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Book Discussion: Brokeback Mountain

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Front-Ranger:
Yes that's sad...but at least thousands of viewers did!!

Front-Ranger:
More about the prologue:

Did you know that you can HEAR the prologue being read by Rodney Giles, master Brokeback storyteller!!? Go right here:

http://brokeback2007.com/events/reading.html

Rodney is reading the ENTIRE story in May at the Brokeback BBQ 2007!!

Also, the ABCz Playerz are in the process of devoting a round or two in the ABC Game to the prologue!!

Front-Ranger:
The prologue of the story is very interesting for many reasons. It is like a story within a story. It tells us in a microcosm what we are about to see expanded. It prepares us to read the rest of the story attuned to the clues we will find. One of the interesting things about the story is that it is italicized. Why? Well, it may be as simple as a desire to set off the words in the prologue from the rest of the story. But, it may not be as simple as that. You can never tell with Annie Proulx. She is a sly one.

Just for the sake of curiousity, let's go on and look at some of the phrases in the story that are italicized.

But, before we do, I would also like to point out that these phrases are ALL CAPS in the Story to Screenplay book. So, in this next part, I'm going to be talking about The New Yorker version of the story, because all caps hurt my eyes.  ::)

Join in everybody!!

Front-Ranger:
When Aguirre starts to talk in the story, the italicized words start to appear. (BTW, it's interesting that two Jehovah-type figures appear in the story, one at the beginning--Aguirre--and one at the end--John C. Twist, Jack's dad, intoning their pronouncements)

He says: “Tomorrow morning we’ll truck you up the jump-off.” Pair a deuces goin nowhere.

The first two words, tomorrow morning, are italicized. Why? I don't know, but I immediately thought of the other place where the word tomorrow appears. It is the last word that Jack ever hears from Ennis.

Front-Ranger:
Here's another thing Aguirre says in his instructions, with italicized words:

“…but the herder”—pointing at Jack with a chop of his hand—“pitch a pup tent on the Q.T. with the sheep, out a sight, and he’s goin a sleep there.”

With it being Easter just recently, I had a different reaction to this pronouncement than I usually do. For one thing, I find it heartbreaking because as we will see later, Jack did end up "sleeping" (dying) and with the sheep, which I fondly think of as us, the readers of the story and his brothers in spirit.

'Nother thing. That Aguirre is such an Assertive guy--not only does he get the lion's share of the italicized words, but he actually chops with his hand. I wince whenever a chop is directed at Jack and, in the movie, Jack is sitting by the campfire with the ax handle appearing right out of his head!! Ouch! With this kind of writing, it's a wonder that we are surprised by the ending of the story but we are. I still remember the shock, the first time I read it back almost ten years ago...

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