Man from the South

Alright guys, tonight is the night where I get to recommend two stories to you.  For the first, I have chosen a short story by the Norwegian author Roald Dahl.  This story has been adapted several times for the screen, including a 1960 short short film featuring Alfred Hitchcock and Steve McQueen, and a 1995 short film featuring Quentin Tarantino and Bruce Willis.  “But isn’t he a kids’ writer,” some might ask; yes, Dahl was primarily famous for his children’s stories, but he also has written a fair amount of books and short stories for adults. Plus, if you thought he was a good author as a child, just wait until you read this short story of his titled Man from the South. Man from the South http://maggiemcneill.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/man-from-the-south.pdf What would you bet for a car?  Man from the South, by Roald Dahl, is about a sneaky South American trickster named Carlos who bets people cars in exchange for their fingers.  The story takes place by the pool deck of a hotel in 1948.  While the nameless narrator/protagonist lounges in a deckchair, Carlos walks over and sits in the deckchair next to him.  Eventually, Carlos and a soldier who’s relaxing in the pool strike up a conversation, which then turns into a wager. The bet is that if the soldier can light up his lighter ten times out of ten in the windy outdoors, then gets a car from Carlos.  If the soldier fails to light the lighter one of the ten times, Carlos gets his pinky finger.  The bet gets pretty intense, and a few words about the ending:  expect the unexpected. While the story may not have a hook, this is compensated for through Dahl’s impeccable writing style which will leave a reader feeling as if they are drifting through a story.  For that reason, I would recommend this story to a person who hates to read longer short stories, novellas, and novels because the story it is so easy to read that it takes nearly no mental energy.  What is nice about Dahl’s short stories is that he doesn’t overdo the details to the point of boredom, but effectively paints a picture of a story with a great setting and era within short concise sentences.  Another aspect of his writing that makes this story easy to follow is how the plot is being narrated by the protagonist, which allows us to get a more personal view of what is a happening in the story.  I really like the first person narrative because it gives me the feeling of being in the story.

The Hitch-Hiker

You may be looking at my recommendations list and be thinking, “aw what, another stupid Roald Dahl story,” but like the last story, this one which is called The Hitch-Hiker is written for the competent and the mature.  “Why does he like Roald Dahl so much,” you may ask, and if you asked me that, I would most likely say that I like him because I have loved his work since I was five-years-old.  Through and through, this guy knows how to write a story, and while this one may not be as famous as Man from the South, it is still an amazing story to read.  Enjoy!


The Hitch-Hiker
By Roald Dahl
http://www.netprof.pt/Ingles/PDF/TheHitchhikerb.pdf

Who would you pick up on the road?  The piece that I am recommending is titled The Hitch-Hiker and was written by Roald Dahl .  The story is about a nameless author who picks up a mysterious hitchhiker while driving to London during the mid 1970s (we can deduct this from the fact that the protagonist is driving a BMW 3.3 li which was made from 1975-1977).  The hitchhiker is a very strange man: he looks like a rat, he goes to horse races, but he doesn’t watch them or bet, and he won’t disclose his job to anybody.  The hitchhiker eventually goads the protagonist into driving his top notch BMW at a high speed, at which point the police pulls them, and tickets the protagonist.  Furious at the his passenger for getting him in trouble, the protagonist threatens to throw him out of the car.  Just as the protagonist is about to force the hitchhiker out, the he reveals a secret to the driver, and as if nothing happened, the protagonist proceeds to drive just as he had before.

As in Man from the South, The Hitchhiker does not have a clear and direct hook, but rather starts off with,  ‘I had a new car’.  While this may not be very attention grabbing to some, what is interesting about Dahl stories is that they are able to draw the reader in even without a super sharp hook.  Dahl effectively does this by giving us information about the protagonist in short sentences.  By giving us tiny bits of information about our protagonist, Dahl allows us to get to know him a little before we enter the story, which humanizes the character a little more, and works as a method for drawing the readers (including me) in.

Unlike some short stories, which will either build too fast, leaving the reader clueless; or others that go so slowly that the climax is hard to see, this story is nice because it builds at an appropriate speed, it has a clear climatic moment, and the resolution is interesting.  As I have mentioned before: reading Dahl’s work simulates the feeling of floating through a story, which effectively keeps the reader tuned in while encouraging them to read on.  I felt this story was satisfying because of the twist that Dahl included at the end of this story. The twists resolve the story further, and will satisfy any dissatisfaction felt during the climax or resolution.  His twists are one of the primary reasons I love his work because they add spice to his writing.


