she seems to loathe herself for not being with a Mexican man and her former white lovers for keeping her from them. I feel angry at the narrator for being an accomplice in infidelity, someone who does not plan on repenting.

Never Marry A Mexican

Yeah, I honestly did not like this story. It felt convoluted and weird to me, which is funny because I tend to gravitate towards things that are weird. But my main thing was that the protagonist seemed crazy to me; I had no idea what point she was trying to get across. Unless the title is referring to her as well...

Never Marry a Mexican

I like this story a lot. It is filled with a lot of descriptive writing and builds pictures of reality. I think I like the begining of the story the most though. When she was describing her culture and how her family was nothing like that. She blamed her life for her mother's negativity against her own culture. In the end, she was just like her mother. She was having an affair with a married man. She was alone and scared. She was the cat lady in a poor neighborhood. She never lived the life she wanted too, she lived in the shadows of he mother's mistakes and was not able to start her own life after she moved out. Most girls do just the opposite of what their mother tells them to do. All mothers want their little girls to find a nice boy with lots of money and a good job that can support them in life. But the main character's mother limited her choices of good men out there and stereotyped them destroying her daughter's persona of men. I enjoyed this story and I hope everyone else did too.

karma

the best part of the story is the karma he gets from his final wife. he keeps eating all of his wives in the beginning and then when he decides to go to the river he meets his final match. she is this beautiful lizard and he confesses his love for her. they celebrate and when they go to bed he is finally comfortable and safe and falls fast asleep and as he does his true love eats him. priceless. i liked this story because it was very comical and entertaining. this story is translated from another language but i could see the ending being interpreted many different ways than the one that it did end in here in the book.

Midnight and I'm not Famous Yet

I liked the sentence, "I thought this picture was worthy of a statue." It's a great description of the picture and of the narrator's love for it. I liked the sentence, " I had never had time to be but two things, a giggler and a killer." It's a creepy and seemingly accurate description of joining the army as a young man. I liked a couple sentences for the humor. "Why can't we be fighting for some place like England?" and, "I got a print from the Pentagon when the war was over and it didn't matter." And the last line was my favorite part of the whole story. It's such a great point, and it ties the whole story together well. " Nobody was killed. We saw victory and defeat, and they were both wonderful." I thought it was weird how much the author used 'etc.' My guess is it might have been characterization to make the narrator out to not be so articulate. Any other ideas?

The Story of the Lizard

I really liked the first sentence because it gave me a clear picture in my head of the setting and some freedom to make that scene of my own imagination. "At the edge of the river, hidden by the tall grass, a woman is reading." I liked the unique words chosen to describe 'everything,' "the dry and the wet, the tamed and the wild, all that had memory, all that had oblivion." And I liked the idea of God being fed up with the prayers for a son. It shows at early on that this is going to be no normal tale. I liked the way the author transitions from the tale right into the next part of the story, and with another strong sentence. "His scaly belly lapped by river water, Dulcidio is taking his siesta." I like how the author gave him a name without specifying who it was because he didn't need to. A lot happens in these two pages, I think the author is good at telling the story without fluff. I liked the description of living with unrequited love as spending "nights and days sighing and listening to melodies long out of fashion." The end was very strange. I thought it would have been believable that the girl turns on him. But setting him on fire was such a weird thing to do out of her character and without motive as far as the reader knows. But it does go along with what I thought initially about the author giving the reader's imagination a certain freedom. I liked the line at the end about how Dulcidio dreams for the first time in his life. I think it could have ended there. I wasn't a fan of the last small stanza all that much. Anyone agree or disagree?

Ysrael

I thought this sentence was funny and good characterization. "Rafa, who was older and expected more woke up every morning pissy and dissatisfied." The narrator's thoughts in response to his tia saying looking at Ysrael's face would make someone sad forever were sweet. "I had never been sad more than a few hours and the thought of that sensation lasting a lifetime scared the hell out of me." And I liked this sentence for the characterization and the clear image it gave me. "Rafa shook his head with that not-a-chance grin of his." I thought it was weird that the author didn't use quotations for dialogue. It was a little confusing sometimes probably because I'm not used to it, but it kind of worked. It went along with the other thing that takes you off guard, which is the Spanish words that sometimes you can tell from context and sometimes you can't. I thought the numbering of the parts was strange. I'm not sure why the author decided to do that. Any ideas?

