old entry 9/12/08

A Wild Sheep Chase started out more like unrelated anectdotes than a (loosely) chronological story. I think I might have liked that better, to be honest. I think there could still be some levels of the magical realism or surrealism. I'm having a hard time understanding the plot line and how the characters fit in together. Perhaps the hardest part for me is the lack of names. Every woman is simply "She." Who is the woman he tracked down for the letter and how on earth did he know it was about her? Was she mentioned in the letter? The narrator isn't even named, but the bartender was at least given "J." In Small groups, I discussed the Rat. We discussed how many things could be seen as normal or logical and wierd or surreal at the same time. The fact that the Rat was such a good friend, but up and left without saying goodbye to Boku and then after years writing him and addressing it "so how are things?" As if nothing had happened and no timehad passed. But at the same time, if it's a close enough friendship, time and distance shouldn't matter. It was also interesting that Rat stated how much he hates letter writing and he never knew what to say, yet his letter was pages long...but pages of rambling. I hope the story fits in together within the next section because I can't really make sense of it now. Perhaps it's also because I don't read fantasy or any kind of books like this.