I really love this story because of the hitchhiker, whose quirky presence really makes the story a lot more fun to read and adds a fun uniqueness to the climax.  I think this story compares pretty well others I have read, and I love it because it is a very relaxed story, yet it carries enough of my interest to keep me awake to read it.  For these reasons, I would have to give this 5/5 stars. I think most readers will enjoy the unique personality of the hitchhiker, who is clever, sneaky, and conniving. I also think that they will enjoy the twist at the end! The twists are a staple of Dahl’s writing—and as I’m reading, I’m also trying to figure out what the big surprise is.  After reading this story, it makes me glad to know that the protagonist is safe.  I don’t know why, but it comforts me to see my protagonist safely on his way, and I hope that you will feel the same way after reading it.

The Littlest Hitler

To be honest I really feel bad for this kid.  He lives with just his father because his mother left his dad, his father is kinda crazy (taught a 4th grader how to roll up a blunt), his father seems a little bit like a deadbeat, and to top it off, this stupid same dad has the swell idea of dressing his kid up like Hitler.  That just seems so irresponsible on the part of a parent to get their kid into hot water by playing a "joke" on them for their own amusement.  The kid in this story really seems like a good person, he has friends, he doesn't seem like that stupid of a person, and he really seems like a victim of circumstance.  But besides those components of the protagonist's personal life I think this was a pretty good story.  I really didn't like how much of a jerk the dad was though, but enough with him, he's good for taking care of his son especially when the mother seems to want out of the picture.  Do you know who I dislike in this story?  That's right the Lisette kid, what a little sh*t, I don't care if the main character is dressed as Hitler for Halloween because the father thought it would be funny, or that Lisette is dressed as Anne Frank because that little girl is a bully.  I've met people like her as a 4th grader, and one thing I can say is that it is not fun to be their victim.  I thought that the whole story was amazing, especially when he's in the haunted house with the pseudo-hooker, although I don't know if shrugging was the best thing he could have done.  At the end when the kid went trick-or-treating I thought that the father could have done a better job of cheering him up, considering the tough day he'd had, but he didn't really do it that well, and I think that was a big no-no in the parenting business.  What was most surprising about this story was the end, because the protagonist stuck his hand into a fire to see how much it hurts, and that doesn't sound something a 4th grader would do.  To sum it, I loved the story telling loved the story, (even if it was a little weird) and am happy to have read this story; it was really good.

A story from my childhood

Once when I was three I tried going to the toilet for the first time, but because my behind was a little bit small for the seat I feel in.  Now a normal three-year-old would have called for his mom because:

a)  he was scared of being in potential "danger" and usually would have let out a blood curdling scream for his mother

or b)  been able to form basic word to signal his parents

but the problem with me was that it wasn't till I was four or five that I was able to talk and form complete sentences, as well as makes sounds other than crying; and that because I didn't feel any immediate danger being trapped under a toilet seat in a toilet bowl, I contently sat there and awaited my parents rescue.  But as an energetic three-year-old, sitting down when Arthur wasn't on was hard, so in an attempt to escape, I started tugging on the wide-white rope to the left of me, hoping to escape from the toilet bowl.  But as I found out to my despair, the white rope no matter how much I tugged it could not support my muscular three-year-old body.  I believe that I had waited in that toilet bowl for thirty minutes, trying to pull my way out with the rope, when my grandmother, who was wondering where I had gone came into the bathroom and saw me trapped in that white valley of doom.  Immediately she pulled me out to safety, and to her despair pulled all the white from that I had used in an attempt to escape from the dirty bottom of the toilet seat and into the trashcan.  Had my grandmother forgotten me, and had simply been going to the bathroom, I may have been in deep doo-doo, literally; but thanks to her actions, I possible death sentence turned into a mere thirty minute bath, and I am still here to tell the tale

A Good Man is Hard to Find

Even though the characters in the story all die at the end, I still just loved how nice and simple the plot was.  I didn't like the racial slurs involved, but besides that, a fine story.  I felt the beginning was a little confusing, (because I thought they were on a plane for a little bit) but once I realized they were always in a car, I was fine.  While I liked the simplicity of this story, I feel that because of its lack of depth besides the good man (which I'll go into in the next paragraph) its really hard to say anything besides, "nice job author, that was a great story you told".  What I liked about this story besides its simplicity was the writing and the plot, I was actually surprised when the Misfit killed the whole family, and even though it may have seemed a little shocking, I was prepared for that to happen to the point where I'm not even going to go into detail about it.  Overall, I liked this story because it had a nice  little "introduction"(which some of the stories lack) and because the plot after the "introduction" was straightforward, and directly presented the point that was presented early in the story which was:  A Good Man is Hard to Find.  What I liked best about this story was that there was really nothing to complain about, which saves me an awful lot of time and space.  In the end, I thought this was one of the better stories we've read, even if it was more unusual.