The Story of the Lizard Who Had the Habit of Dining on His Wives

This story must have been over my head because I didn't get it. I got the whole girl reading a story, puts herself in the story thing (or the sort of infinite circle bit) but I didn't understand why, or what the fucking point is. I got nothing out of it and I've heard better versions of the same story told a thousand different ways. Blue Beard for example. Anyway, if you're going to rewrite a classic, do a better job, the blue print is already there. It was the chicken and the fox, or the wolf in sheeps clothing, but with emphasis placed on the how rather than the why. The whole point of a fable is the moral, not the bad dialogue and the characters who are so poorly strung together. Bad job, thumbs down.

Midnight and I'm Not Famous Yet

I liked the story itself, I liked the end as well. I didn't like the style because it made the story kind of hard to follow, as others have said, it didn't flow so well. I really liked the ending with his little rant about victory/defeat. Because of the flow of the story, there were certain parts which were not as powerful as they could have been, like the death of tubby. I didn't really care, and I don't think that was the author's goal, this wasn't a Catch 22-esque story where you're supposed to be apathetic because the author is trying to make a point. I had to reread it to catch some of the finer details, and I don't like rereading stories unless they are a real work of art, this was not a real work of art. But all in all it was good.

the prince and the lizard...

I liked this story. It's a funny image of the pursuit of women. Man/lizard/prince who desires to devour women. He finally meets a woman he can't claim outright, the "girl of his dreams", and is forced to approach her in a different manner than he would the rest. She denies his advances, then breaks his spirit, then accepts him, then gives him the night of his life, then she eats him in his sleep. Classic material, I'm a fan.

The story of the lizard who had the habit of dining on his wives

I thought this story was really strange. I didn't really like it a whole lot because I thought it was just too brief and there wasn't a whole of description; not that I really would want a description of a lizard man eating his wife just saying it was brief. I also disliked it because I didn't find the plot to be interesting, it was just kind of odd. Sometimes I like odd things but this was just I don't know, a different kind of odd. Though I didn't like it that much I have to give it credit that it was pretty original, I had never read a story like that before and it was pretty unique.

Midnight and i'm not famous yet

This story was a little hard to get in to. I think it was because the writer really jumped around a whole lot and didn't really have a flowing story. It just seemed like to me that he wasn't transiting very well. He would talk about one thing and then bam jump right into another without really connecting them together. The story really reminded me of another Vietnam story i have read called The Things They Carried by Tim O'brien. Like that sotry the author jumps around a lot, but is able to connect random thoughts with the story. In the Things They Carried the author also states that I'm not able to tell a story very well because I'm basically writing this as I remember it so there is no flow and the story will jump all over the place. And in both stories the authors can't get an image out of their head, which I thought was rather intresting. It made me wonder if they were both trying to distract themselves with these images of "beauty" from the images of horror in Vietnam.

YSRAEL

I really enjoyed reading this story. The story reminded me a lot of the movie Slumdog Millionare. Cause like the narrative in Ysrael, the main character of the movie is sympathetic and like the brother in slumdog millionare the brother is more ruthless and willing to do certain things that the younger brother isn't. I don't know I just got a vibe from reading it that made me think of that movie as well as the movie City of God. I really like the story of Ysrael though. I thought it was kind of sad and I felt very sympathetic towards Ysrael. I also think the story is better told in first person than it would've been in third.

The Story of the Lizard Who Had the Habit of Dining on His Wives

Who really had the power, Dulcidio or the woman he was madly in love with? The woman in my opinion had a master plan and wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. This story was very enjoyable and I can see how it has somewhat of a message depends how you take it. For example the way I took it was that in life many men hurt women (or the other way around) and when either men or women find that one person they wont hurt that person hurts them. So don't ever do what you would never like to be done to you....Karma is real.

