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Marj |
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 6:46 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Mitty wrote:
Quote: I find it facinating when an actor can put across either sex. The listener forgets which gender the reader is, and only hears the proper intonation.
Mitty - You are so right! It's all about being real. Truthful, Authentic. When an actor is truly being real, the gender is forgotten about. Or at least it should be.
I guess it's OK, for us to be off topic? I'm sure when Yambu and Charles begin talking we'll shut up. So to get back to what I was saying, I have heard terrible stuff, where you can hear the actor change voices for gender. It's unnecessary. If as an actor if your playing the action rather then the gender it will sound fine.
But some times you have to change voices as Jim Dale does playing over 40 characters in one book. But he does it to differentiate, not to play genders.
Much of my own narration are first person articles written by men. And what and how they write tends to differ from women. So, I don't have to do a thing. But I admit, I really love doing women's articles and books. Maybe it's because I do them so rarely. I can identify with them more as well. But that's just personal preference. |
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Marj |
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 12:13 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Yambu wrote:
Quote: Slumus Lordicus is a great slice of life. Years ago I did a lot of eviction work for government subsidized (Title rentals, and this nails it. "If there was a skill to renting out property, it was the ability to spot such a person and never let him through the front door." Not having that skill can bust you over time.
The tenant Lance is always on offense, and the owners can do nothing. My feeling empathy for Dad in this situation is a compliment to the author. I know all of you are just dying to critique this précis.
Not I. I also empathized with Dad. No, that's the wrong word. I was touched by seeing his vulnerable side. I think Sedaris may nave been too?
I laughed at the title of this piece but actually found it quite touching. Having had a landlord try to evict me unfairly and illegally, I never thought I could ever side with another, but here I am to say I did. And that too is a compliment to the author. Add to the fact, there were elements of the piece that were identifiable too, and you have IMO, maybe not one of the funniest stories but surely one of the most touching. |
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yambu |
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 2:00 am |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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Marj wrote: ....I was touched by seeing his vulnerable side..... Me, too. The race aspect is touchy territory, and Sedaris is able to move about in it, and illuminate it. The tenant Lance is a seasoned pro at playing the race card. The confrontation that he scripts, directs, produces and plays in front of the other tenants: "You think I'm just some nigger you can shout at? Is that what you're saying, that I'm a nigger? Are you calling me a nigger?", catches Dad profoundly unaware. Poor Dad, who's never even used the word, can only reply, "You're full of crap", and go back to his chainsaw, ignorant of how he had just been manipulated. This is terrific writing, of the spare kind. |
_________________ That was great for you. How was it for me? |
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Marj |
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 4:00 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Yambu wrote:
Quote: The race aspect is touchy territory, and Sedaris is able to move about in it, and illuminate it.
Oh, you are so right. Not an easy thing to make the minorities the villians of the piece. But once you step into Sedaris' world he transports you to the moment and all preconcieved notions just vanish! I think it vanished for the Sedarises too. Until Lance made it an issue.
Yambu, I've heard of people like this. People who settle in and find one reason after another not to pay their rent. I never thought I'd meet them though. I understand this is quite common, and yet for as much as I pay each month, I still find it shocking.
I wonder if you found another aspect of this story as real as I did. Parents tend to hold us to such high standards. So when I saw Dad treat others with lesser expectations it struck me as so very true. He saved his expectations for his son, not his tenants or his friends. I don't know when I've come across this before? |
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yambu |
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 4:27 am |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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Hamlet's father's ghost had pretty high expectations. Two of the three East of Eden fathers all had heightened standards for at least some of their sons. I can't think of others right off, except to say that Chekhov and Turgenev both dealt with this. There have to be hundreds more. But you are right to point it out here. I hadn't thought of Dad that way. |
_________________ That was great for you. How was it for me? |
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Marj |
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 4:50 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Yambu,
How easily we forget? You are quite right, of course. And somehow this seemed different. Maybe it's because we see them in comparison to the standards he expects from his tenants. Or maybe I just remembered my dad's treatment of his friends in comparison to his children. At the time I didn't recognize them as expectations. Now I do. |
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ehle64 |
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:45 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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Has nearly everyone finished the book? Are we ready to move on? Are there any particular stories that you're dying to chat about? Any throughlines that delight, amaze or even shock you? Anything at all, this forum is now officially wide open |
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Marj |
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:33 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Hiya Handsome,
I'm still working but will try to join you later tonight. |
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sioux |
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 6:07 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 802
Location: philly burbs
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Hi guys - sorry I've been slacking on the discussion here - my new life as a freelancer gives me unpredictable schedules and energy levels. And honestly, the vibe was feeling kinda negative - when I dread looking at the responses to my posts its time to take a little break. But, I just returned from five days in the Bahamas and I'm feeling pretty refreshed and revived.
I'll discuss any story that anyone wants. My favorite in the book, for emotional reasons, is Repeat after Me.
As for Slumus Lordicus, one of the things I liked about it was how David and his father pulled together for once, putting on their best behavior for the weird tenants.
And I knew some types like those tenants during my white trash upbringing. The Taylors rang quite true to me. |
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sioux |
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 6:20 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 802
Location: philly burbs
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and I went back to look for it and I notice y'all skipped Hejira - that very short story was really compelling to me. "Our little talk was supposed to be one of those defining moments that shape a person's adult life, but he'd been so uncomfortable with the most important word that he'd left it out completely..." The sort of clueless tone with which he relates the story is just a bit heartbreaking. He really communicates what a selfish little world he was living in, so self-absorbed that he didn't even feel the prick of his dad's hurtful eviction. |
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pedersencr |
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 6:57 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 921
Location: New Orleans
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Feel safe, Sioux. No more vibes from here. |
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ehle64 |
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 10:59 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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Siouxms -- thx so much for coming back to finish the discussion. We talked earlier and I think we can bring some of the stories up to full tilt if everyone else pitched in. That totally includes you, Charles! Also, I think you're right about "Hejira" being a pivotal representation about both sides, the father's and the son's, but I want to reread before going further. All else? Take off, eh? |
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Marilyn |
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 10:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8210
Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
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I haven't finished the book yet, but I'm closing in. Enjoying the hell out of it! I already felt sorry for Dad with "Consider the Stars" because of how embarrassed David is of him. |
_________________ http://ferdyonfilms.com |
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sioux |
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 10:34 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 802
Location: philly burbs
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wow - its a ghost town here....I'm thinking of taking off my clothes. |
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Rod |
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 12:39 am |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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Last edited by Rod on Sun May 07, 2006 12:21 am; edited 1 time in total _________________ A long time ago, but somehow in the future...It is a period of civil war and renegade paragraphs floating through space. |
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