Intro to Lit Blog

Saturday. Pages 81 - 155

I feel the strongest aspect of this book is the style in which it is written. The author is able to write in a way that resembles the human thought process by breaking up long narrative with flashbacks or sudden changes in focus. A prime example of this is when Henry is playing squash with his friend Jay on page 106 and his concentration is interrupted by the memory of his encounter with Baxter earlier that day. “But as the ball floats off the front wall towards him, unwanted thoughts are shaking at his concentration. He sees the pathetic figure of Baxter in the rear-view mirror. This is precisely the moment he should have stepped forwards for a back-hand volley…” We can all relate to distractions caused by uncomfortable or traumatic events, and the author does a very nice job of recreating how a memory can interfere with the real world. Another example of this is on page 129 when he is walking to the car from the fish monger and his mind wonders and he begins to think of random thoughts that eventually leads to a story about his father-in-law which then leads to a story about how his daughter, Daisy, had a falling out with her grandfather. When the story is over, Henry is stuck in traffic where is mind starts to wonder again. We are given no information about his trip home and the time is passed only by his somewhat random thoughts. I thought these segments were the best in the pages we read because it portrays a man that is running on “autopilot” and is lost in his thoughts. These segments may have been a little long, but when I was looking back through the book, I realized just how random Henry’s thoughts were. He didn’t start talking about his daughter, but the smell of the air triggered a cascade of memories that eventually led there. This is a very realistic view of how a person thinks and I have never been exposed to this type of writing before. This style is applied through the entire book and I feel it is a very unique way to get to know the main character. Because we get to see inside Henry’s head and how he views the world, I felt like he was a real person. Although not much happens as far as plot is concerned, I feel worried or even anxious when Henry is put into different situations and I almost know exactly how he will react to them, which is a credit to the way the author has developed his character.

posted by rcunning @ 4:51 PM