Feel free to respond in whatever (substantive) fashion you wish to the Alice Munro story! If you're at a loss, some things you might want to think about are how the story deals with the act of storytelling, the line between fact and fiction, and agency between characters and landscape.
Once again, avoid trite comments such as whether you liked the piece or not. As opposed to speculating whether you would or would not have cut something from the story, address the piece entirely on it's own terms--everything here is here for a reason. If you miss something's significance, it is definitely worthwhile thinking about why that didn't resonate with you.
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ReplyDeleteThis story, the Photographer by Alice Munro, was a surprisingly interesting story to me. Typically in English classes we are assigned super boring fiction stories that we have read 3 times just to understand what it means. This story was not like that. The story was extremely interesting. I love the fact that it was a story about someone writing a book. The writing was perfect for college-aged kids, and it was somewhat relatable. Although it is hard to talk about, suicide is very common in high school and college kids. I think that stories like this are extremely important for every college kid to hear. There is so much we don’t know about people. Like in this story, the narrator didn’t know why Marion Sherriff killed herself, or how she killed herself. There is so much hear say in the world when it comes to drama, whether its death or why someone is depressed or why they drop out of school. You never truly know what’s going on in someone’s life.
ReplyDeleteI was a little confused on who Caroline was. At one point, the narrator says, “Marion was Caroline,” yet Caroline has a completely different story then Marion. From what I got from re-reading this is that Marion had an alter ego in a way, someone who she could blame her craziness on; this was Caroline. I understand how sometimes we could have a moment where we act like a completely different person and I think that is what the author is trying to portray.
I do agree with some of your points you made in your comment but not all of them. I do believe suicide is a serious matter that people need to acknowledge it before it actually affects their lives. I also agree on the Caroline and Marion subject about how she is Marion. That bit did confuse me some. Although, I don't agree with you on the story was interesting and that it was enjoyable but you are entitled to your opinion and that is what you interpreted from the story.
DeleteAnthony Cusenza
I agree with you. I think that the story has very relevant topics that many kids should learn about. The author didn't tell us much about Marion and that does relate to many people. We don't know what goes on in everyone's lives. I didn't think about it like this originally but Caroline could be something like an alter ego. It gives Marion someone to blame stuff on and the author told us that "Marion was Caroline". I think that is a very good point.
DeleteI totally agree with your stance on suicide. It is a very important issue, that affects lots of people not only in this country, but countries around the world. I also agree that Caroline is Marion. And just like you I agree that the story was a little bit confusing.
DeleteI got a different impression on Marion and Caroline. I actually thought Marion was Caroline’s mother but after reading your analysis of the story I can see how they are alter egos of each other.
Delete-Hailey Safra
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ReplyDeleteAnthony Cusenza
ReplyDeleteThe story of The Photographer by Alice Munro was a very distasteful story in my personal opinion. I had practically nothing to hold me in the story to keep reading what so ever. I could not tell if it was fact or fiction because it sounds like she was talking about superpowers once in the story. This story seemed to be like any other story that I had read in high school that just made me want to drop the book and walk out of the room. I did not quite understand the meaning of the story as to the point it was trying to make. The story would be talking about taking photographs, suicides and story telling. I did though find that the authors writing style was very descriptive in trying to make the reader feel like they are in the story. I did believe that the story used the vignettes on a ok bases. I was very confused on who Caroline was because at one moment it would be talking about her and then all of a sudden her name changed to Marion. That was one subject that bothered me a little and also about the photographer and his crash. I feel like it could have been more descriptive about the crash and what happened to the photographer. The story just said that he disappeared and she was just ok with that someone had just disappeared from a vehicle. It all did not seem to make a lot of sense to me in the end of the story.
Word Count: 260
I totally agree with you, I didn't have any interest to continue reading the novel. It didn't give me any motivation to keep reading to find out more about her novel she was going to write. I was very confused as well about Caroline and Marion and the whole thing just wasn't pleasing to me.
DeleteSydney Denkert
Anthony I agree that this story was very distasteful because of its lack of spark to it. I do agree that the story used vignettes on an ok bases but I think they could have been more connected to have a better rhythm to the story.
DeleteI appreciate your honesty about wanting to drop the book and walk out the room. I was also sort of running in circles while reading this as I tried to understand what was going on. I wish there was more context for me to read about as it would make it easier to get a feel on the book.
DeleteLike my peers, I agree with you. I couldn't keep up with the plot, and the lack of back round story didn't help. I know we don't always need the details of the past to figure out the future, but in this case, it would've made reading easier.