What is the significance of the title "A Good Man is
Hard to Find"

I think what the title is saying is that nowadays it is very rare that somebody will do something for another person out of the kindness of their heart no matter the situation.  Which is why it was weird in a way that this murderer the misfit stopped to help the family, even though he was being watched; of course he killed them when the grand mother wouldn't shut her trap, but up to the point that grandmother spills the beans the Misfit seems pretty helpful, and doing it out of the good of his heart.  I guess what the significance of this title is also relates to the fact that you can find a good man even in the most despicable sounding people; which may also translate into don't judge a book by its cover.  But overall, I think that it relates back to finding a good man is hard, but when you do (the misfit) it can be helpful.  My other interpretation of this is that you never know how good a person is until they do something bad, because the Misfit seems pretty nice up until the point the grandmother talks, and then he kills the family, so maybe the author is trying to convey the feeling of, "Is he a good man, ooh... so close," but keep in mind, these are just my ideas and probably aren't spot on for the correct interpretation of the title's relation to the story.

Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?

This story left me coming away from it very creeped out; but before I talk about that, I wonder why this story is for Bob Dylan?  Anyways lets begin: this story was very creepy towards the end, and throughout it, you knew the author was leading up to something.  Our story concerns a girl named Connie who is longing for an "adventure" with guys, who is pretty but stuck in a world with an overachieving-ugly-all-star sister  and a mom who is overly critical of her.  The only place she can find solace is with her friends, and with boys.  During this place in the story, this girl really sounds like a superficial jerk, and she is but later in the book you feel sorry for the situation she's in.  While what I described to you may just sound like teenage sex with consent; this next part is where it gets creepy.  Connie stays home while her family goes to a barbecue and while she's listening to music, this creepy guy comes over to her house in a car, tells her he wants her, and when Connie threatens to call the police; shit gets serious.  The guy (named Arnold Friend) appears to know almost everything about Connie, and he looks like he's forty-years-old.  Eventually he comes into her house and takes her away with him never to return.  This really really creeped me out because not only do I know that the girl is going to get raped but she is also getting kidnapped.  Personally, the thought of getting kidnapped and raped by a forty-year-old pedophile (and his friend) is just too scary to even try to imagine.  But in a way it is ironic that Connie; a girl who is suppressed by her mother and wants to leave the awful vibe she has going in her current life uses boys to escape, is then forcibly forced to leave her house in order to pursue a life she dreamed of.  This story seemed interesting even from the beginning,  but towards the end, I wanted to put the story down and stop reading.  It's just so creepy what Arnold Friend says at the end, how he asks Connie in a creepy voice to come with him, and let everything go because she's going to have a new life.  While the storytelling of this story was amazing, the actual story (while not written badly) was pretty scary to read, it made me feel like I was being watched by a forty-year-old creep.  To sum it up: good story, very scary, creepy plot.

If I had to use a sound track to describe this story here's what I would use... especially for the end

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMfoRqbS-Ko

A&P

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

My reactions to this story.... I loved it, but the story could seem a little flat at times, especially when the story focused in on minor details like the family becoming rich, and especially at the end how the 'angel' became a dot on the sea, I didn't like those moments but (and I'll go back to it later) this story was touching.  My second reaction to this story was, "how did the people of this Caribbean (yes it sounds like a Caribbean island) or Polynesian island not have the brains to realize that this was a bird!  I'm not going to lie if the author hadn't been so blatantly obvious with his use of words such as buzzard, vulture, and hawk I probably would never have caught on to the situation in this story, but as it was, what I felt was a "traffic jam" of descriptions vs. realities did not really ruin the story for me, and in fact it was what I talked about at the beginning that made this story so touching.  Aside from the "Spider Lady" (Spider-Man has been there and done that), who I felt was unnecessary and kind of annoying (but I think the author may have been going in that direction with her a little) I thought it was nice how people with problems would go to the 'angel' to have their problems healed by his holiness, but how even without having powers the angel 'gave' something to each of the people; good or bad.  Why I really liked this was because I felt that it was one of the author's best use of being subtle with what he's conveying, and what I like about this is that by giving the people of the village, and people hurt by life random things, the author is taking the asbestos out of one of the walls (not the fourth) and whispering to the people, "he's not really an angel so stop your foolishness," which I loved.  Overall, this was a great story to read, and aside from my few nitpicks, I would say kudos to the author.

