tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9878002.post3467040197808003284..comments2024-03-29T01:01:11.212-05:00Comments on PERPETUAL FOLLY: The New Yorker: "The Lower River" by Paul TherouxUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9878002.post-77521285370875469732009-11-11T15:56:05.844-05:002009-11-11T15:56:05.844-05:00I found the story an excellent exploration of the ...I found the story an excellent exploration of the motives behind working in the developing world having spent over a year doing so in East Africa. Though cynical as Theroux usually is, I felt the focus was more on Altman's self absorption and misunderstandings of his place in this different culture than a statement of some contempt for the natives. Instead he shows how the simple village life of the past has changed with the intrusion of the new colonists and aid workers in the region each with their own motivation. The best interests or needs of the local people are at best not understood or at worst not considered.Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05587126827353609758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9878002.post-22832577834664098602009-10-31T13:27:28.044-05:002009-10-31T13:27:28.044-05:00I do agree that there is some condescension here t...I do agree that there is some condescension here toward the so-called third world, but Altman is also silently criticized for basking in what he foolishly interprets as natural and easygoing praise. I agree that the ending is quite good, though. And I thought the story as a whole (read independently of Theroux's possible caricatures of the developing world elsewhere) was great. Compelling, to use a word so usual in blurbs.<br /><br />As an aside, I thought your thoughts here about extractions and excerpts were illuminating. (You have broached this subject in other posts, too.) TNY does fiction great disservice by turning to extracts so often. Did you see that one of those extracts, slightly embellished, even made it to the BASS 2009? (I'm referring to Daniel Alarcón's story in TNY ["The Idiot President"], which is an excerpt from an unfinished novel, as he admits in the BASS endnotes.)F. Escobarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14518434944616309743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9878002.post-67151708704605644592009-10-24T12:09:38.560-05:002009-10-24T12:09:38.560-05:00As a story, though, I thought it was very good. An...As a story, though, I thought it was very good. And sad. It's stayed with me for days. The ending, in particular, is just right.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9878002.post-34524535658406490742009-09-23T17:22:54.362-05:002009-09-23T17:22:54.362-05:00I thought the story was excellent. It's the m...I thought the story was excellent. It's the most compelling piece of fiction I've read in a long time.<br />You are right though, it does reflect a cynical world view.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08039063283716602183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9878002.post-52405160715250273422009-09-18T08:50:56.678-05:002009-09-18T08:50:56.678-05:00Extraction is when you have your tooth pulled--it&...Extraction is when you have your tooth pulled--it's a far more painful process. Hah. But seriously, "extraction" isn't really a term that anyone uses but me, and I coined it when I compared Don DeLillo's story in TNY a couple of years ago that was from his novel The Falling Man. Instead of taking a chapter that is more or less stand-alone, which is what I think of as an excerpt, TNY editors pulled a single thread out of the book (a little here, a little there), and assembled it as a story (DeLillo didn't do this work, as I understand it, but must have cooperated). That's what I refer to as an extract.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05886890881221225553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9878002.post-29834897699363944802009-09-18T07:44:57.425-05:002009-09-18T07:44:57.425-05:00Cliff,
What is the difference between an "ex...Cliff,<br /><br />What is the difference between an "extraction" and an "excerpt"? I would have thought they were synonyms.<br /><br />Paul EpsteinPaul Epsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14875799188044948632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9878002.post-62669803824808785402009-09-15T21:19:04.969-05:002009-09-15T21:19:04.969-05:00Arrogance is the word, all right.Arrogance is the word, all right.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05886890881221225553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9878002.post-60951600096696536742009-09-15T21:09:41.878-05:002009-09-15T21:09:41.878-05:00I have not yet read the story in question, but thi...I have not yet read the story in question, but this reminds me of the movie "Local Hero." Except the "natives" in that story were rather humorous and not viciously venal. When they didn't get what they wanted, they returned to their lives much as before and enjoyed their lives. It's a lovely movie - I feel as though I've visited Scotland each time I see that film. <br /><br />However, it sounds like Theroux holds his characters in contempt and attempts to stereotype them. I find that arrogant and contemptible in the extreme.Hobiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07072707503446269642noreply@blogger.com