DeleteI agree with Aileene in the fact that in this story it was very hard to process what was going on because of the lack of knowledge of the past. But the story did finally come togeather after reading the 2 missing pages. The pages explained what happend and it also addressed who caroline was.
DeleteJonathan Gallon
The story “The Photographer” by Alice Munro was overwhelming as she started to talk about the story line and all the different events that took place with the family she writes about. I was confused about what I was reading so I had to reread it again to get a clearer understanding about the meaning of the story. The town is a very dark setting with all the deaths and bad things that happen. In my opinion, I wasn’t really interested in reading this and I don’t like to read about darkness and deaths. Even though people don’t realize suicide is a big thing it’s not talked about as much. I honestly wasn’t a fan of reading this story and the novel she was writing about in the story. The whole Caroline and Marion thing confused me as I had to re-read it multiple times to comprehend what the author was trying to make us think. I think the story should have been written differently because I couldn’t understand the first time reading through it. It could have been in more depth on the events that were occurring. I liked though, that the author was explaining things that happen in an ordinary life like attending college, eating properly in college, and history events that happened. Overall, I just didn’t like the story layout and the way the author was explaining her novel using different characters and the way the photographer just vanished was confusing to me. I think it could have been better if she changed the way she explained these people’s stories and how it happened or why it happened.
ReplyDeleteSydney Denkert
word count: 271
Gabriel Padin
DeleteI completely agree with you in the fact that i to was not interested while reading this story. I was very confused at certain points and had difficulty following along. I do feel that with a little more in depth description the story would have come out better.
I agree with your viewpoint, I wasn't interested very much while reading the story and was confused most of the time. I also agree that there should have been more content in the story.
DeleteThis story by Alice Munro was somewhat interesting to me. However, I think that it was very hard to follow along. I had to read it twice and multiple parts more than that to fully understand the story. The tone of the story started off very dark and sad. The author started by talking about suicides and deaths. I think that suicide is a very controversial topic. Many people have different opinions on what they believe is right. Even though it is a difficult topic for some people to talk about, it is relevant in society. I think it is good for kids to talk about it so everyone can be more aware of warning signs and other triggers. In this particular story, we don’t know much about Marion. We learned some things about her family but that was it. It was cool to me to see the way the author wrote this story. I like how we got to see the way she changed somebody else’s life into a story in her own way. I think that she was very descriptive. However, a huge part of the story that confused me was trying to figure out how the photographer could have just vanished. The author wrote that he got in a car accident and just disappeared. I don’t understand the significance as to why the story was set up like that. We then learn that Marion was Caroline. This also didn’t make sense to me as they had two different storylines. I think the story has very relevant things going on in it that relate to many kids but it was hard for me to piece together the significance.
ReplyDeleteDiego Mendoza
DeleteIt was definitely a story that you had to take your time and really read for someone to understand. I completely forgot about the photographer just vanishing and that is something that remains a mystery! The author was very descriptive in her writing, this, made it easier for me to follow the story. Suicide is something that is very relevant in todays society and we need to make sure people are more aware of the signs, so we can stop it.
Reese Albert
DeleteI agree it was hard to follow. I also had to go back and read it again multiple times. I also agree that suicide is a tough thing to think and talk about. However, it was intriguing because it was so difficult to read.
The story “The Photographer” was not my favorite story I’ve read. While I was reading the story I could not tell the difference between fact or fiction. I was very confused at times while I was reading. However, I did pick up on the dark dismal tone of the story, when she started to talk about the different suicides that took place. Another thing that confused me was the whole dynamic between Caroline and Marion. However, after re analyzing the story multiple times, and doing a little research online I realized that Marion is Caroline. In my opinion I think the story could have been composed in a way in which it would be less confusing to read. There is a few times while reading the story in which I had to re read some sentences so that they register in my mind correctly. Suicide was another common idea brought up in the story. Suicide is a major issue facing our society today, and I think it is important for everyone to know the warning signs that could prompt someone to ending their life. The story is probably very relatable to a lot of people because pretty much everyone either knows someone, or knows of someone who decided to end their life. You could tell that that Alice Munro was very concerned about suicide because it is a major part of this piece of literature. Even though this wasn’t my favorite story I’ve read, I still think that this story provides good examples of why preventing suicide is a very important thing, in order for our society to advance together as a whole.
ReplyDeleteIndeed some parts were confusing, but I think that the confusion helps. With the mass suicides, it seems as if the boundary between life and death becomes blurred rather than fixed. I believe that the transition from fiction to reality works, based off that theme.
