Bullet In The Brain, by Tobias Wolff (SHORT STORY SATURDAY)
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- Short Story Saturdays are a new segment on the channel where, every Saturday for the rest of the year, I'll be talking about a famous short story and how it makes me feel things. Next Saturday: The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Bullet In The Brain: public.wsu.edu/...
The Yellow Wallpaper: www.nlm.nih.go...
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"this is 2016, the year of terrible things" me watching it in 2021, "oh his poor soul".
Me watching in 2022 🥲🥲
Lol! It’s 2023 and this joke is still funny!
I love Tobias Wolff, and this story is my absolute favorite by him. Great coverage of it! Thanks for the Saturday short story chat.
Another great new story! Thank you, Ryan. And yeah, the whole story I was just waiting for him to get shot. For me the last bit is Anders going back to the moment before he became what he is, when he was still fresh, uncontaminated, uncynical, playing baseball for hours and enjoying life for what it is, not studying language as a scholar or for a job, but enjoying the magic of language for itself, but that led him to the seemingly unhappy life he lived. That being said, I couldn't help but think of "The Secret Miracle" by Borges, and I wonder if Wolff tortured himself wondering if he should write this, given that. Thanks again for introducing me to these wonderful stories.
tortoise dreams That's what I thought too about what Wolff tried to convey through the story.
I loved the story. I was really amazed by how I got a very emotive biography of Anders in such an incredible storytelling. However I've learnt so much more from your video, another layer of interpretation that I did not go deep into such the cliché and literary criticism aspect. Thank you so much and please, keep with the series. Its my best "class" of the week.
i just loved how precise this was and how truly creative this short story was and the ending and the way it shys away from what i feel like could've been a story where the ending gets caught up in its own pretentiousness and GOLLY THIS WAS SWELL
GOLLY SO SWELL ISN'T IT?!?!?! Glad you liked this story ;) it's one of my favorites to share with people, because the reactions are often so visceral.
Another great review. I look forward to this segment every week, Ryan!! I love how the story fights against it's own drama. He's being held at gun point yet he's laughing about sexy cows and the word capiche. Even when he's shot, the story stagnates the drama of the moment with this long paragraph of clinical descriptions. Like you mentioned, from the title it takes away the plot surprise, but then somehow continues with surprise after surprise and then you're two-fold surprised by how surprising it still manages to be. And yes, my favorite line: "I should have stabbed him in his sleep." GAH. It's great!
I pray you bring this series back soon, even if “they is” not a regular, every Saturday post.
Thanks for introducing me to this author. Loved the story and your discussion of it. Looking forward to next Saturday. Always thought the Yellow Wallpaper was a good creepy tale.
Indictment. It's always great to hear people who have learned a word through reading and not through speech (no snark intended). Great analysis of a great story. Thank you.
I wanted to bring it up, but I assumed others would think I was being a jerk, ragging the kid for his vocabulary. But that isn’t it, not at all-it’s that I was strangely roused, elated, by that odd pronunciation, its pure unexpectedness and its music. Someday, when I'm shot in the head for being a wiseass at the bank, this video will pass before my eyes. "IndiCtment... IndiCtment... IndiCtment..."
Hi Ryan, I love your channel. I was amazed by this story - how much it achieved with so little space. Thanks for the review and coming up with this wonderful concept of regularly reviewing short stories.
Haha!!! Great story!❤
Watched this and immediately subscribed! Excited to see what else you post now :)
My god, you're absolutely brilliant. You must do more reviews.
Thank you so much for doing this series. Every week, I'm excited to analyze and interpret the story with you :)
Wow, this was great. Thanks for sharing, Ryan!
Thank you:)
What role death played in bullet in the brain in An Occurrence At Creek Bridge and Beeljuice? Please some explanations.
Thank you for another incredible video, Ryan! I absolutely loved this short story! Everything you said in your review is so spot on. I absolutely love how this story is so concerned with memory, time, loss, and death. The last two paragraphs gave me chills, as well. I didn't pick up a lot of the humor at first, as I wasn't expecting the story to be funny, but when I reread the beginning, I laughed out loud several times! The dark comedy is an excellent touch. I could be totally off here, but I found Anders' character to be a great study of mental illness, especially depression, as in, he remembers things he shouldn't, and can't remember things he should, due to his melancholy nature that seems to have manifested itself over time. Lastly, I loved the physical descriptions of the bullet actually entering the brain. So visceral!
Yeah, you read a title like "Bullet In The Brain" and you start to expect a pretty somber tone, so I think a lot of the humor surprises people :) it definitely surprised me the first time through. Ooooooooooh, I've never once considered Anders' potential depression/illness. I'll have to consider that next time I read it, because I can already see that being an intuitive way to read his character. :) thanks (as always) for showing such care in your comments
No, I don't think that the things he couldn't remember we're essential at all, the most important thing was what he remembered.
I think he goes back to a time when he wasn't cynical about what words people used (in this case that boys grammar) but as shown in the story,as he grew older, he started noticing flaws in people. (He made fun of the robber because of the word 'Capiche' and was also tired of being a literary critic)
He was back in a time when he was pure, unburdened and enjoying things without restraint.
2020 was the worst year
Kapisch????
This was my favorite of the short stories so far, of all the topics it could of brought up for me it was about laughing at inappropriate times.
Ah yes 2016 the year of terrible things things can’t get much worst right?
Anders is clearly going to Hell at the end of the story and his behavior in order for him to take a bullet was clearly one that is because of nerves, exhaustion or another health condition.
u must be eating your words about 2016 being the worst year ever. haha