As I was scheduling out this month’s book club posts, I accidentally published 3/3. Oops. You can disregard that one and discuss this email instead. Hope you’re all digging the book so far.
Quote: We wanted more. We knocked the butt ends of our forks against the table, tapped our spoons against our empty bowls; we were hungry. We wanted more volume, more riots. We turned up the knob on the TV until our ears ached with the shouts of angry men. We wanted more music on the radio; we wanted beats; we wanted rock. We wanted muscles on our skinny arms. We had bird bones, hollow and light, and we wanted more density, more weight. We were six snatching hands, six stomping feet; we were brothers, boys, three little kings locked in a feud for more.
Question: How does the opening chapter, “We Wanted More,” serve to introduce the rest of the novel? What do you learn about the narrator and his brothers?
So far, I've been drawn in by the tension between love and violence, warmth and cold, you don't exactly know what's happening yet, but the poetic prose and rhythm has me hooked.
The scene where Paps has the kids dance was especially intense: "When we got home from school, Paps crowded the kitchen, cooking and listening to music and feeling fine. He whiffed the steam coming off a pot, then clapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly. His eyes were wet and sparkled with giddy life. He turned up the volume on the stereo and it was mambo, it was Tito Puente."
It sets up the unquenchable thirst that permeates their lives, "frightened and vengeful- little animals clawing at what (they) needed"- It also establishes the poetic tone with which the author describes so many un-poetic juxtaposed clamoring realities. He uses unrequited need and unrelenting noise repeatedly, like an uncomfortable drum from which the moments of quiet provide a welcome, though often sad and seemingly defeated, respite. The narrative style is honest and original and consistent, as is the story. Great recommendation.
So far, I've been drawn in by the tension between love and violence, warmth and cold, you don't exactly know what's happening yet, but the poetic prose and rhythm has me hooked.
The scene where Paps has the kids dance was especially intense: "When we got home from school, Paps crowded the kitchen, cooking and listening to music and feeling fine. He whiffed the steam coming off a pot, then clapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly. His eyes were wet and sparkled with giddy life. He turned up the volume on the stereo and it was mambo, it was Tito Puente."
It sets up the unquenchable thirst that permeates their lives, "frightened and vengeful- little animals clawing at what (they) needed"- It also establishes the poetic tone with which the author describes so many un-poetic juxtaposed clamoring realities. He uses unrequited need and unrelenting noise repeatedly, like an uncomfortable drum from which the moments of quiet provide a welcome, though often sad and seemingly defeated, respite. The narrative style is honest and original and consistent, as is the story. Great recommendation.