Midnight and I'm Not Famous Yet by Barry Hannah

This story was very interesting. I did have a hard time following the story the first time, but when I read it for a second time I did realize a lot of things I really enjoyed reading about. I will definite like to read more from Barry and understand his unique style of literature.

The story of the lizard who had the habit

I thought the story was strange. It reminded me of a Grimm's fairy tale. I didn't like the lizard character because he kept eating his wives and I wanted someone to get him back for this so I kind of guessed the ending. I thought the girl he fell in love with was very mysterious. why did the she keep disappearing?

Vague title that grabs your eye and makes you smile.

The Story of the Lizard Who Had the Habit of Dining on His Wives is a very well written. The romantic nature of the language highlighted the highs and lows of the main character. Also, the dialogue gave depth to the characters. The lizard was, at the beginning, proud and self assured. He hits on the woman with glasses with a level of almost overwhelming confidence. Yet, the woman, for the very start, is unimpressed and dismissive. He words were terse. With a combination of both the romantic language used and the dialogue, the story jumps from the pages. It is a very strong example of good writing.

The Story ofthe Lizard Who Had the Habit...

I really like this story. I really liked how it opened with a girl reading a book called Legends about the Lizard prince who ate his wives and then it turns out this girl reading about him is his dreamgirl.

I feel like this story began with a girl reading about the legend of this beguiling Lizard prince, and the rest of the story is her imagining what would happen if he wanted to marry her. She forms this elaborate revenge plan where she leads him on and makes him love her, only to eat him on their wedding night, in the name of all the other girls he tricked into marrying him.

I also loved the language. Most of it is romantic, like"I give my heart for you to tread on". Then, at the end, the dream girl says, "Don't be an asshole, knock off the bullshit", which I found very refreshing.

The Story of the Lizard...

First things first, I can't say that I didn't see that ending coming. But at the same time I feel bad for Dulcidio because in essence he was a cursed figure. All he wanted was love, and ultimately he got it - albeit in the most unexpected way for him. I may be the only one who thinks it this way, but I thought this was a bittersweet story.

Midnight and I'm Not Famous Yet/ G-string

I didn't really enjoy reading "Midnight and I'm Not Famous Yet". There was so much going on in the writing, that I couldn't follow the characters or story. It reminded me of pulpy crime fiction, only adapted for the Vietnam War. At times I felt the excitement and sadness from the narrator, but I didn't relate to him from the beginning, so I didn't really care about his story. It could be because of the writing itself, but it probably has more to do with my differing taste.

To backtrack a few weeks, I did enjoy the story "G-String". It was a simple, light story about how men can underestimate women, and even how women underestimate themselves.

Midnight and I'm Not Famous Yet

I think the author Barry Hannah had an unusual writing style. I also thought he was very descriptive. he was descriptive to the point where I saw an image in my head about what the main character was doing and the setting of the story. I liked the part when he was thinking about was his life something to proud of when his killing constantly. I feel the story made you think about Bobby's life and how he ended up there.

MIDNIGHT AND I AM NOT FAMOUS YET.

I really like this story. It shows how war can change a man. It was very interesting , although I agree it was hard to understand . Due to the narrators dialect, this story was a head ache to decipher. I really like how it followed him through multiple events, and simultaneously through character developments. I also had a much better understanding of the title after reading this story and hope to read more stories by this author.

Midnight and I'm Not Famous Yet

I personally did not like this story. The language was really hard to follow and some of the word choices and sentence formatting were hard to understand.

This story was narrated by, I would say, and uneducated person that likes to tell old-time war stories. He talked about how he joined the war just because he didnt have anything else going for him except for loving his wife so he joined the army to help his country. He tells a verry good story but, for me, to understand it, I had to keep rereading the paragraphs to fully grasp his motive. The action and description that was given in the begining of the story was not followed through with making the rest story a little less intriguing as it continued.

