Feb. 8 Response

I think being involved in the narrative can be limiting because a major part of the thrill of reading is being an outside observer. It feels awkward at times, and I get more lost in my role since I’m a reader but also a narrator and also supposed to be involved in the action of the story. I would rather see all of the characters and plot progression from the outside because space where I’m included in the story is space for more detail or dialogue between characters. Including the reader in the narrative is interesting and thrilling in theory, but I think it can make getting through an already complex story even more difficult. There is so much focus on making sure it’s done correctly that it starts to feel like a gimmick, and that’s how I felt with this novel. I don’t see myself in the novel because it just wasn’t for me, personally, and I felt like the female characters in the novel were constantly treated as other side characters. The text is subversive because it explores the depths of the reader’s psyche which doesn’t necessarily happen often, but I think a lot of short stories are written about writer’s block and being a writer that have the same energy as Calvino’s text.