While the story as a whole did appeal to me, there were a few smaller aspects that I didn't entirely like. Despite Jude's harsh personal life and relationship with his father, he seemed a little bit hard to believe. Jude came off a bit as a Marty Stu. A Marty Stu (From the original term, Mary Sue) is someone who seems somewhat too perfect. The original Mary Sue was from a Star Trek fanfiction who, in the end, died because she was deemed, "too pure for this world" Now clearly Jude isn't like that, but he didn't seem terribly believable to me. He's strong with numbers, forward-thinking like his mother, knows how to defend himself, has a sense of humility, he's a strong athlete, and he's a keen investor. Overall Jude seemed too well-rounded to be real. Granted, people like him do really exist, but they're so rare we begin to think they really don't have any flaws. It was mentioned that Jude became reckless after his mother's death, but that was him reacting to an event outside of his power, not a flaw in his character. What's more is that after he marries, the habits he picked up during this period are never mentioned at all. Another oddity I found was when the story mentions that Jude knew he couldn't wrap his mind around the vastness and unpredictability of another human the way he could calculate equations. But when he marries, this never seems to be an issue.
The reader, Amy Ryan, did a good job distinguishing the voices from one another without interrupting the flow of her narrative. Her voice deepened slightly when the father was speaking and went higher and thinner for the mother. There was a distant, removed aspect of her voice that emphasized the rifts that grew in Jude's life.
In general, I enjoyed listening to the piece, as I am one who enjoys reading or listening to a well-written story about tragic pasts. Despite some aspects of the story feeling forced like Jude's mother dying suddenly to disease, I felt it was a well thought out story that showed that even if you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, you can always try again (Cheeeeeesy ending to my comment, I know)
It is evident that Jude experienced a very unstable and abusive childhood in terms of his relationship with his parents, in particular his father. Jude’s mother tried her best to fulfill her role as both the feminine and masculine role model in Jude’s life because his father was absent at times throughoutJude’s life. When his father was present, he was offensive and selfish and Jude was forced to become an independent role model for himself after his mother left. This tragic story captured my attention because I was able to picture myself in Jude’s place and I was able to feel his loneliness and fear.
Amy Ryan did a good job in narrating this story because like Adam said, she was successful in differentiating one character from another by changing the tone or speed of her talking. Although this story did not contain any humorous moments and there was no laughing from the audience, Amy Ryan still paused at appropriate moments and this emphasized the tension or sadness in specific parts of the story.
The story was a little long as well, almost too long.
This story did not appeal to me as much as I would have liked. It seemed to drift on, quickly becoming long and dreary. Although the reader, Amy Ryan, did a decent job using a variety of tones in attempt to keep the audience's attention but for me personally, it was very easy to become lost and confused of what just happened because it was slightly monotonous or in other words, I found myself focusing very careful on what she was saying so I did not miss what she was about to say. Another contributing factor might be that this story was not very interesting to me. There was a continuous sense of seriousness for the struggle of Jude's life. I would connect myself with Jude for the most part, feeling the struggles for his difficult life but it became hard to continue those thoughts and feelings considering this was a very long story. Overall it was a well presented story by Amy Ryan with much detail and sorrow for Jude's difficult childhood, but was not the right story to keep my attention for that significant period of time.
I did not enjoy the story and didn't have the willpower to listen till the end. I will start of with the good.
The storyteller, Amy Ryan, does a brilliant job of telling the story. Her tones adjusted to the story, going from happy and energetic to somber where needed. Her pace was slow enough to give me enough time to process each word, each small detail. She was very good at adding detail, not just descriptive, but also seemingly unimportant information, such as the fact that there was a lack of sugar at the time, helping to create a more realistic atmosphere. However, the story itself was horribly boring
Every single character was one-dimensional, and can be summed up in a few words; Jude was kind, quiet, intelligent, the perfect child, his father was commanding, posessive, harsh, his mother was sweet, gentle. I have a rule about stories, and that is the fact that if I can call anyone "perfect", then the author hasn't created a realistic character that I can connect to, and therefore the story itself becomes bland and unrelatable. I also found that this story was incredibly predictable, as I found myself predicting that the father would eventually return to his home to find that his wife had moved on, that the mother would eventually leave and the father and Jude would be alone together, that Jude wouldn't get along with any of the other kids. After a while I realized that this story had nothing overwhelmingly unique about it, no unpredictable twists or turns, no wondering what would happen next, no emotional range of characters.