What i did like about the story though was the part about him talkin to Tubby and becoming famous. First he starts off crying and feeling guilty for killing people and then wanting to be killing by the rockets being shot in the air. He really explained his feelings well about how he was afraid because he went from a giggler to a killer.

Boy With No Face

Sorry, my post did not go up last week. So I'm writing a new one.


I like the story Ysrael. My favorite part was 3. when it was discussing Ysreal and how his face was eaten off. It was very descriptive and made me want to go find him in the alley as well. But then again I also felt the saddness that the narrator was trying to get across when he desribed the father's reactions for making fun of his son.

The story as a whole was very descriptive and interesting and had me wanting more in the end.

"Midnight and I'm Not Famous Yet".....

..... Now I know what the title meant! I really liked this story, although it was a bit dark. It was fun, easy to read, and I actually found myself reading it aloud with a southern accent in full-effect. I could really see this story being adapted into a movie. The protagonist seemed to be a very layered character in the way that even though he was good at what he did, being a career military man and all (who killed a lot), he voiced enough times how much he had preferred not to be fighting in Vietnam in the first place. Very good story in my opinion.

Ysreal

I liked Ysreal a lot. The story reminded me of myself and my older cousins when we were kids. Always getting into mischief out of boredom and just being boys on the loose. I used to listen to all of my older cousins stories about girls, sports, school etc., and I felt like the boys in this story had that as well.

I think the story was very fun to read. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The two brothers seemed very curious and would always find new and exciting ways to get into mischief. I thought the characterization of the older brother was very good. The main characters perception of his older brother Rafa was very believable .It describes the relationship many people have with their older sibling. I can relate to the this story too because I looked up to my older sister. I would always try to follow her everywhere. We would argue but then forget about it and be friends the next day. I would love to read a longer version of this story. Would any one else like read a longer version of the story?

Ysreal

“When I go home I’m going to go crazy – chinga all my girls and then chinga everyone else’s.” Being Dominican I can relate to these terms very easily. Reading this story brought back many memories about my vacation in Dominican Republic when I was 13. El campo, the transportation, and the malicious things kids do sounds like the usual Dominican lifestyle. The relationship the brothers have is something I can relate to as well. My older cousin Yeudy spoke to me in detail perverted ways about the girls like Rafa did to his brother, which made it pretty interesting to read since it was something I had experienced. This author did a great job describing the relationship the brothers had since is usually how an older brother would act with his brother. Rafa's 9 year old brother absorbed most of what he said just “in case these things would become useful to him in the future.” I felt like the author was writing about the relationship I had when I was younger. Rafa being a jerk made the story over all.

Ysreal

I felt the story of Ysreal was very believable. When hearing about this oddly disformed boy I wanted to go see him as well. The way he was treated through out the story was not humane. Although children can easily not understand what it feels like to be treated that way. By the end of the story I wanted to be Ysreal friend he obviously needs one. If the story was to continue I would like to see Ysreal get the plastic surgery.

Ysreal

The author is very descriptive. I could almost feel the sun. Although I enjoyed the attention to detail about the environment as I journeyed along with the characters, I didn’t enjoy the story line.
What bothered me was the unscrupulous characters. Even though they knew that Ysreal was already mamed, through no fault of his own, and had endured great pain, they proceeded to add more insult to injury by taking the mask off of his face and beating him for no reason other than their own satisfaction.
Everyone in this story was a victim in one way or another. The boys were victims because they had no parental guidance and were left to fend for themselves against the perverts and other low-life. They in fact became one of them. Ysreal was a victim of circumstances. There was no happy ending, this story totally sucked.

Ysrael by Junot Diaz

I found this story very moving. Even though Rafa was a horny jerk, his actions and his relationship with his brother is very real. Also, the narrator's voice rang very true of a 9 year old boy, one who has more interest in befriending the strange and elusive Ysrael instead of hurting him to see his deformed face. The scene on the bus where the man gropes the narrator, and he starts crying afterwards, Rafa just calls him a pussy and he cannot tell his older brother what happened. That broke my heart. Did anyone else feel really bad for Ysrael?

