"There are stories there that are about other people besides the main character, and they are 100 percent fictional. But the stories that are autobiographical, the character is a shocking and almost grotesque version of myself. It’s not really me. It certainly deals with feelings I’ve had myself, but ratcheted up to ten. If you could create a character made of all your worst insecurities and worst feelings and have someone say them out loud for you through a megaphone, that’s what Glory is. It’s not an accurate reflection of my character or how you’d find me in a conversation. And certainly, I always kept in mind that if something made me uncomfortable in myself or in a situation, that’s where I would go. I would make that more of my focus; I would make it bigger."
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| Photo by Johnnie Sage, 2010 |
When reflecting on "Parachute Silk," take a look back at the way Carter starts with the list, and the way that concept structures the story, and how the story moves away from it, and back to it, and how the plot unfolds around and underneath it, tension amping up and up through narrator Glory's relationship with Matthew.
I praise Emily Carter’s courage to face the ‘uncomfortable’, in herself and in her stories. I’ve come to admire that in the authors we’ve read so far; the rawness and natural honesty of discomfort makes the stories so much richer. Carter does this in her stories and does it well. I loved “East on Houston”, maybe even a little more than “Parachute Silk”. I love that it’s driven by the girl’s senses in that moment, and not plot. I was confused as to what the screeching of brakes actually meant, in the end, but up until that I felt so immersed in the girl’s surroundings. The repetition of “Excuse me Miss” works well to create some of the only concrete structure in the story…it’s something that becomes familiar, but each time it builds the tension of its own meaning. We never know how the one-sided conversation will end. Is the girl safe?
ReplyDeleteI found it fascinating the way the story was told. Every man calling out to her was a one-sided dialogue, with her never responding, yet as readers we’re only given one side of the story: the girl’s. So it’s one-sided on both ends, if that makes sense. I also liked “Parachute Silk” and the way the list became its foundation. The story frequently returns back to the idea that this narrator is trying to shape her life into a list, or really just into some sort of order, some sort of sense. She refers back to the list by adding memories and ideas to it as she goes along, and we can see her piecing this bit of her life together as she goes so that it’s something we belong to for now too.
One thing that really stood out about Emily Carter’s writing is her choice to write about the uncomfortable and darker side of life. With the character of Glory in both stories, she steps far away from the happy and controlled emotions to just the sheer rawness in one’s daily life. I liked how she described Glory in the interview as “a character made of all your worst insecurities and worst feelings and have someone say them out loud for you through a megaphone.” That approach with not only the character but also the plotlines of the stories shows that she is not afraid to put everything out on the page.
ReplyDeleteReading “East on Houston,” I could definitely feel the tension between the main character and what was going on around her. One line that stuck out to me in particular was when Glory asked herself if she knew what she was getting herself into, and then replied, “Nothing good, but listen, the voices of men lifted me like a murmuring tide and floated me down towards the river…” (106-107) In that sentence, “a murmuring tide” “lifted” and “floated” all conflict the “nothing good” that preceded it. The tension between the words also shows that while Glory understands that the road she’s headed down isn’t the best, she’s not reproached by it. In “Paper Silk,” I also liked how the list was at the core of the story. I thought that it was interesting how she built of off both “What I Will Never Do” and “What I Would Never Do.” As more information is revealed about Matthew’s sex addiction and Glory’s HIV, the tension between him and Glory intensifies and brings out insecurities in the both of them.
I loved "East On Houston", like Julie said I too loved the way she used "Excuse me miss". Not only does it become repetitive but it introduces each time these images and scenarios that we can only image are being processed through both the narrator and the men driving by. Carter also has packed so many images and similes in most of her sentences. "I was moist, like the sky before a shower, and their voices of men clamored to me like a summer thunderstorm." I found myself fully engaged in her language and voice. I think that at the end when she says she never really thought about until the screeching of the brakes, symbolizes the idea that she enjoys being on display, but when they stop in the car it becomes reality.
ReplyDeleteWhat I liked most about Emily Carter’s “East on Houston” was that it really was not plot driven at all, yet this story contains a certain amount of tension and detail that you would not expect coming from such a story. The only real story we get is from what these men on the streets are saying to Glory. From these “conversations” we get an idea of what these men look like and, from there, what Glory’s surroundings are like. Meanwhile, this is really just a story of Glory going down the street, not reacting to those around her.