With that, I am sorry to say that this story has failed to capture my attention to the end
As James, Micheal, Sam, and Adam have already said, the storyteller Amy Ryan was brilliant. Her voice flowed smoothly and connected the sentences together with a steady flow. Her voice varied slightly with each character and situation, giving a subtle change that did not disrupt the steadiness of the narration.
The story was too long. I didn't really see that it had a good direction. Sometimes its okay for stories not to have a clear direction, but with a long podcast like this, it did not fit. It's hard to have a longer story without a dynamic plot - this story was mostly description of Jude's life in pieces.
Although I have to say that I liked the description of the story. The word choices and literary devices did keep my interest for a little longer, as it lead to interesting depictions in my mind.
As James and Adam said, there were one dimensional characters. However, I think if the story focused and explored the dynamics between the mother and father from different angles, the characters would be portrayed as more three dimensional.
While I did not find the story all that appealing to me, I think that Any Ryan did an excellent job narrating it. The story itself seemed flimsy and, as Cassie said, didn't have a good direction, I thought that the characters had very interesting relationships to build on, but the story line just jumped around too much to do so. Finally, as I think most people have said, it simply went on for too long to be interesting, especially without one big conflict.
Despite this I thought it had interesting little symbols or motifs throughout it, my favorite being Jude's affinity for numbers and obsession towards counting things.
As for the narration, Amy Ryan's reading interpretations were very impressive in consideration of the story selection. I agree with Michael that the story could get a little monotone at parts and I would get confused as to where the story was; however, she spoke very clearly and emphasized the tone of the story very well. The voices she used in each situation sounded realistic, for example the mother's reaction to Jude being hit. Her voice wavered, and she sounded both scared and upset at the same time.
The story told by Amy Ryan was intriguing at first, but it quickly became too long, and eventually uninteresting. Just like some of my classmates stated, the story had no clear “author’s message”, and therefore felt almost pointless. It seemed to be just another story of a kid who had a rough childhood and learned from his experiences. However, the reader, Amy Ryan, successfully created a voice that fit the different tones of the short. In the beginning, when the story had a somber/depressed tone, the reader's voice was slow and uninterrupted, creating that feeling of pity for Jude and the harsh childhood he had. However, when the tone became a little more hopeful, the reader’s voice varied itself, making the story a little more bearable. She also did a wonderful job of varying the voices of the different characters in the story. There were a few good moments of impact throughout the short, but even those moments of intrigue weren’t enough to catch my interest for the entire time it was being read. Unfortunately, overall, this story didn’t appeal to me. I think the story itself would translate better if instead of listening to it, just reading it to oneself.
Against All Odds: At the Round Earths Imagined Corners read by Amy Ryan:
Right from the beginning the reader grabbed my attention by using a lot of description. Hearing first about their house in Florida, with no air condition because that was for rich people, left me with wanting to hear more about the story. While I don't particularly enjoy the readers voice, I think it fits the story. As the reader continues with description now about Jude's family members rather than the setting, I do wish her tone changed more often. With more changes of the tone and more pauses, I think the reader could have added more interest in the story which would captivate the audience better. Furthermore, when the reader talks about the wife finding an alligator in the bath tub, that is an example of a part where a longer pause would be beneficial. When the story started talking about books, it attracted my attention more. The books part was my favorite. I liked the idea of how books could bring people together. The mother gave black people books (something she probably was not allowed to do) because reading is important and brings happiness and information. I agree with Sam that the story's length was a little long. If the readers pace and tone changed more perhaps the story would not have seemed as long and been easier to follow. Unfortunately, because of this I found the story a little boring and difficult to listen to. I wish this story was shortened and the voice was more interesting because I think I would have been able to follow the importance of Jude more. I see that there are mixed emotions on the reader. Personally, I do not think she was a very good reader for this specific story. I agree with Manisha that in the beginning I was captivated, but as it went on I slowly became less and less interested.
