Re: JCO: New story: Spider Boy
Hi Cyrano,
Thanks for your impressions. It's always interesting to hear how a class
reacts to her novels and stories.
I too was very taken by the story Spider Boy and once again, JCO's
wonderful ability to enter a character's mind, this time and adolescent
boy's mind, was impressive. I also liked the way she conveyed the
mother's own preoccupations, her shame and shallowness; the veiled
concern for her son at the police station was so much more about her
'reputation' than Phillip's mental wellbeing. I too was worried an
Arnold Friend was on the path, dreading the end... which was very
poingant indeed.
I think I'll go read another story....
Lara
Cyranomish@aol.com wrote:
>Hi, Laurie: That's the truth. TV's come eons since FATHER KNOWS BEST, a
>show I still enjoy, with it's playful, old-fashioned moral lessons and
>instruction in middle class deportment.
> I just read "Spider Boy" in the New Yorker. For me, the story did its
>crucial pivot the first time the words "the hitchhiker" appear. From there the
>story took off! I liked the theme of the story -- which also appeared in
>JCO's young adult novel FREAKY GREEN EYES -- that when a young person elects to do
>the morally right act, that choice can make his/her life very difficult and
>unpleasant for a LONG time. (Unlike in Father Knows Best, where the correct
>moral choice may make the young hero/heroine's life a bit uncomfortable for a
>little while, but one always gets Father's quiet, wholehearted approval and warm
>support.)
> When the hero of "Spider Boy" is ordered out of the car and decides to
>walk up a hiking trail, I was frantic to see where in hell this story was
>headed. I was afraid he might encounter some Arnold Friend type up the path. What
>he does encounter on the hiking trail created a deeply poignant effect: the
>expression of his heart's secret desire -- impossible to be fulfilled now,
>thanks to what has happened in his family.
> Other JCO stories that came to mind around "Spider Boy" were those that
>deal with a young person being used as "bait" by a predator: ie "The Girl With
>the Blackened Eye," the novella FIRST LOVE, and the novel MAN CRAZY.
> There's also the theme of the young person who discovers that his/her
>parent has committed an unforgiveable crime, as in the short story "The Fruit
>Cellar" or the novel FREAKY GREEN EYES. I know there are other examples of
>this theme in other fiction, but I'm spacing now: I guess WONDERLAND comes
>close: what Jesse's father does to the kids in his family at the start of the
>novel. JCO grapples with issues that few other writers care to explore. I used
>"The Girl With the Blackened Eye," in a class a few years back, and most of
>the women were very upset with it and wondered why JCO would write such a
>disturbing tale, and make it so hard to forget. One reader was nearly in tears, as
>though someone had forced her to watch pornography.
>Cyrano
>
>
>
>In a message dated 9/13/2004 3:49:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>laurie@betteredit.net writes:
>
><< Maybe in the old days the New Yorker was more
> exclusively urban and middle class. So was TV, back in
> the 50s!
> Laurie >>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>Tone Clusters: The Joyce Carol Oates discussion group
>
>To send a message to the group, email jco@usfca.edu
>To subscribe, email majordomo@usfca.edu: subscribe jco
>To unsubscribe, email majordomo@usfca.edu: unsubscribe jco
>
>
>
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To send a message to the group, email jco@usfca.edu
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Thanks for your impressions. It's always interesting to hear how a class
reacts to her novels and stories.
I too was very taken by the story Spider Boy and once again, JCO's
wonderful ability to enter a character's mind, this time and adolescent
boy's mind, was impressive. I also liked the way she conveyed the
mother's own preoccupations, her shame and shallowness; the veiled
concern for her son at the police station was so much more about her
'reputation' than Phillip's mental wellbeing. I too was worried an
Arnold Friend was on the path, dreading the end... which was very
poingant indeed.
I think I'll go read another story....
Lara
Cyranomish@aol.com wrote:
>Hi, Laurie: That's the truth. TV's come eons since FATHER KNOWS BEST, a
>show I still enjoy, with it's playful, old-fashioned moral lessons and
>instruction in middle class deportment.
> I just read "Spider Boy" in the New Yorker. For me, the story did its
>crucial pivot the first time the words "the hitchhiker" appear. From there the
>story took off! I liked the theme of the story -- which also appeared in
>JCO's young adult novel FREAKY GREEN EYES -- that when a young person elects to do
>the morally right act, that choice can make his/her life very difficult and
>unpleasant for a LONG time. (Unlike in Father Knows Best, where the correct
>moral choice may make the young hero/heroine's life a bit uncomfortable for a
>little while, but one always gets Father's quiet, wholehearted approval and warm
>support.)
> When the hero of "Spider Boy" is ordered out of the car and decides to
>walk up a hiking trail, I was frantic to see where in hell this story was
>headed. I was afraid he might encounter some Arnold Friend type up the path. What
>he does encounter on the hiking trail created a deeply poignant effect: the
>expression of his heart's secret desire -- impossible to be fulfilled now,
>thanks to what has happened in his family.
> Other JCO stories that came to mind around "Spider Boy" were those that
>deal with a young person being used as "bait" by a predator: ie "The Girl With
>the Blackened Eye," the novella FIRST LOVE, and the novel MAN CRAZY.
> There's also the theme of the young person who discovers that his/her
>parent has committed an unforgiveable crime, as in the short story "The Fruit
>Cellar" or the novel FREAKY GREEN EYES. I know there are other examples of
>this theme in other fiction, but I'm spacing now: I guess WONDERLAND comes
>close: what Jesse's father does to the kids in his family at the start of the
>novel. JCO grapples with issues that few other writers care to explore. I used
>"The Girl With the Blackened Eye," in a class a few years back, and most of
>the women were very upset with it and wondered why JCO would write such a
>disturbing tale, and make it so hard to forget. One reader was nearly in tears, as
>though someone had forced her to watch pornography.
>Cyrano
>
>
>
>In a message dated 9/13/2004 3:49:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>laurie@betteredit.net writes:
>
><< Maybe in the old days the New Yorker was more
> exclusively urban and middle class. So was TV, back in
> the 50s!
> Laurie >>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>Tone Clusters: The Joyce Carol Oates discussion group
>
>To send a message to the group, email jco@usfca.edu
>To subscribe, email majordomo@usfca.edu: subscribe jco
>To unsubscribe, email majordomo@usfca.edu: unsubscribe jco
>
>
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tone Clusters: The Joyce Carol Oates discussion group
To send a message to the group, email jco@usfca.edu
To subscribe, email majordomo@usfca.edu: subscribe jco
To unsubscribe, email majordomo@usfca.edu: unsubscribe jco
posted by Admin at
4:35 PM
