ENCW 202 Spring 2020
Posted in Longing for Answers, Mystery, Point of View on Apr 1st, 2020
One of the most interesting details about “Eisenheim The Illusionist” is that it is written in third person. This makes the entire story seem like a fable or just a fairy-tale, especially since we’re talking about magic tricks and professional illusions back in the 19th (and early 20th) century. Not only does the telling of the […]
Posted in Fantastic, Longing for Answers, Mystery, Point of View on Mar 30th, 2020
When I first read about the moving paintings in Steven Millhauser’s “A Precursor of the Cinema,” I was reminded of the moving paintings in the Harry Potter series, the ones that talked and moved from frame to frame, interacting with both the students and the subjects of the other paintings. In Harry Potter, we know […]
Posted in Captivity, Desperation, dystopia, Fantastic, Isolation, Loneliness, Longing for Answers, Mystery, Obsession on Mar 19th, 2020
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” We’ve all heard of cabin fever. Well, welcome to self-quarantine during the Coronavirus, with social distancing and young folks who are being advised to stay far away from the Boomers. So far my room is clean; we created an at-home office for me in the old guest room; […]
Posted in coronavirus, Death, Desperation, Fragility, Loneliness, Longing for Answers on Mar 16th, 2020
This pandemic is undoubtedly fantastic. It makes me think of The Memory Police. In comparison, the current situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19) is temporary (hopefully), whereas in the novel, they were permanent, and we retain our memories of the things we have lost. Our freedom has been limited. We must practice social distancing and for […]
Posted in Longing for Answers on Mar 3rd, 2020
As an ex-Catholic, this story captured my attention from the very beginning. It feels realistic that many people would consider the winged man to be an angel and treat him reverently, coming from miles around just to catch a glimpse of him. None of them question the fantastical nature of the winged man’s existence because, […]
Posted in Doubling, Longing for Answers on Feb 27th, 2020
While reading “The Resident,” I concluded that this is one of the most interesting stories we have read this semester. The complexity of the main character struggling to find her memories while juggling her writing and anti-social tendencies was really interesting. It left me, as a reader, wondering if the main character had experienced something that made […]
Posted in Desperation, Loneliness, Longing for Answers, Obsession on Feb 3rd, 2020
Salt Slow, in its entirety, can be summed up as the body betraying the narrator. First the transformation in “Mantis,” then people’s Sleeps leaving their bodies in “The Great Awake,” and finally, in “The Collectibles,” a woman collects men’s body parts to supposedly build a better boy. There are concepts in this story that we […]
Posted in Desperation, Loneliness, Longing for Answers on Jan 27th, 2020
In “Inventory,” we encounter a woman reminiscing over her past sexual experiences and telling us about the outbreak of a virus. By the end of the story, we learn that she has been isolated on an island the entire time waiting for death. Now, in movies and even books, we’ve witnessed the tale of “the […]