G-String

This story was okay. I thought the paragraph on the first page about Gillian supporting the local industries was random to her chracter. I thought it was funny how she turned down the bodysuit with Mr. Kip's opinion in mind, and even funnier was his reation to the G string. "Those are preposterous!" When Gillian tells Mr. Kip she's had it with him and his silly, affected, old fashioned car and clothes and everything, I thought he deserved to get it way more than that. I would have liked to see Gillian stand up for herself more.

Ysrael

I loved it. I think there was some truth to the story, there were a lot of small details that just fit. Rafa's age, and that constant need to assert and prove himself, the disregard for authority and complete lack of caution are so typical of young boys, especially those in that "man of the house" role. It seems like Rafa's character is a take on somebody that the writer knew very well. The young boy who looks up to his older brother and who's brother is also, to some degree, the boy's father figure, begins to make friends with or at least connect with Ysrael and would obviously be opposed to his brother's actions. But, because of a lot of factors in this story, the young boy does as his brother asks when it comes down to it. I liked that the older brother had a little bit of a philosophy to back up his actions. He subscribes to the belief in a pecking order, and tries to teach his brother to be tough by bullying him, in this way, looking out for his brother. It seemed to me that this story was a sort of compilement of experiences, condensed into one day.

My flashback took a wrong turn...

Ysrael by Junot Diaz is so far my favorite of all the short stories in the book. Diaz showed great detail his writing, so much that it actually brought me back to my childhood during my brief 2-year stay with my family in Honduras when I was six. Rafa reminded me of my cousin Javier back in Honduras, but Javier wasn't a jerk to me like Rafa is to the protagonist. I was completely enthralled in the journey to finding Ysrael, but was totally caught off-guard with what they did when they found him; I sympathized more for Ysrael by the end, rather than the two main character, much less Rafa. Having read Ysrael, I think I will be checking out more of his work in the future.

Story was very detailed, especially how gillian was described. I predicted most of whats going to happen which made it unexciting, but still had me guessing at times which is why I finished reading the story to know the outcome from the incident. The length of the story was excellent, and went well with the description of everything that was going on.

g-string

i liked how the writer was very descriptive on certain details involving Gillian. Like the part where her friend is helping her prepare for her date, i could really picture that part in my head cause i know that's how girls get ready, they always ask someone else for advice. i also thought that the story was rather predictable in the sense that Colin was obviously going to find out about the g-string; the constant use of foreshadowing is what made it predictable. but even though it was pretty predictable i was pretty curious to see if they would go on another date after all that or how they would react to each other after that whole incident.

I really liked Gillian's character. I thought that the narrator did a great job of describing her, and that her's was a very believable character. None of the other characters were very well built, but I don't think that was the point, after all, it's a short story.
As for the story itself; I liked it just fine. I don't think that pulley system would work though, which actually is worth mentioning, because it detracted from the story's validity for me. I was reading a story, then, suddenly I was day dreaming about a series of similar situations the author may have been in which sparked the idea for this windshield wiper pulley system. Meaning, while analyzing the pulley system, I was still working within the confines of a belief in this piece of fiction, when I realized that the system probably could not work, I was reminded that this is fiction. Something to keep in mind for we fiction writers eh?

The G String

The G- String

This story, in a delightful manner, demonstrates how the phoenixes are born. Gillian, because of her brief encounter with Jeanie, this younger woman ‘living in the present’ type of girl, introduces to Gillian " Living in the past" the concept of ‘less is best’ in her intimate wear. Not only was it appealing but necessary in order to avoid her unsightly bumps and egg carton look.With her reservations,she decided on a change. An Break in the mold. And because of this one action she has found freedom and liberation in a strange way.Thus her phoenix was born with in her.

Share my opinion you say? Okey-dokey.

