Thursday, May 18, 2017

Response Blog #5

This book used to be clever, but now it’s kind of dull. I loved the first time Alberto referenced the fact that they were in a book, as it was very clever, but it has diminishing returns. When subtly referenced, it was extremely witty, and it allowed for fanciful mind games. However, it insults my intelligence by making it obvious. When Alberto literally says “next chapter”, I don’t like that. I really like subtle hints or easter eggs, so I can read into the book more and more and ponder whether there’s actually something there. I like little subtle hints, not overt flashing neons signs blaring “irony”. I acknowledge that this book may be written for younger audiences, but I still don’t like its simplicity. I can handle more vague references, I am willing to work harder to understand the whole that the book is saying. I like that kind of book. I don’t want the author to literally hand it to me. In a similar vein, I don’t like the way that the fictional characters are portrayed and handled. There is so much potential here, yet I feel like this was a misplay on the author’s behalf. The author’s attempt comes off as a sort of force-feeding, as he is shoving Winnie the Pooh or Scrooge down my throat. I feel as though a fleeting allusion would be more effective, make the reader wonder what the author meant. I don’t know the proper way to do that would be, but I feel that there was so much wasted potential here. Finally, I’ll end on a positive note. I really like the fact that Hilde goes to the encyclopedia and references what she just read. That is fantastic character building and also supplies the reader with more information.

1 comment:

  1. Don't forget that this book is essentially an inside joke between father and daughter.

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