ReplyDeleteI liked “East on Houston” more than “Parachute Silk” for the reasons above, but that is not to say I did not also like “Parachute Silk.” I thought that the idea of listing was an interesting concept for this story and I really liked it. Basically, this was the narrator trying get her life back in order by turning it into a list of sorts and, over time, her life benefits from this list editing.
I felt that the plot of “East on Houston” moved along through repetition, and the narrator’s questioning of the experience. “Do I remember what it was exactly I was walking into when I was walking east on that particular street? Nothing good, but listen…” The honesty of the narrator drew me into the story, and I enjoyed the conversational tone as the narrator recounted her memory. The phrase “Excuse me miss” increased the tension throughout the story as each interruption seemed to build upon the last. The lack of response that the narrator gave to these men further increased the tension for me because I didn’t know whether or not the men talking to her would just give up, or whether they would continue to pursue her-putting her safety in jeopardy. I also thought that the tension was heightened in the narrator’s lack of response because I wanted her to say something, or indicate that she would find a way out of the situation. I guess my worry for the narrator’s safety was the reason I felt tension even though the story wasn’t plot-heavy.
ReplyDeleteWhat I liked about “Parachute Silk” was how the narrator was able to use the idea of creating lists to help understand her world. She begins by creating the two lists “Things I Will Never Do” and the “Things I Would Never Do”. Throughout the story, the narrator reflects on memories, and expresses the regrets she has about certain memories through the idea of placing them onto lists- like when she doesn’t give Matt his graduation medallion. The idea of the narrator attempting to understand her life through lists is strong by the time that Matthew asks Glory out, and she doesn’t tell him about her HIV. “There are some things that I Would Never tell anyone.” The lists were an effective way to help me understand the decisions that Glory had made, as well as who she is telling this story today- “I seem to have trouble sticking to this list idea; my counselor would probably tell me to get some distance from it…”
Both of Emily Carter's stories work well in that they reveal the absolute imperfections of people. She is not only revealing insecurities people possess but also the flaws and mistakes that exist as part of human nature. Once Glory tells Matthew she can't “start dating perverts,” we see the uncomfortable turned up a notch along with how cruel and sadistic our words and thoughts can be, even when they are justified in our minds. Up until this point, we are lead to believe that Glory and Matthew accept each other, yet after this statement it is confirmed how flawed Glory truly is. This brought me back to the beginning with her list and it being about how self-involved she was.
ReplyDeleteI really admire what Carter says about Glory as the grotesque version of herself. It's natural to take components of one's personality and make them extreme. It makes for good writing and good characters. Personally, in this brief excerpt of Carter's interview, it seems to me like she's trying to establish that she is not anywhere near as intense as Glory, even though Glory is a reflection of her. As a writer, I don't think you should be too obsessed with making your reader know that you're not actually as bad as your character is because, even if you're not, that's not the point. The point is that you're taking these elements of your life, good or bad, and creating something out of it. No one is going to think poorly of you for that because anyone can relate. If anything, I would say it strengthens your writing in showing how real and connectable these characters are.
Emily Carter’s style of writing was one that I found myself very interested in, especially in the first piece “East on Houston”. The way that Carter wrote the voices of the men on the street was poetic in a very uncomfortable way which definitely came across the short story. For example, “Excuse me Miss, but do you know how to get to that little place on the end of First and A? What I mean is, I feel a little awkward in this neighborhood, and I’d like to bring something back to show my friends...” It’s strange imagining men saying this, hence where the poetic aspect comes into play, however the language and what these men are saying still gives a sense of being uncomfortable which is how someone in this situation might feel anyway. I think this story was done well.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I wasn’t a very big fan of “Parachute Silk”. I’m not particularly sure why I didn’t enjoy it as much. I didn’t feel as in-tune with the narrator (not that I was really connected to the narrator in “East on Houston”) and it was hard for me to feel for her. That’s another thing, I wanted to feel somewhat sympathetic, but at the same time I really didn’t. I was a little confused about the relationship of the narrator and Matthew, just because the narrator made it seem somewhat romantic and then we read that she actually rejected him? I just don’t think I really liked the character. I don’t think I was interested in either of the characters, more of the writing itself.
