Hello--
I would like to write the blog post in a way regarding the prompt, as that it is an interesting prompt, but at the same time I found a lot of little interesting bits of the book that I wanted to mention in general. I completed Dorothy Loves Maleman but no further, so I may be a bit behind.
So far I am enjoying the book, although I had procrastinated reading it for a long time. I liked the story, but I noted that it deserved my full attention, because it contained far more information in some ways than our other books. So I didn’t start for a long time, because I wanted to properly absorb the individual stories. What I like most about the book so far is that every single story is very unique, like each person’s personalities. Each has a completely different tone and emotion. I felt in some of the stories there was a sense of uncertainty as the reader; should I be offended? What is this other character’s intentions? And with this, it felt realistic, because the main character was reacting in the same way. This was most prominent in the story “A Shadow Table”, with the sweet shoppe Charlotte. When she begins to be mercilessly harassed by Pearl, you are kind of reeling with the suddenness of it, and trying to take in where in the world it came from. All of a sudden she’s flinging her dessert and so on. The author seems to take advantage of confusion to an extent. For instance, ‘the dancing priest’ outside flailing on the water, for six days in a row. I’m debating whether or not it was real, but I had the impression that the priest was really out there bothering her, trying to get her to move on. Or perhaps not.
The most unnerving story has to be Dorothy Loves Maleman, in which case you are not really sure whose side to take. The whole story was mildly horrifying, and I felt large empathy toward Dorothy. On the other hand, there were hints at her more abnormal actions, like swallowing the locket and not knowing what sex is at nearly 40. When Dorothy was recounting her tale, the elevator scene confused me, due to the wording. Her sister and Frank were romancing in the elevator, but did they actually end up having sex in the department store elevator? It seemed so. Which seemed rather bizarre. Edna seemed obliviously cruel to Dorothy.
Regarding the prompt, the artifacts from the past really make the story more of a reality. Without them, the stories are hardly something of the past; they could take place in any dimension at any time. Adding in all of the words, phrases, and objects of the time periods makes it believable and gives the reader an idea of what kind of life the character lived. I found it very impressive how well they were integrated in, and how much there was in the language and on every page.
Wow, now I really need to catch up and read Dorothy loves Maleman. Swallowing a locket?! That's taking pica to the extreme!
ReplyDeleteI, too, noticed Tanya's observation about the priest. Here the Realism verges into Magical Realism perhaps? I was under the impression that the water-walking, flailing priest was a figment of conscience.
Like Victoria and Tanya, I've found this book more difficult to get into than Seasons and Woman. It is certainly more low key...but no less intense, once the slow burn ignites. (Got wildfires on the brain re: Arizona, etc.).
Whereas the other two books used lyric repetition extensively, Fulton seems to pour a lot of attention into details of the main characters' emotion/thought processes.
As the stories progress I am more and more intrigued with this family. I see Fulton's attention to period detail like a soft blanket over the ragged edges of the text. Sometimes I am expecting sweet and sensitive and I get harsh and alerting.
ReplyDeleteWhat do people think about the eel talk from Annie? What do those eels signify? They are clearly important since they appear in text every other page.
I am curious to see where this ends from Peg Flynn (drowning?) Edna and the missing locket (did she get it back) to Beatlemania Mania....