Author Topic: The short story  (Read 21824 times)

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: The short story
« Reply #30 on: December 05, 2006, 12:21:34 am »
I second that. So sad, yet so true.
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Offline CarlaMom2

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Re: The short story
« Reply #31 on: December 05, 2006, 08:48:57 am »
"temporary silence"  I like that.  I think of Eniis at the end how bleak he was, too.  Think of him years down the road how truly empty his life was without JAck.  Even though they didn't see eachother everyday, he still had the next time he was to see JAck to hold on to.  Imagine how he was feeling not having that to hold on to or anyone else for that matter.  Depressing, huh? :'(

Offline David

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Re: The short story
« Reply #32 on: December 05, 2006, 09:01:17 am »
  That part where Ennis goes back
to the sheep that one night after talking with Jack at camp..... he felt he could paw the white out of the moon.  He had never had that much fun before.
How sad is that ! 

Karen

Karen,  that is one of a few KEY moments I wish they had put into the movie.    But I can imagine Ang couldn't figue out how to correctly depict that on film.   

There are so many little details in the story that are "thoughts" the boys have.   Probably near impossible to put on film without a narrator.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: The short story
« Reply #33 on: December 05, 2006, 10:31:54 am »
Re: The trailer in the story vs. the trailer in the movie

Not to belabor the point, just wanted to add that when I was reading the story before bed last night, I rediscovered another detail. When Annie talks about the wind blowing around the trailer when Ennis wakes up that morning, she describes the sides/walls of the trailer as curved. That detail is probably what influenced me to visualize a small, ratty old travel-trailer, compared to the "house trailer" we see in the film.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline David

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Re: The short story
« Reply #34 on: December 05, 2006, 10:39:28 am »
Truth is,  when she writes about Ennis peeing in the sink it didn't even occur to me that the trailer didn't have a bathroom.     

I recalled a scene from "More Tales of the City" where a hired hit man pee'd in his sink because he was on the phone in the kitchen and had to pee.     Yes, a low class thing to do.   

I thought Anne was trying to show us how depressed Ennis was by his situation and environment.   Peeing in the sink implied he just didn't give a damn anymore.

Yes, I was disturbed when I read it.     It was a shocking contrast to the Ennis I saw in the movie who (early on) was always tucking in his shirt because he cared about looking presentable despite his meager income.

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: The short story
« Reply #35 on: December 05, 2006, 10:53:58 am »
That's very interesting, Jeff, about the travel-trailer. Now that you mention it, the trailer seems to be almost a womb-like structure, like AP is "bookending" Ennis's life. And David, you also bring up an interesting point about the sink. This is the second or third time that a sink appears in the story; previously Alma is washing dishes in the sink while outing Ennis at Thanksgiving, and we are given a clue to its significance by her wrenching of the faucet and the gushing of the water as if calling out to its wild cousin, the mountain stream. Methinks the sink is related to that other container the bucket which we know is the vessel for the life-force. Containers are very important in the story. When Ennis is pissing in the sink, he's literally pissing his life away.  :'(
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: The short story
« Reply #36 on: December 05, 2006, 10:59:38 am »
I thought Anne was trying to show us how depressed Ennis was by his situation and environment.   Peeing in the sink implied he just didn't give a damn anymore.

That's entirely possible. I recognize that sometimes I tend to be quite literal in my visualizations. In this case for me it's just that Ennis is naked when he gets out of bed, it's a cold and windy morning, the trailer doesn't have a bathroom, and he has to relieve himself, so. ...
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline David

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Re: The short story
« Reply #37 on: December 05, 2006, 11:09:45 am »
You are probably right Jeff.   An older trailer back then most likely didnt have a toilet.    And if you wake up and gotta pee real bad and its cold and windy out I can see Ennis taking the sink shortcut, especially if ya gotta pee and not enough time to get dressed to run for the outhouse.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: The short story
« Reply #38 on: December 05, 2006, 12:03:17 pm »
You are probably right Jeff.   An older trailer back then most likely didnt have a toilet.    And if you wake up and gotta pee real bad and its cold and windy out I can see Ennis taking the sink shortcut, especially if ya gotta pee and not enough time to get dressed to run for the outhouse.

And at least he turns on the water. ...  ;D

In the end all I can really say is that "travel trailer" as opposed to "house trailer" is the visual image that Annie's writing evokes for me--and it amazes me the vivid images that she can evoke with such spare writing. Genius, just genius. ...
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline nakymaton

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Re: The short story
« Reply #39 on: December 05, 2006, 01:27:25 pm »
I always imagined an old Airstream trailer, for some reason. (Never been inside one, so I don't know what they've got in the way of sinks. But that's what image the "curved sides" brings up for me.)
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