I think what I liked most about "East on Houston" was that it was so tense that I didn't really mind the lack of class. I think the repetition of "excuse me, Miss" helped increase the tension.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Carter's use of repetition in both stories; especially of Glory's two lists. At first the names of the lists didn't make sense to me, but I liked that (if you didn't read the introduction like I did) you gradually figure out why one of her lists is called "Things I will never do." I think this was a very natural way to develop this, and in the end didn't leave me very surprised.
I think the tension arises in “East on Houston” with the men constantly calling to Glory, saying, “Excuse me Miss…” The first sentence in the story made me feel comfortable reading it (“There was this one summer that began in June and ended quite some time later…”), so these creepy guys suddenly calling out to her made me have to readjust as a reader. Then, I wasn’t so concerned with how Glory strolls along Houston Street but was instead wondering if she would follow one of the people calling her. Each time we are “introduced” to a new person, I kind of see it as a point in the mini-plot. We get the guy who insults her, the jazz musician, and others that she mentions just as “voices.” The way that the story is structured, only following Glory for a short time and giving just a tiny glimpse of her life looking back, there really doesn’t seem to be a real plot. Because it was so short, I didn’t really feel like I related to Glory or knew her well, but I did like how the story’s short length forced me to pay attention to every sentence and what impact each had on her. It seems like she doesn’t want to remember the “Excuse me Miss” lines since at the very end, she says that she “don’t want to go back there.”
ReplyDeleteGlory uses her list as the parachute involving her relationship with Matthew. She says that the “Things I Would Never Do preserve my sense of dignity” (108) so when it comes to talking about her disease, she says that “I didn’t want to tell my friend Matthew anything at all” (115). She distances herself from him, increasing the tension in the story since one character draws away from instead of towards another. The Things She Will Never Do preserve her sense of sorrow (108) and she says that “I Will Never learn to speak another language” (117). I don’t really know if this has too much to do with her sorrow, so maybe in this way the story takes another direction. Similarly, Glory focuses on the good/bad list her counselor told her to make, and readers have to shift their perspectives on not only what she would/will never do, but also what she wishes she would have done. Glory’s relationship with Matthew takes on multiple viewpoints in this story, and I think in that way we can see how it’s like a parachute: they are distanced from each other yet also are so similar and close in that way(with rehab and addictions).
There were a lot of aspects of Emily Carter's writing that I really enjoyed. In "East on Houston," I loved the repetition she used in the men saying "Excuse me, Miss," and that it created a sense of more, a feeling that there was something building in the comments of the men, but it amounted to nothing more than the narrator's memory of what happened on her walk. I also liked the fact that her description of the men is what gave life to the place she was walking in: it was like I could imagine what part of town she was in just by the comments of the men and the way that they acted, such as when she was saying they honked, squealed, barked, drawled, etc. There was an underlying feeling of failure and entitlement, as if the men, though not having amounted to much of anything, felt that their status meant they should be allowed to say those things and to have the narrator as their own, to do with her what they pleased.
ReplyDelete"Parachute Silk" was interesting to read. It still held the repetition aspect of Carter's writing, and I feel like that helps in understanding the character, especially as an addict. Through the descriptions, we get a feel for who the narrator is, as well as Matthew and the type of relationship they have. I feel like I didn't really get to know the character of the narrator as much, other than small tidbits of information, and it made me focus more on the style of writing and the situation. I don't know if that was Carter's intention while writing, but it made it difficult for me to know who to feel sympathy for in the situation, and I looked more for a bigger picture outside of the relationship between the narrator and Matthew.
Carter's stories were interesting. "East on Houston" made me check to make sure I was reading the right thing due to its length. I think it was a great example of economy of words. I feel as though I got as much out of that story as I did from any other short story we've read so far, and it was barely two pages long. I love the way the men in the story start with "Excuse me, Miss," which is so polite, and then they all immediately turned into some perverted, sexist statement. Then, at the very end, and in only two or three sentences, Carter is able to show that she escaped that place by finally hearing the words she was looking for, although we don't know what those were exactly, it ends on a good note.
ReplyDeleteCarter's second story really got me thinking about the voice she uses. It reads as though Glory is talking to to the reader. I like the idea of the list, which is returned to, and slowly morphed from Glory's "creative" version of how to make the list into doing what her advisor actually wanted her to do, talk about Matthew. I think it gave a really good way of looking at addiction. Usually addiction stories show the fall and recovery, but here we only get the post-recovery, looking back. It's an interesting view to take, and I thought Carter pulled it off well through her descriptions of what exactly addiction and Twelve Step programs are like.