Right from the start, the ending of the story is foreshadowed to the reader. Yet, the character of the words, the flow of the narrator's voice, manages to hold the reader's attention (in my case, anyways) Also, the author succeeds in showing us who the characters are instead of telling us, telling us only what we need to know, letting the character's actions and words speak for themselves. Concerning the story's length, I actually think it was perfect. The point of the story, I believe, was to show the events that led up to the break up; the point wasn't the ins-and-outs of their relationship. Even more, I don't even believe the story wasn't completely about a break-up. The g-string seemed to me to be a symbol of female oppression, on how there's pressure for women have to dress and act in way to solely please men. She obviously was uncomfortable with the notion of a g-string, but she did it to please Mr. Kip. Her taking control of the situation at the end of the story was representative of a modern day feminism. Agree?

G-String

I was so disappointed with this story. I had to drag myself to even finish reading it. It was so boring. I can't even fathom the idea of someone writing a story about someone who doesn't know what a g-string is. Seriously??

G-string

I don't think that Gillian and Mr. Kip's relationship lasted too long after that. I think this because Gillian changed after that night for the better. In the story G-string I thought that Mr.Kip was very old fashioned. I felt that in her relationship Gillian held a lot of stuff in. I think that when she bought the G-string it liberated her. Her self-esteem had a boost. She was no longer afraid to say what was on her mind. I think the G-string represents her new found confidence. She now feels like a modern woman. What do you think of the Mr. Kip character?

G-String

I loved this story!

It was truely interesting and funny.

I've met people like Gillian a million times. They always hang onto that person who is always just there. It is a continous path that has endless forks in the road. They find the perfect guy in their eyes and they get all goo-goo-and-ga-ga about this one particular person. The person continuously relies on that one person to make them feel good and even though they may never show that respect back towards them they hang on waiting for that one reaction that shows that they care. Just like in G-String, Gillian's man steps up and invites her to a Rotary Club dinner, she now feels that he is stepping up to the plate. She goes out of her way to impress him and he completely blows her off during the entire party. They leave and she is pissed off, jus the typical situation that all people hang on for, then they are completely let down by their partner not being able to fullfill their dream of caring and respect and possible growth of a relationship.

I would just like to know what happened when he brought her home ... what happens next? Does she sleep with him? Does he make a move? Does she blow up and leave him and never go out with him again? It would be interesting to see what happens after this date.

"A Truly Modern Woman..."

I can honestly say that unlike The Immortals by Martin Amis, G-String by Nicola Barker was a much easier read for me, and not just because it was only 4 pages long either! I thought it was a funny story that actually made me wonder what would happen at the end, given the sort of pseudo-adventure the main character went through in not only preparing for the party she was invited to, but also initially attending it and the ride back home. The protagonist, Gillian, seemed to endure the worst kind of date imaginable with someone she really liked; but her date, Mr. Kip, although he started off as a seemingly nice guy (who I actually started liking at first) turned into a domineering jerk, and I'm assuming the reason was because Gillian didn't wear the dress he had requested. Personally I despise guys who are like that with women, especially nice women, but I don't think I was meant to get so emotionally invested with the story so much. My question is did Mr. Kip begin to view Gillian in a different light because she decided to take charge of the situation at the end? And did Gillian decide to stay with him after her transition into a "modern woman"?

The narrator truly had me believing that he is immortal, until the end of the short story. "Mass delusion," I suspected the narrator to be suffering from delusion or just happened to have a childish imagination. His ideas of being a "second-rate New Zealand schoolmaster" must make him confident enough and knowledgeable on history that he could put him self in any time in history and easily talk about it like, as if he was really there. He could start from the first (unofficial) Ice Age, in A.D. 2045 when the Apocalypse happened, or when ever and probably be able to get away with it. He wanted to go extreme and go all the way from the beginning of time where he claims he was alone. Sadly he thinks that will happen again, but in my opinion he'll be alone only in a room with padded white walls. What do you think is he really immortal, or insane?

Um...Random Title Name? Sure, I'll go with that.