Some questions I have about this story are

a.  What "type" of bird/angel landed in Pelayo's house; was it a stork, a vulture (most probable), or a hawk or anything else?

b.  What Island does the bird/angel live on; because somebody would have to be pretty isolated (or stupid) to believe that a bird was an angel?

c.  What actual physical condition did the Spider Lady actually have, if any (because it isn't as if she's been bitten by a radioactive spider (or am I just being stupid and the whole notion of her condition is fiction within the fiction))?

Half A Day

At first look after reading this story, I felt very confused about what happened.  But when I let what had happened sink in I was a little creeped out.  Within this story we go from a five-year-old boy that struggles to keep up with his father turn into a possibly demented grandpa.  I know that some mysteries should be unsolved, but with this one, I am unsatisfied with what just happy; and in a way, I love it!  But what really confused me was the transition from out of the school to being old, because it seems that after the protagonist meets the guy that meets him outside he becomes old, but its not clear whether he is his father.  I am still a tad confused, but my overall reaction to this story is, "wow, that was cool."

"How to date a brown girl (black girl, white girl, or halfie)"

Okay, if the last two posts weren't great, than the third time ought to be a charm.  My first thoughts after reading this story was wow, this was very underwhelming.  For while this story may have had a reputation of being quite provoking, nothing in this story made me feel all that uncomfortable, and honesty (drastic pause) this story taught me nothing about how to date a black, brown, white or halfie.  This was greatly disappointing to me because I was looking forward to being taught how to date one of these types of girls.  Unluckily for me, I am not a guy from the Dominican Republic who is the dude the on the block that everybody knows, which is why this story was especially disengaging.  I felt that there was very little to like about this story as the transitions from dating one girl to dating another was confusing which wouldn't do me any help if I was dating one girl and then followed the rules for another.  I also had a problem with the general "plot" of this story, as it seemed unclear weather it was a story or had a plot, and for that matter I ask, "was it a brochure?"  Although there are many aspects of this story which I find problematic (so little time so much to say) what I did like about this was the number of rich details the author added to the story, such as the cheese with which the mom is going to kill him, the mom pulling up in the Honda, and the trip to Wendy's; all amazing details from which very useful information is conveyed, although these details may make it seem more personal, if that was what the author was aiming for I would have to say great job.  Overall, I was unimpressed by this story as a result of reading the other two last night; not the worst story I've read (it was actually pretty good) but it did not seem to be on par with the other two previous stories we have read.

Dating advice with the W

First, you walk up to her place.  Ring the doorbell at least three times, for it is the mating call of the babe.  Most importantly remember to keep cool, for girls can easily smell fear, and B.O.  As you walk into her house, be careful of the traps that are lain by the father, such as the intense stare of doom, or the mustache curl of fear, and whatever you do, don't walk into their house, for it is like walking into the lair of a beast in which the father, will mercilessly devour you.  As soon as you see the eyes of thine sweet, run, run as fast as you can, or the father's laser eyes will pierce through your chest, in the case that that does occur, try to keep on running as the father will then rip out your heart and sacrifice it to the Mayan God Kukulkan.  Otherwise, take your girlfriend to a diner (not top fancy, but some can be decent in terms of places to eat with a girl) and eat.  After your girl is defenseless from being tired from the food, that is when you strike like a snake, and kiss her on the cheek, but hold up once you reach her doorstep!!!!!!!  Make sure that you do it before the father opens the door as he will try to again sacrifice you to Kukulkan, but don't do it before she's on the doorstep as then your girlfriend will turn into a wheregiant squid and eat you.  And over everything else, have Barry White playing in the background at all times and don't forget her name.