Delete-Alexander Kostandarithes
We don’t know why most people commit suicide and that is meant to be confusing. I believe that the author uses confusion in her writing to portray the confusion and mystery behind suicides.
DeleteI agree the story was confusing. But i also agree with Lynne in the fact that i think the author is using confusion to show that it is confusing why someone would want to take their own life. The writer doesnt know all the answers to why the people she was talking about took their lives.
DeleteJonathan Gallon
DeleteMaybe I misunderstood this but I thought the author gave us her explanation to why Caroline committed suicide by telling us the story about The Photographer and his relationship with Caroline.
DeleteThe Photographer tries its best not to be a typical story. The dark prelude of the multitude of suicides gives the impression that no one can escape the town. Even worse, the background further darkens by the mother's mental count of the cases of suicide; insinuating that suicide is a norm. This seems to be the focus of symbolism in the stories. Progressing throughout the history, unclear shifts from fiction to reality will occur. One moment the reader exists in the fictionalized account of the suicide and then returns to the reality of the death; almost representing an area where the boundary between existence and death is blurred.
ReplyDeleteAfter the section mentioning Caroline and her end, the story seemed to become confusing. The interview of Marion de Sherriff’s father reveals very little; other than the contrast of the fictionalized tale. The mention of the Great Depression by the brother of Marion seems only to confuse rather than explain the events. Possibly this confusion may have been the intent of the author; but the reader may not agree with the reasoning. However, the ending does provide the reader (and Marion) with one concept: Fictionalization can be dangerous. In the attempt to disprove her mother’s analysis of the town, the protagonist seems to change the scenery and people of her narrative of la morte de Marion. However, by this personalization of the history, the protagonist does not define the situation at hand, and seems unable to disprove her mother’s point. After all, Mr. Sherriff mentions “Oh yes, after the war, They’re all buying”. He seems to imply the town is still suck in some recession period where some can only escape by death.
-Alexander Kostandarithes
I agree with you on your point about the story becoming more confusing after the part about Caroline. The events kind of blurred together and were not as enjoyable as the first part.
DeleteDiego Mendoza
ReplyDeleteThe story of The Photographer by Alice Munro is a piece of writing that I am not accustomed to. It was different in a way that it brought fiction and real life together, it would get very hard to follow at some points. Overall, the story has a very weird feeling to it, to me it felt a little bit dark. The description of the setting and the character, made the town seem like it was from a scary movie. The author way of storytelling is what kept me interested in the novel, she was able to capture my attention and see everything from the point of view of the character. The author style of writing is very obvious, it being a very descriptive type of writing. The fiction part of this story would be the changing of the people’s name for the sake of her novel, how she omitted some of the people from the novel and how she made the town look different from real life. I also noticed that pages 206-207 were not put in, they might’ve held something that made the story flow better and help me get a better idea of the story. A part that I might consider cutting out of the story would be how she described caroline, I don’t think it was necessary for her to talk about how she was really friendly with a lot of guys in the town. But maybe it served a purpose, like how she wouldn’t really chase men but she ended up chasing after “The Photographer.” Finally, this story is very descriptive which is what held me together but it is somewhat hard to follow and really get a grasp for it.
Word count: 286
I agree that this story is written in a much different way than I am used to reading. It has a very original style to it and i think that sets it apart from others in its genre. I just wish it concluded as good as it started.
DeleteGabriel Padin
ReplyDelete“The Photographer” by Alice Monroe, starts of discussing the amount of suicide that has taken place in a town over the years and how it has affected it. It later develops and follows a young author attempting to write a novel on a family that has had its problems with suicide. It also discusses the difficulties the author went through in order to write the novel, and how she was able to get influenced to continue on with her book. Suicide was a very heavy topic and served as a basis for the story. There was no point in which the story seemed to lighten up a bit. It was very dark and dismal the whole way through. In my opinion, it was not the most interesting story I’ve read, and I had difficulty keeping myself intrigued. It seemed as if the story was very erratic, and kept switching from one scene to another randomly. At multiple points, I found myself having to go back and reread sections due to confusion and not understanding how the author got from one point to another. This left me very frustrated because I do not enjoy having to reread something over and over in order to understand what is trying to be said. One thing that I do have to give credit for is the authors use of descriptive and vivid vocabulary. This allowed me to picture each scene and character clearly. Overall, although the story was very descriptive, I was not interested with the story line and found it a little confusing.