From a writer’s perspective, Martin Amis did a couple of interesting things. First, because the story was narrated by the character, the story’s “reality” immediately came into question. Yet, the details of the story were so lavish that one almost couldn’t help but suspend disbelief. So then, a battle was created: was the narrator reliable or not? By setting up that question, he gave the story multiple interpretations, with each interpretation given enough details to sound true. Secondly, the narrator tended to ramble, giving the story a personal touch. That helped the reader fall into the grove of the story. And by having that personal touch, the personality of the narrator jumped from the pages, leaving the reader to judge the narrator. And the end of the day, I think that was the most interesting thing Martin Amis did: despite giving us so much information, he left much of the story up to the reader.

Life Without Death

This guy is dealing with an issue most would after a few hundred years: boredom. When you've literally seen it all, know you can't have a true relationship with someone, and war ceases to be thrilling, it gets dull. Who wouldn't want to stand at ground zero of the nuclear armageddon if all that's left in front of you is an immeasurable wait for the next batch of sentients to evolve enough to talk to..or for the sun to go nova. Whichever comes first.

I would suggest to this guy that he try walking on the bottom of the ocean. If the pressure won't crush him, and the lack of oxygen won't kill him, he can at least dodge sharks and play with dolphins 'till the end of Earth.

I think that the author has spent a lot of time daydreaming about fantastic scenario's, the byproduct of which, was a few witty insights unworthy of a story.
The twist ending, when you realize that he isn't actually immortal, but just another delusional human dying of radiation poisoning, was predictable and dry.
I was not particularly taken with this story in any way, though it flowed nicely.

The Immortals

I thought this story was actually quite funny in a dark kind of way. I don't know if it was supposed to be a depressing story or what but when I read it I actually laughed at a few parts. For example the line that said: I've had AIDS for seventy-three years. Just can't seem to shake it. I thought that they way the writer wrote the story gave it this comedic type of mood especially the ideas that he had to make the story funny, like where the guy said he had at least 4000 wives or he went on a drinking binge for 95 years, I thought those things were hilarious. I also thought it was comedic because the story is about this guy who can live forever and he recalls past events in his life and just kind of has a careless attitude towards things and at times makes fun of things. Although I found it funny throughout the story I also found it rather depressing that the guy was repeatedly trying to kill himself because he didn't want to live any longer and how we was going to be left alone after the human race had died out, other than that I thought it was kind of funny.

Immortals

The opening wasn't an effective hook in for me because I didn't care if the character was alone because I didn't know who he was. The ending went somewhere very expected and unoriginal, from such a creative story of a character living through all times.I found the first half very imaginative and funny, for example his five year hang over. I feel like I might have liked the story better had I thought the point was about humanity and immortality. Immortality when others are not immortal sounds like a curse to me without much consideration. But I got environmental and social messages. I thought the author was using the character's immortality to make as point about the way humans are treating the earth because of how all the humans are dying. And the main character said he loved the renaissance and drank himself through most of the current century. I found that to be a statement about today's culture, but I found it ineffectively conveyed by a character that I really can't relate to because it's almost irrelevant to me what pleased him and what made him pessimistic. Did anyone else read into it like that?

The Immortals

First, I would like to point out that being immortal and not knowing who you truly are would really be a big pill for me to swallow. I felt that this story was so depressing. The story itself was a bit complcated as most of Martin Amiss' works are, gritty and witty. The character in this story was dealing with trying to achieve his ying and yang, his life and death. He wants to know what the meaning of true immortality is and how to achieve death. What I found most intresting was that he was waiting for his death as he saw those that he loved pass before him, over and over again, hundreds and hundreds of times. He didn't view being an immortal as a gift, but as a curse, that he describes, in a very sad way, as boring and perfunctory. Even though I liked the story title and it sparked an interest for me, the story was a bit too gritty and witty, as in the author's true sense of style. To me it clearly defined what depresson can feel like when you're not able to bond with someone who you care for. He was cynical as he was not able to fully express himself knowing how a relationship would end. It created an opporunity for him to easily 'go to the other side'' by being sad about the fact that he also faced the truth by noting that the inevitable would come. He states throughout that, "soon you will all be gone and I will be alone forever." It's a very scary thought for anyone to face. I guess we all think that it would be great to live forever. However, here is a man that clearly got a gift, one that everyone else seems to want. In reality, it is clearly a curse for him.

