I work as a cart girl at a golf course, and I often take books to read while I'm stopped waiting for the golfers to hit. Sometimes I take leisurely books, other times I take text books or novels I have to read for homework. This weekend, I took MC Higgins, and while I was reading, I noticed something interesting happening. Even though I didn't feel that this text engaged me as much as some of the other texts we have read, when I had to suddenly stop reading because a golfer was pulling up, I noticed that it would take me a few seconds to snap out of a trance. It was almost like the voice in my head that was reading was far off in this other world and when I had to come back to reality the voice would have to slowly but abruptly fade out. I've never noticed this before because when I read at home, I have no interruptions and I can take my time coming out of the world. But at the golf course I am forced to leave the world sometimes and it presents a sharp contrast between the world of what I'm reading and reality. I had never had this experience before when I was reading a text book at work. I find it easy to stop what I'm reading and it has no effect on me. I was beginning to think that this has something to do with elements of imaginative fiction. I believe that imaginative fiction is something that sucks you so completely out of your world and into the world of the book. I think maybe some of us don't realize how much a piece of imaginative literature can suck us in, unless we have the sharp and sudden contrasts between the two worlds. I think the fact that MC Higgins is able to do this, even without a deep connection to the book, and text books can't says something about the nature of imaginative literature.
Whew! Sorry that was a bit lengthy. For this blog, I wanted to focus on the flashbacks that MC has of Sarah. One of the passages I marked as difficult and confusing is the one on page 26-27 where MC is thinking about is Mama and Daddy being in the ground "Dead a long time." Then he starts thinking of how Sarah is buried in the yard and how she first came to the mountain. I thought this passage was really strange and disjointed. It reminded me of a story I read called "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," which is a stream of consciousness story. I remember reading Granny Weatherall and thinking it was so confusing because it follows Granny's thoughts (or stream of consciousness), which, like all human beings, are all over the place.
After reading this passage I began to think that perhaps some form of stream of consciousness is used in MC Higgins. This could be one of the things that makes the text difficult. When I was thinking about this and taking a closer look at the text, I noticed that in some places there seems to be a shifting of view points. For example on page 3 of the text it says:
Bet I haven't caught a single rabbit, just like on Thursday and Saturday, too.
He had to check all three of his rabbit traps and then get home to wait for this new dude to arrive.
One sentence we are inside MC's head, and the next we are outside. This occurs in many places throughout the text. I think this is one of the things that makes the text difficult, but I also think it can contribute nicely to our understanding of MC maturation. It's definitely a different way of looking at a story and of getting inside the protagonist's skin.
Since another element of confusion in the text was the pole, I thought I would post a picture that I found. This is another cover of the book, but I think it might be a better representation of the pole because it actually has the tricycle wheels on it. However, this does not make me feel better about the pole, it still seems exceptionally dangerous!!
3 comments:
I’ve got to say, I have no idea how you can read with so many interruptions! I don’t feel like I would be able to get out of anything I was reading if I had to stop all the time. Literally, when I’m reading a book (especially a novel), I make sure my parents are aware of how close I am to the end so they don’t disrupt me and ruin the whole “flow” of the book. Really, if given the choice I try to read a book all in one sitting so I don’t have to “leave” the book, though having that much time in one stretch is rare!
I found the changing point of view really distracting as well! On page two, I have a notation that is something to the effect of “What the heck is going on?!” when I noticed it. I read in the introduction in my version of the book that Hamilton spent a long time (two years, I think) trying to get every single word and phrase “just right.” I guess she knows what she’s doing since she won the Newbery, but I never would have thought to structure some of the sentences the way she did!
I don't get a whole lot read when I'm at the golf course, but I figure reading is better than getting on facebook every time I stop haha! The hardest part about it is when I'm pulled out of my sort of trance that the book puts me in. It's very jolting. I wonder what would happen if I read a novel that takes place on a golf course...
Your idea of stream of consciousness is very intriguing. I did not think of it that way when I was reading the book but after this post I thought over the ideas and the nature of the writing and I completely agree with you.
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