I felt the same way about the story seeming erratic and I also had to reread a couple of parts. I, too, think that the author included wonderful descriptive vocabulary and it was easy to imagine myself within the story at times.
DeleteI was caught off guard by the first part of "The Photographer" by Alice Munro due to the fact that when I was in seventh grade one of my good friends Alex committed suicide. Whenever I hear the word suicide I think of Alex so I was intrigued to keep reading to see what the story would hold. Even though this story was extremely confusing to read, it had many great descriptive moments that gave the story more life. In my opinion it is very well written but the topic of death made it unenjoyable for me to read. As someone who enjoys very descriptive writing, as I read more the story came to life in a way when Munro is describing the appearance and attitude of the man who used to take photographs at the high school. I honestly think that these vignettes are connected but also jumbled because one transition would make sense and the other would be about a completely new topic. I was very confused throughout the story as to how right off the bat it starts off talking about suicide then completely changes course to talk about other events that are completely not related. I did in fact find out as I reread the last couple paragraphs that Marion is indeed the same person as Caroline. As someone who has seen a good friend pass away I can feel the pain from other people whom will read this. This could have been a great story if it was less confusing and would have just stayed on the topic of suicide.
ReplyDelete-william hughes
I have never read a story like Alice Munro Epilogue: The Photographer. It was an intriguing read. As I read this story I got a Riverdale vibe with the way the narrator was narrating threw his/her writing of the suicides and trying to solve them. I enjoyed how he/she tried to solve the motives behind each death one by one. It was different to read the in-reality vs the fiction. It got a little confusing with the back and forth of reality to the narrator writing his/her own interpretation. I liked the authors choice to have the narrator making the authors story his/her own. The author left a sense of confusion and mystery in her words. At some points in the story it was hard to see how it related to the main story line but I believe the author did this to create the sense of confusion. I feel the author wanted us to sense that without telling her readers. The first sentence really sets up the story perfectly. That sentence alone had me wanting to read further. The authors language and description made it feel like you were in the novel and could really feel what the narrator was feeling. However, I didn’t really see the connection to the title. There was a slight mention of a photographer and that being the reason for one of the deaths but other than that it didn’t make much sense to me. Maybe I’m missing something bigger but if the whole thing was based off suicide shouldn’t the title portray that?
ReplyDelete-Hailey Safra
word count: 260
Charlene Forti
ReplyDeleteThe Photographer by Alice Munro begins with a great hook. Suicide can be an uncomfortable subject and by introducing it in the very first sentence of the story, I was immediately intrigued as to where the story would lead. I liked the how the main character began writing a novel, privately, and then decided that to write it down would be to tarnish the mental novel; I’ve done something similar to that before. I felt that the small section mentioning the main character’s friend Jerry Storey was unnecessary and that The Photographer could definitely do without it. I guess the author wanted to emphasize that she really did take her mental novel everywhere. Caroline is portrayed as delicate and ambitious, yet specific, in her sexual desires. When reading about The Photographer, one gets a vibe that the man is incredibly mysterious and creepy. What could possibly make the pictures he took turn out so skewed compared to the real life person? Why would Caroline choose to pursue a man like him if everybody was afraid of him? Both The Photographer and Caroline die so suddenly that honestly I quickly forgot about The Photographer as the story continued. This story was very dark, however, and when reading this it felt somber and sad. I feel like The Photographer seemed almost dreamlike at times because of how Alice Munro blurs the line between the fact and her fictitious made-up world. I enjoyed how the author does a beautiful job of describing the fine details of Caroline’s brother’s room and how he is dressed.
The Photographer” by Alice Munro was an ok story. I understood what was going on up until the author introduced who Caroline was. Reading my peers responses, I found that they were also confused at this point. The story brings up the touchy subject of suicide. On a collage campus suicide is a hot topic which makes the passage relevant to our everyday lives. The students on a collage campus need to be responsive to the prevention of such acts. The story had lots of detail which kept me hooked. Through the reveal of more detail I started to understand the characters more and more The tone was very dark and stayed that way throughout the whole story unlike the last passage by Denis Johnson which lighted up towards the end.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Gallon
Reese Albert
ReplyDeleteThis short story by Alice Munro was dark and intriguing in my point of view. I gathered the dark tone as soon as she started to speak of the suicides. However, I was also confused right off the bat when she spoke of trying to “prove her mother wrong” so to speak. Suicide was a focal point in the story and I did not enjoy reading it that much. I had to go through back and forth multiple times and I seem to have grasped what the moral of the story was. Overall, I just accumulated another depressing feeling from this piece by Alice Munro. One of the topics that confused me the most was that of the photographer. I really just had one question after that and it was “Why?” I couldn’t really pick up what was going on especially because the title of this short story is “The Photographer”. Anyways, I just feel like the photographer could’ve been explained more and with more detail; but maybe the author did that on purpose? As opposed to that though, there were parts of the story where I actually felt like I was in the town and in the story because the imagery and description were so good. A lot of intense vocabulary was included as well which just helped to the overall pulling together of the story. I could see how this story could somehow relate to some people and make it easy for them to understand. For me however, I was mostly confused on the subject and was often lost besides some parts with good descriptive images.
