"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Response to "Love of My Life" by T.C. Boyle

T. C. Boyle’s “Love of My Life” is not at all what I was expecting to read when I first read the title. The title disgusted me when I first saw it because I was expected a sloppy soppy love story about star-crossed teens finding true love. I guess in a way I was right but in more ways I believe I was wrong. The piece was captivating but there are two parts that I can’t get out of my head. The first was the graphic threat that China made to crawl into the woods and bleed to death instead of going to a hospital. That was brilliant. It equated her to an animal and made her fear absolutely animalistic. Boyle’s is genius. The second scene I could not get out of my mind was when Jeremy threw the baby into the dumpster. It was so abrupt and startling and I absolutely did not see it coming. When he describes the noise the baby made as it hit the dumpster my stomach turned. I personally have not heard such a noise and I’m pretty sure most readers of the story are in the same boat as me, however I have thrown trash into dumpsters and heard the noise it makes many a times. I think that’s why it was so powerful. Boyle took something relatable and turned it into something morose and powerful. I also think this story is relevant because of the age of the characters, being close to our age. Boyle’s story was wonderful to read.

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2 comments:

  1. CarrieFebruary 9, 2012 at 7:11 PM

    This would be a good model for you on how to deal with a dramatic situation without the conventions of genre or melodrama. And also how to cover a lot of time in the limited space of a story.

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  2. CarrieFebruary 9, 2012 at 7:26 PM

    Cary, don't forget these posts should be 300 words.

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