Happy Endings

Second entry, and no slip ups yet, Let's start shall we.  First off, the third story was my favorite, due to how interesting and complex it was, and second off, I loved what the author did to make this story.  The story surrounds around two main characters, and starts with a main story, which is titled "A" which has alternate endings below that consecutively go down the alphabet each alternate ending.  The end of these stories always ends up connecting back to the original.  The original story called "A", although the most boring, is that two main characters, John and Mary fall in love and die old together.  Because the other stories—no matter how grim they get—connect back to this nice boring story, the short story in total is titled Happy Endings hence the "happy endings" in story "A".  Now to my reactions: loved the story, I was laughing at how out of hand the situations got in these stories, in the third one, letter C, the main character John is cheating on his wife with a hot twenty year old lady and elderly, then finds his paramour high in her house having sex with another guy, buys a hand gun, kills her and her paramour and then kills himself.  Meanwhile his wife just marries another guy, and the story goes back to the happy ending.  I just love the craziness of this story!  Towards the end it focuses on elderly John's old wife and her new husband Fred but always goes back to the happy ending, which although a little dull is still interesting considering that I had to read "A".  The only part that I didn't like about this story is the entire ending, where they talk about "inserting your own thing here" and "all you need to do is add a what and a what and a what" because I feel that it wouldn't have dulled down the content of the story had the author just ended it at the last possible implausible ending.  What I did like about a part of the ending was how the author said that the only authentic ending in this story is the one where both John and Mary die, I have to give the author credit for that, I liked it.  Overall a nice story, and minus the part where the author breaks the fourth wall and gets up in our face about the story nice job!

G.

John, who is a banker that makes millions of dollars a year is married to an ex-strip-club dancer named Mary who only married John for his money. Mary who is 25, hot and ready to party hates living with 36-year-old John, and has long been looking for a chance to cheat.  One day, while at a strip mall, an underwear model named James walks up to her and asks her if she wants to go out.  Eventually after several dates, Mary finds herself in James' bedroom taking off her clothes in front of James until she feels guilty and runs away crying to profess her affection to the always caring, always nice John.  Little does Mary know that John has been cheating with a college cheerleader named Madge, who at the moment she entered was putting on her clothes hastily.

Surprised by what has happened, Mary begins to cry, and John tells her to leave and never come back.  Three weeks after she leaves, the loneliness he feels in his 2-story-mega-mansion creeps to close to him, and he resorts to a life of drinking in which he quits his job, files for bankruptcy, and ends up at a hospital dying of Cirrhosis.

Mary has moved to San Diego where she met a nice man named Fred, marries him, and everything continues as in A, except with different names.

Lady fired because of Borat

link great for story

http://metro.co.uk/2006/11/03/borat-in-the-firing-line-after-job-loss-318791/

The Story of an Hour

I thought that this was a great short story Because of how they introduced her heart problem at the beginning and then subtly hinted to it at the end.  What surprised me the most about this short story was how at the beginning, Mrs. Mallard seemed sad that Mr. Mallard was dead but then it almost seemed like she erupted in a volcano of happiness.  It was quite a fitting ending for her to believe that without her husband there would be years of freedom to come only to see him, and die (losing those years of freedom due to death and the husband) due to the shock and disappointment of realizing that her husband has come back, and that the prospect of living free is apparent no more.  Notice how at the end she dies of heart disease, an aspect of this story for which I applaud the author.  Very subtle.

And of Clay Are We Created

my first reaction to this story was wow!  What a crazy, touching, and loving story, and being my first real post on a story like this, I digress I don't even know where to begin.  Let's start off with my reaction to the plot: very touching, and sweet, while at the same time making me feel lucky to be alive right no.  After listening to a story like that who cares that I didn't get dessert tonight.  The story occurs right after a volcanic eruption consumes a village and occurs in the perspective of a nameless reporter, who is either the spouse of or the girlfriend of another reporter named Rolf Carle, who takes us through a journey of trying to save a young girl's life.  Rolf Carle finds this girl—whose catholic name is Azucena—while she is being uncovered by volunteers who are digging her out, and from that point on makes it his goal to help save this girl.  What struck me about this book the most was how Azucena ended up helping Rolf Carle even more than he could fathom, and even more than he could help her.  But the aspect of this that ended up getting me at the end was the fact that I thought that at the end of the book, she would be crying and Rolf would be crying and she would be happy and Rolf would be happy, but instead, the story veers of this path of normality and what would also make for a good story and goes for how Rolf Carle is the son of a Nazi.  What confused me about this was how arbitrary it seemed to put in "I'm the child of a Nazi, I felt bad at the end of WWII, my father hid my retarded sister Katherina because she was a shame to him, and he left my family for South America so he wouldn't be killed".  This didn't make sense to me because I felt not only did it not add much, but it was impractical and was totally unnecessary.  Even still, that part about his shame as the son of a Nazi was pretty touching indeed.  Overall I don't think I could sum this up in one night, and believe that it may have taken a paper to unearth the meanings of this short story, loved it, it was very touching, and I love the relationship between Azucena and Rolf Carle.