The narrator did a fantastic job of going back and forth between a light, whimsical tone, and a saddened, more somber tone. These tones perfectly mirrored the contrasting moods of the story, and made the story come to life. She also did a good job with giving each character a different voice.
The story, about a woman discovering a dragon, seemed silly when I first read the overview before listening to the podcast. However, the mythical, funny aspect of owning a dragon tied in with the overarching theme of isolation and connection. The woman was mostly alone when the dragon came along, and it acted as a companion for her. The story never outright made the connection, but it came across as subtle, unspoken moral, that was hard to pin point exactly- which made for an interesting reflection of the story as a whole.
The one thing that I disliked was the length of the story, but it was not unbearable - ( I didn't realize at one point that it went over 30 minutes )
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ReplyDeleteI agree with everything Cassie said about the tones the narrator used in the story. I think that the most impressive part of this was how Jane Curtin almost seemed to put her own opinion of the events into the story without ever using first person. For example, she uses an almost sarcastic tone when narrating how "lonely people she knew were the most susceptible to the disease of love." This shows how although the main character believed it, it was supposed to be an overly cliche idea.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I did not like was how much the pet 'dragon' was personified at times- I thought it made the theme of loneliness more difficult to follow in that it was unclear if the pet was really supposed to be that close to her or if she was imagining it to have more of a connection. Finally, while the length of the story made it difficult to sit through I don't think there were too many moments that were completely irrelevant, and made me think that they could have been taken out with no damage to the plot.
I’ve always been interested in mythical type creatures and stories, so the theme “Modern Fables” was extremely intriguing, and even more so when I figured out there was a dragon involved. However, while listening to Jane Curtin read, it was nothing like I expected to be. Instead of being this great mythical-type story, it centered on loneliness and longing. I enjoyed that the story had a somber theme but continuously added bits of humor, which made it easier to follow along. Even though, as Cassie stated, it was almost unbearably long.
ReplyDeleteSomething that really appealed to me about how Jane Curtin read the short was that her voice was in no way monotone. She varied her tone quite a bit, making it easier to follow along as she read. She paused at the right moments, giving us great moments of impact. One of my favorite parts of the short was when she first met the dragon and started to describe him. It was a good example of how she varied her voice and fit it to the theme of the story. However, I wish that there was more to be said about her first meeting with the dragon, maybe a little more fear on the girl’s part, etc. It almost seemed like she took on the character as if it was herself and her experiences, (although it isn’t a first person narrative) which made the story more realistic, even though technically it wasn’t realistic at all.