Category Archives: REVIEWS

Cripes–I’m only on page 3–and there’s so much to go into that I’m going to have to drop some of the lesser points. The visit begins with tension: So when the time rolled around, my wife went to the depot … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Even as I believe the basic character flaw–and that which is to be overcome to form story–is not so much bias against the blind man but rather the narrator’s feelings of exclusion from a portion of his wife’s life (and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As I said, I could likely have gone from those two first paragraphs to a conclusion, and the thought of a dozen pages in between seems extraneous, but there is a subtlety about Carver’s story that make the reinforcing of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I realize that the whole story has really been told in these first two paragraphs–all but the resolution.  The following twelve pages simply expand the narrative to the ultimate conclusion: how he is changed to overcome his prejudice and resentment. Continue reading →

What seems to be the main problem the narrator has with his wife’s blind friend is not his blindness–though that is the focus of the change brought about in the empathy of the narrator–but rather his feelings of being an … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Basically a story of human nature in resentment and jealousy, feelings of being an outsider, and how they are overcome and changed by face to face confrontation. In this first person pov, a man gives us a setup of what … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It is the end of summer and the friends plan a camping trip up in Wisconsin.  John is in a good mood, got another haircut, and while we do not see his girlfriend Lita, I’m happy to see that perhaps … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This section doesn’t start off with a mood display, though it does again start out with John waking up and planning to go out.  There is no indication of conflict of any sort, and we assume he has gotten over … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A few more points of interest on this section that I was too lazy to put in.  On all the sections, with the simplicity of the artwork, where you can barely tell the guys from the gals except for a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s one thing to write "John was feeling alone, half in the world of his youth and in transition to the world of an adult.  It’s another to depend on graphics to get the point across. There are some obvious … Continue reading → Continue reading →

John sleeps till noon, doesn’t have a summer job, stays out until the early morning hours.  But he does have something going with Lita.  I love the panel where they’re laying on the couch making out, signified by "smack kiss … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The boredom of the in-between summer sees John and his friends going to a concert where Chuck Berry staggers onstage and off again without singing.  Loved the little "X" of an eye on one of the concertgoers (why are there … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In this episode–what I’ve been calling the separate "books" or stories within this work–we get a closer look into John’s psyche and his depression.  Porcellino opens with environment, showing an image of John’s house in Hoffman Estates, IL that indicates … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One thing that I love about Carver’s work is his frankness in expression, unaffected by the fear of political correctness and yet he gets the meaning across in a down-to-earth manner that is more effective because a lot of people … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There probably was a similar feature in Windows Word but I never used it.  This is Mac’s iPages and the sidespace with comments that make it so easy to make notations as I read.  I’ve got to figure out if … Continue reading →