Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Pastiche for Hunger
I was sitting on the park bench working on an article on “Connections of the Mind” when two pigeons landed next to me. This irritated me; they kept making cooing sounds as they pecked at one another. I turned back to my article and ignored them, but I could not tear my thoughts away from those birds. Why did they have to be there now? I tensed up and growled at them, but they wouldn’t budge. Their little heads bouncing up and down, they continued to preen each other. I shook my fist at them and glared as their talons tapped at the wood underneath. I even tried shouting and grabbed at their tiny necks, but they only scooted out of reach. How was I supposed to concentrate on my article with them so near? As I gloomily watched them, suddenly a new thought burst into my head: I wouldn’t work on such a worthless piece about "Connections of the Mind"! I could take on a real masterpiece- something that would appeal to my common reader. That would please the Chief. What was it that he said? Something that people feel more at home with. That was it. Renewed with energy, I picked up my pencil to tackle something like “Pigeon and Man”. I had heard that pigeons were similar to humans: they made milk and such, and kept only one mate in their life. If I took that and made it into a statement about life in general- yes, the Chief would appreciate that. A true ten-kroner. Any audience would be able to understand something like that- even better, connect to something so close to home. I smiled at the birds still sitting and laughed at the world: what a beautiful day it was.
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Hallo!
ReplyDeleteYou really managed to imitate some of what I believe to be key traits of Hamsun's style and the protagonist's character.
The way the protagonist feels so strongly towards the pigeons. How he is at one minute so angry with them, and then inspired by them. This reflects how easily he is distracted by trivial things, how extreme his emotions are, and how rapidly they swing. --Perhaps stronger diction would have emphasized these traits more. In the book, Hamsun uses extreme words like "magnificent," "divine," or "cruel," "shameful." You use some strong words, like "worthless," but more would help to emphasize the tone.
I appreciated the part where he growls at the pigeon. This is something I can absolutely imagine him doing. Like Hamsun, you make it difficult to conclude whether or not he is really insane, but moments like these remind us suddenly of his bizarre character and strange fits. This is a method Hamsun seems to use, almost as if to jolt us back to reality.
I also noticed how you refer to repeating aspects of the plot: the ten kroner obsession, the Chief, criticism of his writing.
Overall, it reflects many aspects of the style of Hunger in such a small amount of space.
I can see the connections of your pastiche, and the scene where our protagonist is sitting on at park bench, utterly distracted and fed up by the flies on his paper. You characterize him very well, showing how easily sidetracked, and agitated he can be. I really like that you show his preoccupation with the pigeons, and his annoyance, but then how, literally in an instant he can become appreciative of them and describe the day has "beautiful". I felt that these sudden yet frequent change of emotion and mood are what defined the protagonist,and you've captured that well. I also felt that our protagonist wouldn’t try to write how the Chief wanted him to, yet you make that happen without making him conform too much. Well done!
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