The story did not appeal to me very much. At the beginning, I was very interested because the story contained a lot of description and detail. It did a good job of using imagery to describe the settings and characters. I noticed a few times when the sense of smell was used to describe Jude's house. The descriptions of Jude were also very good and I really got a feel for his character. However, the story became too long after twenty minutes. Like Manisha said, I was waiting to hear the message or moral of the story, but it became clear that there was not a clear message. However, like Sasha, I really liked the part about the books. I think the importance of reading, information, and storytelling may have had to do with the message of the story. Amy Ryan did a really good job telling the story at the beginning. Her tone was perfect for the story and she did a great job of speaking in a way that made it clear who Jude was. Her tone fit his personality and the story very well. However, after twenty minutes she became a little to monotonous, which made it hard to stay engaged. Especially at the end, during the climaxes, such as when Jude finds out that his father was found dead in his tent, Amy Ryan could have used a little more excitement or a different tone to interest the listener.
This story appealed to me in some ways but it also turned me off at moments. The author, Lauren Groff, used detail and description to bring the story and the characters to life. I disagree with Jame's comment that all the characters were one dimensional. i think Jude's relationships with his mother and father were both very 3 dimensional and gave depth to the characters. However all of the detail, while helpful, also made me tune out at some points due to boredom. I think Amy Ryan did an excellent job at reading this story. She had range in volume and was able to evoke different emotions. I disagree with Grace's comment that she could have used more excitement. i think the story was kind of slow and came full circle in the end and the slight monotony matched the story perfectly.
This story appealed to me in many ways. I enjoyed the plot of the story and the characters that were introduced. I liked how we were part of Jude's journey from childhood to adulthood.
The speaker did a good job of changing the tone throughout the story, adding a bit of color to it. It was sympathetic and understanding at the right points of the story. When the story spoke about the albino alligator in the bathtub, the tone was light and funny, letting listeners know it was okay to laugh. The only thing I did not enjoy about the story was how long it was. I started to get less interested as the story went on.
While the story as a whole did appeal to me, there were a few smaller aspects that I didn't entirely like. Despite Jude's harsh personal life and relationship with his father, he seemed a little bit hard to believe. Jude came off a bit as a Marty Stu. A Marty Stu (From the original term, Mary Sue) is someone who seems somewhat too perfect. The original Mary Sue was from a Star Trek fanfiction who, in the end, died because she was deemed, "too pure for this world" Now clearly Jude isn't like that, but he didn't seem terribly believable to me. He's strong with numbers, forward-thinking like his mother, knows how to defend himself, has a sense of humility, he's a strong athlete, and he's a keen investor. Overall Jude seemed too well-rounded to be real. Granted, people like him do really exist, but they're so rare we begin to think they really don't have any flaws. It was mentioned that Jude became reckless after his mother's death, but that was him reacting to an event outside of his power, not a flaw in his character. What's more is that after he marries, the habits he picked up during this period are never mentioned at all. Another oddity I found was when the story mentions that Jude knew he couldn't wrap his mind around the vastness and unpredictability of another human the way he could calculate equations. But when he marries, this never seems to be an issue.
ReplyDeleteThe reader, Amy Ryan, did a good job distinguishing the voices from one another without interrupting the flow of her narrative. Her voice deepened slightly when the father was speaking and went higher and thinner for the mother. There was a distant, removed aspect of her voice that emphasized the rifts that grew in Jude's life.
In general, I enjoyed listening to the piece, as I am one who enjoys reading or listening to a well-written story about tragic pasts. Despite some aspects of the story feeling forced like Jude's mother dying suddenly to disease, I felt it was a well thought out story that showed that even if you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, you can always try again (Cheeeeeesy ending to my comment, I know)
It is evident that Jude experienced a very unstable and abusive childhood in terms of his relationship with his parents, in particular his father. Jude’s mother tried her best to fulfill her role as both the feminine and masculine role model in Jude’s life because his father was absent at times throughoutJude’s life. When his father was present, he was offensive and selfish and Jude was forced to become an independent role model for himself after his mother left. This tragic story captured my attention because I was able to picture myself in Jude’s place and I was able to feel his loneliness and fear.