Word count: 271
This was a very interesting and confusing story for me. I definitely got a dark and depressed vibe from the author. I was confused from the very beginning but it cleared up for me in the end. The suicide talking made me become a lot more interested in the story, not that I was excited to hear that, but it provided a spark for me as a reader. The author sets the mood well, and puts the reader into the story. The author definitely jumped into things with mentioning suicide very early in the story. Normally authors place a background and eventually build up to that kind of situation. For authors that is normally the climax or turning point of their stories. I felt that sometimes the author rambled off and it was hard for me to put the pieces together, but I think they did this intentionally to create the reader to have a sense of urgency to continue on the story. The Photographer character was very confusing for me, the author did not really go into depth about the character. I would have liked the author to give us more detail on that specific character, it would have helped a lot. Other than that the author used imagery, I could see images in my head, the author put us in the story extremely well. Overall this was still a tough story for me to read and follow along to. I think the author wanted us to be a little confused just to magnify the mood of the story.
ReplyDeleteShane Drohan
I agree with you that the story was interesting yet confusing to read. I think that suicide is a serious topic. The Photographer character was also very confusing. I didn't understand how he just disappeared.
DeleteThe story “The Photographer” by Alice Munro was a very interesting read. It covered the art of storytelling. The main character has read every book in the local library, so he decides to start writing a novel. The passage shows how authors sometimes write novels. They use real life stories, tweak and modify them (ex: names, job titles, etc...), and perfect their writing in any way possible, even if theres some lying/fakes. This is where the question "What is the line between fact and fiction?" is asked. I personally believe that if the main plot of your life that you are storytelling remains true and not fake, then it is nonfiction even after certain names, town names, job titles and more are used. The reason for this is privacy. The author wants to create a solid novel without particularly calling out peoples lives. I also like how the story promotes suicide awareness in a way. This was kind of confusing to read but once they started talking about the photographer I started to get a grasp on things. I think this story is good for young adults to read.
ReplyDeletematt middlebrooks
DeleteIn the beginning of the story, Alice Munro spoke casually about suicide even though its a touchy subject. She believed that her mom was wrong about Jubilee having more suicides than any other place but maybe the suicide number just seemed very high to her mother because its a big deal when someone takes their own life so its something that sticks with people. In the story, the narrator wrote her novel based on Marion Sherriff. At first it was unclear to me if the narrator was speaking as herself or showing excerpts from the novel she wrote, because she would transition with no warning, but it became clear when she changed the name from Marion to Caroline. The author had very detailed descriptions about what sounded like a made up photographer that she seemed to dislike because he made all of his clients look old or fat. I'm not sure if anyone else had pages 206 and 207 missing but it made things a little confusing for me. at first I wasn't sure how Bobby was related to Marion but as I continued reading I found out he was her brother from the asylum. Overall it was a pretty good story and actually interesting to read because it can be understood fairly easily by young adults, unlike the basic English reading assignments.
ReplyDeleteI agree this was so interesting. It took me a long time to figure out the difference between Caroline and Marion.
DeleteIts interesting how the writer weaves in and out of fiction and nonfiction. The way it's written (similar to vignettes) shows very vivid detail, so much so that it can come off as an eye-witness nonfiction scenes. Then the writer will go on to reveal that it these descriptions were a part of her novel. The way she'll stretch and sometimes fully remove details from reality to make for a better novel is interesting. I imagine it sheds light on the creative process of many fiction writers who pull inspiration from grand events or settings in reality. I found it funny how the narrator begins the chapter with a real-life account of her own mother unintentionally mistaking the number or scale of suicide cases in their town. The mother must have unknowingly or subconsciously distorted the truth of the situation maybe to make the "story" more interesting for herself. I also noticed (towards the end of the second page) how the writer initially wanted to write much of the novel in a single sitting but "put them away" and decided to carry the idea with her, "everywhere". After that point, the rest of the chapter fully embodied the mental shift of the narrator or character. Confusing at some parts but, began to share fiction and nonfiction in the same breath of writing, expressing both in full and substantial detail, leaving the reader only to stay present and along for the ride.
