Barthelme

I liked a few of the pieces for this week but the Barthelme piece was head and shoulders above the rest I think. The writing was excellently crafted and you could tell that Barthelme enjoyed writing it, a playful quality leaked through a piece that otherwise dealt with serious subject matter. The setting is clearly communicated to us, the entire piece takes place in and around the school room and we are not ever taken to the narrators apartment or any other location which might logically fit into the story being told but would distract from the focus of the piece. Everything we know about the Narrator we learn from his distinct and increasingly exasperated voice, while we eventually learn his name when the children name a Puppy after him he never calls himself by name or is named by another character. Throughout the piece names are used sparingly, a couple of the children get to have them and we know Helen's name but we are never told too much about anybody when a description of their voice or action will do. Alltogether I see this piece as a very succesfull example of tight, restrained writing. Every line is significant to the totality of the piece, very little energy is expended on elaboration or stylistic flourishes. Less of a colorful landscape full of hidden details this piece is a sparse pen and ink drawing to which every section is integral to the success of the entire work.