I felt the concept of the story was depressing and the man in the story felt depressed and alone. However, the story was very interesting, especially when he was talking about history and the way he viewed those time periods. I also like the mood the narrator set for the story. The main character wasn't always like, "woe is me", he added his own humor into the it made the mood lighter.

The Immortals by Martin Amis

Although I felt this story to be somewhat depressing, I will say that it was interesting as well. The Narrator obviously seemed unhappy with his views of the world, but in my opinion, I think there was a moral in that as well. I think The Narrator was trying to imply that if you were given the chance to be in his shoes, and live such a long and eventful life, then try to be a little open to what life throws at you. He was able to live forever - which is fine for him - but he wasn't a psychic, so he didn't know what was coming his way. And even if he did, he remained bitter and unsatisfied; I think he wanted the readers to consider what would they do in the situations he was in. I will admit that I was a bit confused reading the story, but that was the best theory I was able to come up with...

The Immortals

I personally really enjoyed this short story. Which is funny because I wasn't even the least bit interested in reading it. I like how the author spoke to the reader, as if he knew you personally. I wanted to continue reading more from this author after the story ended and probably will.

Before reading this story I always wished I could live forever. But after reading this I find myself pondering whether or not it would be as wonderful as it sounds. The way the author described the character just makes you wish you could do something for him, and just take him out of his misery. It was a really griping story and grabbed my attention from the beginning.

I'm curious to know what happened with the character. His name, if he ever finds out where he came from, and if he ever finally dies??

The Immortals by Martin Amis

I enjoyed this story. I liked how the author approached the idea of immortality with a sense of humor. Also, I feel like he is an unreliable narrator. He even doubts his own story of immortality saying he was just a New Zealand schoolteacher who lost his loved ones. Even the title, "The Immortals" is plural when the author claims to be the only one. Additionally he tells us that the other survivors around him claim to be immortal as well.
The story made me think about what it is to be human, and if there is no death in life, can you really be human? The narrator cannot have any lasting relationships, and even practices incest . He cannot truly experience love or life, because part of life is knowing you only have a certain amount of time left, so you should make it worthwhile. Even the Earth is not immortal, and it is mostly a desolate wasteland at the time of the narrator's story. If someone spends 90 years on a drinking binge, sleeps for a decade, masturbates for a whole summer, and eventually stands on the roof of a building while waiting for a nuclear bomb to hit him, with his arms wide open, then what good can come out of immortality?

The Immortals

I personally did not enjoy this story. It was very hard to follow at times.

The narrator took us through a time travel from 6,000,000 B.c. right up through all the changes that this world has overcome. The many changes of species and the seperation of the earth. But the story kept jumping from one time period to another and back again. This made it very difficult to keep track of the time period that the narrator was going through.

Does anyone know why a narrator would want to keep a reader from continuing to read and keep making them stop and think about what time period that he is living in?

The Immortals

 The narrator of The Immortals, an immortal, describes the world from before life up until the end it.  Through the rise and fall of civilizations and time periods the narrator becomes increasingly depressed as death passes him by.  As worldwide nuclear holocaust occurs the narrator comes to grips with the loneliness he has and will experience for eternity.

   I believe the narrator is a reliable source, although mentally unstable. His mental instability, is shown through his ongoing depression, bouts of alcoholism, and suicidal attempts. That also may be argued as fully experiencing his limitless existence. This character relates to everyone, reflecting feelings one might encounter when in doubt that an experience or event will ever end.  All of these things take an emotional toll on the character that helps to enlighten the reader to his views, creating a very interesting story.