tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post2155209799874161162..comments2023-09-16T09:00:31.715-04:00Comments on Telecommuter Talk: R.I.P. Group Read: Fragile Things 3Emily Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-76362321230191390102011-10-01T12:31:49.697-04:002011-10-01T12:31:49.697-04:00Dooliterature, yes, sometimes he definitely gives ...Dooliterature, yes, sometimes he definitely gives us too much information!<br /><br />Kristen, well, Keepsakes was quite repulsive, but a tiny bit of brilliance could be seen peeping through it, when I looked at it just the right way. I understand perfectly, though, why others just plain didn't like it.<br /><br />Litlove, having attended many conferences myself, I can't agree more that they are perfect settings for zombies.<br /><br />Carl, yes, there were so many details left out of Bitter Grounds and connections not made. It's odd that I liked it as much as I did. Other people as a great story you didn't like makes perfect sense to me! I suspect Gaiman himself would say he didn't expect people to like it, necessarily. In Keepsakes, he reminds me of the way Stephen King will resort to gratuitous violence when he absolutely doesn't need to. I, like you, much prefer when authors don't do that. It's not at all necessary in order to spook and shock people, especially when you're such a talented and imaginative writer.<br /><br />Alexander, thanks so much! I'm not on Twitter, so I appreciate the publicity for my little blog.<br /><br />GC, yes, your interpretation of Mr. Smith's preference for young girls is a good one, and if that was Gaiman's intention, it worked beautifully for me. I wasn't sure, though, if he wasn't just trying to shock the professor, since he hasn't set himself up to be the most trustworthy guy.Emily Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13971084813206845680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-84291140551133144062011-09-30T08:15:16.456-04:002011-09-30T08:15:16.456-04:00I read all through your post nodding emphatically ...I read all through your post nodding emphatically and saying, oh yes! Clockwork Orange (on my list of most hated movies of all time, but I told my son to watch it nonetheless - and I heard the book on the radio a while ago and enjoyed it, as I had when I first read it - challenging and original) and The Talented My Ripley, to which I had exactly the same reaction. And you're so right about Other People making you think "what if?" - that's just why I found it so very unsettling.<br /><br />Don't you think, though, that we're told that Mr Smith's preference being for young girls is precisely intended to jolt us out of the half-sympathy we've felt towards him until then, to remind us that however ill-used he has been himself, there are no redeeming features and his evil path is really a matter of choice?Jodie Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02442935205880334932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-84026527046467672122011-09-28T12:57:20.330-04:002011-09-28T12:57:20.330-04:00Great post – I’m going to Tweet about your blog.Great post – I’m going to Tweet about your blog.Alexanderhttp://stockphotosfree.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-44801321297207625482011-09-26T15:13:31.632-04:002011-09-26T15:13:31.632-04:00I'm pretty sure that Zora had nothing to do wi...I'm pretty sure that Zora had nothing to do with Gatsby. Fitzgerald's wife was named Zelda, and the characters were all trying to impress each other while bsing about a variety of academic topics and pretending to be smarter than they are. However, Zora Neale Hurston was an influential anthropologist and did spend time in Haiti studying voodoo.<br /><br />Overall, I think that Bitter Grounds was my favorite of the week.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-71440171320423580622011-09-26T13:51:44.596-04:002011-09-26T13:51:44.596-04:00I freely admit that my lack of connection with Goi...I freely admit that my lack of connection with Going Wodwo is a fault of my own and not of Gaiman's. He has demonstrated to me over the years that he can write engaging poetry and I am a fan of the themes of this work. There was just something missing on my part that stopped me from making that magical connection.<br /><br />I think the Zora part of Bitter Grounds was meant to show how people can make the wrong connections and how the narrator just didn't care enough to correct them. <br /><br />For me Bitter Grounds didn't work because the connections between the various parts of the story are too tenuous. I don't mind doing a little work to figure out a story, but Bitter Grounds feels as if I would have to give it too much benefit of the doubt to proclaim that I like it, and I'm unwilling to do that. I know Gaiman can do better. There are brilliant elements to the story (as there are in practically all of Gaiman's work) but this one fell short for me.<br /><br />I would describe Other People as a great story but one that I don't like. Which of course makes no sense unless you've read it. I think Gaiman demonstrates great skill in telling a disturbing though effective story. It just isn't a pleasant one to read. <br /><br />By contrast Gaiman takes a step backwards with Keepsakes and Treasures by undermining his skill in creating disturbing characters by resorting to dirty, disgusting sexual imagery to get the job done. I think Gaiman could have accomplished the same results without going the shocking route and it would have been just as effective. I know this because he has done so before.Carl V. Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948764216438379394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-5623372851480552732011-09-26T04:08:47.756-04:002011-09-26T04:08:47.756-04:00Oh conferences, absolutely, couldn't be a bett...Oh conferences, absolutely, couldn't be a better setting for mass murder, zombies and mayhem. A little of that would have livened up some of the ones I've had to attend no end. I certainly feel like a zombie when I'm in them!litlovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10952927245186474480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-19304797759701679292011-09-25T15:55:57.259-04:002011-09-25T15:55:57.259-04:00Great thoughts! I'm definitely going to have t...Great thoughts! I'm definitely going to have to look more into the Green Man myth and I'll check out your recommendation. And I like your comparison of Other People to A Clockwork Orange. It's that feeling of repulsion and yet acknowledging brilliance at the same time. I didn't feel that with Keepsakes -- just repulsion. What a strange mixture this week!Kristen M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02335598194501733541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28169009.post-51204757576566942602011-09-25T15:38:42.048-04:002011-09-25T15:38:42.048-04:00I was also rather disturbed by this week's rea...I was also rather disturbed by this week's readings, especially concerning Keepsakes and Treasures. My thoughts pretty much match up with yours. There were a few redeeming things about the story, but overall, it was just too... gratuitous, I guess. Sometimes Gaiman doesn't give us enough information in his short stories. But other times he gives way too much!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com