ReplyDeleteAmy Ryan did a good job in narrating this story because like Adam said, she was successful in differentiating one character from another by changing the tone or speed of her talking. Although this story did not contain any humorous moments and there was no laughing from the audience, Amy Ryan still paused at appropriate moments and this emphasized the tension or sadness in specific parts of the story.
The story was a little long as well, almost too long.
This story did not appeal to me as much as I would have liked. It seemed to drift on, quickly becoming long and dreary. Although the reader, Amy Ryan, did a decent job using a variety of tones in attempt to keep the audience's attention but for me personally, it was very easy to become lost and confused of what just happened because it was slightly monotonous or in other words, I found myself focusing very careful on what she was saying so I did not miss what she was about to say. Another contributing factor might be that this story was not very interesting to me. There was a continuous sense of seriousness for the struggle of Jude's life. I would connect myself with Jude for the most part, feeling the struggles for his difficult life but it became hard to continue those thoughts and feelings considering this was a very long story. Overall it was a well presented story by Amy Ryan with much detail and sorrow for Jude's difficult childhood, but was not the right story to keep my attention for that significant period of time.
ReplyDeleteI did not enjoy the story and didn't have the willpower to listen till the end. I will start of with the good.
ReplyDeleteThe storyteller, Amy Ryan, does a brilliant job of telling the story. Her tones adjusted to the story, going from happy and energetic to somber where needed. Her pace was slow enough to give me enough time to process each word, each small detail. She was very good at adding detail, not just descriptive, but also seemingly unimportant information, such as the fact that there was a lack of sugar at the time, helping to create a more realistic atmosphere. However, the story itself was horribly boring
Every single character was one-dimensional, and can be summed up in a few words; Jude was kind, quiet, intelligent, the perfect child, his father was commanding, posessive, harsh, his mother was sweet, gentle. I have a rule about stories, and that is the fact that if I can call anyone "perfect", then the author hasn't created a realistic character that I can connect to, and therefore the story itself becomes bland and unrelatable. I also found that this story was incredibly predictable, as I found myself predicting that the father would eventually return to his home to find that his wife had moved on, that the mother would eventually leave and the father and Jude would be alone together, that Jude wouldn't get along with any of the other kids. After a while I realized that this story had nothing overwhelmingly unique about it, no unpredictable twists or turns, no wondering what would happen next, no emotional range of characters.
With that, I am sorry to say that this story has failed to capture my attention to the end
As James, Micheal, Sam, and Adam have already said, the storyteller Amy Ryan was brilliant. Her voice flowed smoothly and connected the sentences together with a steady flow. Her voice varied slightly with each character and situation, giving a subtle change that did not disrupt the steadiness of the narration.
ReplyDeleteThe story was too long. I didn't really see that it had a good direction. Sometimes its okay for stories not to have a clear direction, but with a long podcast like this, it did not fit. It's hard to have a longer story without a dynamic plot - this story was mostly description of Jude's life in pieces.
Although I have to say that I liked the description of the story. The word choices and literary devices did keep my interest for a little longer, as it lead to interesting depictions in my mind.
As James and Adam said, there were one dimensional characters. However, I think if the story focused and explored the dynamics between the mother and father from different angles, the characters would be portrayed as more three dimensional.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhile I did not find the story all that appealing to me, I think that Any Ryan did an excellent job narrating it. The story itself seemed flimsy and, as Cassie said, didn't have a good direction, I thought that the characters had very interesting relationships to build on, but the story line just jumped around too much to do so. Finally, as I think most people have said, it simply went on for too long to be interesting, especially without one big conflict.
ReplyDeleteDespite this I thought it had interesting little symbols or motifs throughout it, my favorite being Jude's affinity for numbers and obsession towards counting things.
As for the narration, Amy Ryan's reading interpretations were very impressive in consideration of the story selection. I agree with Michael that the story could get a little monotone at parts and I would get confused as to where the story was; however, she spoke very clearly and emphasized the tone of the story very well. The voices she used in each situation sounded realistic, for example the mother's reaction to Jude being hit. Her voice wavered, and she sounded both scared and upset at the same time.