ReplyDeleteMariana Lopez
ReplyDelete"The Photographer" by Alice Munro was interesting from the very beginning. I was hooked when I began reading and was eager to see what would happen. The tone of the story was dark and gloomy. The author talked about suicide, which made this story a little hard to read because I have dealt with suicide of close friends a lot in my life. Suicide has become a very controversial topic, but I believe it is important to have awareness because unfortunately many people in our society commit suicide for many different reasons, and many times it is out of the blue. The story was a little confusing to read. I had to go back and reread it again to try and fully understand what was happening. It was very descriptive which helped to better understand the story and more enjoyable. I believe that this story could've been more clear when explaining what happened to the photographer. It talked about the car crash but I didn't grasp how he could just disappear. I think maybe the author did this on purpose to make the reader think. Another thing that confused me was how Marion was Caroline. I would recommend this story to teens and young adults.
Based on the beginning of Epilogue: The Photographer, I could not help but think about how the entire story is extremely morbid. The entire beginning of the story was about suicide, and how it is extremely common in a town called Jubilee. While I do agree it is an “interesting” topic that can be written and talked about, I find it very sad how in this story, suicide is talked about rather lightly. Upon a little research, however, I did see that the original book, Lives of Girls and Women, was originally published in 1971, so I am sure it could be held with a different weight back then. While the author was initially talking about the Photographer’s photos, I had a very eerie feeling. I feel very similar after reading this short story as I did after reading the Largesse of the Sea Maiden last week. I do not like how there was no happy ending as one would generally hope for to conclude a story. This made it particularly difficult for me to enjoy because of it, and at some points throughout the book I was sort of confused (especially considering pages 206 and 207 were missing, however, I did like how the author talked about her fictional struggles and she put them into the book, and how she felt the need to write a novel because she had nothing else challenging or interesting enough to read. I also enjoyed the details displayed throughout the story and how it was rather abstract and how it let the reader interpret on their own what the author was talking about.
ReplyDeleteWord Count: 270
Elizabeth Zyryanova
ReplyDeleteWhen I was reading “The Photographer” by Alice Monroe, I quickly felt as if I was watching a movie from the narrators point of view, almost as if I was a guest in her thoughts. However in the beginning it was a little confusing for me to fully enter that state and follow along, because of all the names of places and the occurrences she would bring up, I could not connect the dots at all in the beginning. In the opening I felt the setting of the story was very unpleasant because it was dealing with suicide, which I guess helped me visualize how bad of a town it really was, since it pushed certain people to end their lives. My favorite part of the story where I was most pulled into it was when she talked about Bobby Sheriff, rather described him in a way that made me feel as if I was standing right there meeting him myself. Reading the dialogue that went on between her and Bobby helped me see how the way Bobby talks shows his, what seems like, an overly polite character. At some points I felt confused as to why she felt so uncomfortable siting with him on the porch, but I would be reminded of the reason when she mentioned the Asylum again.
Overall I think this story was well written in the aspect that it used a great deal of descriptions and adjectives which helped me imagine the scenery and the people. However at some moments like in the beginning, it might have been better to start off with something more simple so that the reader could jump right into the story instead of re-reading it to understand.
“The Photographer” by Alison Munro is a very detailed and entertaining piece of literature. I enjoyed reading the first half of it when he talks about his Mom trying to suggest that their town has more suicides than other places. The contrast between his and her point of view is entertaining because I also try to prove my mom wrong all the time. I can relate a lot to this story because suicide is something that also plagued my hometown, just like most hometowns. It’s a very sad event that is becoming more and more normalized but the main character attempts to stop it from being normalized. By writing a book about that family in his town he upholds the significance of suicide in his town. He also describes the book as precious and that it should stay in his head so that he doesn’t ruin it by writing it down incorrectly. That is a very relatable statement because everything sounds better in your head and writing it down I am usually disappointed in the outcome. Although this story is fairly confusing in the back half I can still admit that Munro is a master of her craft. The book is excellently written and the complexity of it is very impressive compared to most of the things that I read. In terms of the title I believe it is referring to the main character in that he sees something happen and wants to preserve it in a book. The tragedy of the one family is something he wants to capture and keep forever.
ReplyDelete