The story told by Amy Ryan was intriguing at first, but it quickly became too long, and eventually uninteresting. Just like some of my classmates stated, the story had no clear “author’s message”, and therefore felt almost pointless. It seemed to be just another story of a kid who had a rough childhood and learned from his experiences.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the reader, Amy Ryan, successfully created a voice that fit the different tones of the short. In the beginning, when the story had a somber/depressed tone, the reader's voice was slow and uninterrupted, creating that feeling of pity for Jude and the harsh childhood he had. However, when the tone became a little more hopeful, the reader’s voice varied itself, making the story a little more bearable. She also did a wonderful job of varying the voices of the different characters in the story. There were a few good moments of impact throughout the short, but even those moments of intrigue weren’t enough to catch my interest for the entire time it was being read. Unfortunately, overall, this story didn’t appeal to me. I think the story itself would translate better if instead of listening to it, just reading it to oneself.
Against All Odds: At the Round Earths Imagined Corners read by Amy Ryan:
ReplyDeleteRight from the beginning the reader grabbed my attention by using a lot of description. Hearing first about their house in Florida, with no air condition because that was for rich people, left me with wanting to hear more about the story. While I don't particularly enjoy the readers voice, I think it fits the story. As the reader continues with description now about Jude's family members rather than the setting, I do wish her tone changed more often. With more changes of the tone and more pauses, I think the reader could have added more interest in the story which would captivate the audience better. Furthermore, when the reader talks about the wife finding an alligator in the bath tub, that is an example of a part where a longer pause would be beneficial.
When the story started talking about books, it attracted my attention more. The books part was my favorite. I liked the idea of how books could bring people together. The mother gave black people books (something she probably was not allowed to do) because reading is important and brings happiness and information.
I agree with Sam that the story's length was a little long. If the readers pace and tone changed more perhaps the story would not have seemed as long and been easier to follow. Unfortunately, because of this I found the story a little boring and difficult to listen to. I wish this story was shortened and the voice was more interesting because I think I would have been able to follow the importance of Jude more. I see that there are mixed emotions on the reader. Personally, I do not think she was a very good reader for this specific story. I agree with Manisha that in the beginning I was captivated, but as it went on I slowly became less and less interested.
The story did not appeal to me very much. At the beginning, I was very interested because the story contained a lot of description and detail. It did a good job of using imagery to describe the settings and characters. I noticed a few times when the sense of smell was used to describe Jude's house. The descriptions of Jude were also very good and I really got a feel for his character. However, the story became too long after twenty minutes. Like Manisha said, I was waiting to hear the message or moral of the story, but it became clear that there was not a clear message. However, like Sasha, I really liked the part about the books. I think the importance of reading, information, and storytelling may have had to do with the message of the story.
ReplyDeleteAmy Ryan did a really good job telling the story at the beginning. Her tone was perfect for the story and she did a great job of speaking in a way that made it clear who Jude was. Her tone fit his personality and the story very well. However, after twenty minutes she became a little to monotonous, which made it hard to stay engaged. Especially at the end, during the climaxes, such as when Jude finds out that his father was found dead in his tent, Amy Ryan could have used a little more excitement or a different tone to interest the listener.
This story appealed to me in some ways but it also turned me off at moments. The author, Lauren Groff, used detail and description to bring the story and the characters to life. I disagree with Jame's comment that all the characters were one dimensional. i think Jude's relationships with his mother and father were both very 3 dimensional and gave depth to the characters. However all of the detail, while helpful, also made me tune out at some points due to boredom.
ReplyDeleteI think Amy Ryan did an excellent job at reading this story. She had range in volume and was able to evoke different emotions. I disagree with Grace's comment that she could have used more excitement. i think the story was kind of slow and came full circle in the end and the slight monotony matched the story perfectly.
This story appealed to me in many ways. I enjoyed the plot of the story and the characters that were introduced. I liked how we were part of Jude's journey from childhood to adulthood.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker did a good job of changing the tone throughout the story, adding a bit of color to it. It was sympathetic and understanding at the right points of the story. When the story spoke about the albino alligator in the bathtub, the tone was light and funny, letting listeners know it was okay to laugh. The only thing I did not enjoy about the story was how long it was. I started to get less interested as the story went on.