Party Animals: "Turning"
For the most part I liked this story. There was so much description which created a vivid image in my head what was being presented to my ears. The trio of older characters, met with the young Robert is a very odd group. The older ladies were able to share some wisdom with the young boy such as 'looking within yourself' before making a big decision. It showed that sometimes the youth can find very impactful information from elders of society even in the most uncommon groups of people.
The reader, Christine Lahti, used various voices to differentiate and distinguish between the characters, especially between the young Robert and the older ladies. She made it very easy to follow what she was saying, pausing at certain points and using different tones to keep the listener attentive. Speaking faster or slowing down the speed at which she spoke gave the listener more information; whether or not it was exciting or to allow them to acknowledge what they just heard.
Party Animals: "Goody Bags"
This story was decently appealing to me. It was very relatable, to the sense that it wasn't very formal but rather from someone's personal views and their raw emotions and feelings toward the situation. Wanting to use the "magic" from the Goody Bags, this became a very important part of this characters life by listening to Nama. (I believe that is the correct name) The story became a bit confusing at times, as it seemed to be jumping around too quick for my liking. It was almost as if right when I was trying to acknowledge what I just hear, more information was already being given.
The reader, Amber Tamblyn, is definitely a very excited, peppy person which translated into the reading of this story. She was able to control this and use it very effectively, turning it into a skill. She kept the audience attentive by using different speeds or the pace at which she spoke. She didn't let the listener drift off but rather kept reeling them in making them want to hear what she was about to say because she seemed excited to hear what she was about to say which made the audience want to listen even more.
I definitely found "Goody Bags" entertaining, Amber Tamblyn does a great job portraying this story from a kid's perspective. She seems most excited when discussing the wealth of her friend and her friend's dad. This excitement vanishes in Amber's tone, as she realizes that her at home life is pretty "ordinary." Her family does not have a lot of money, and she almost seems disappointed that her dad cannot provide a material life like Nama's dad can. Personally, I've never envied an individuals wealth simply because family has always been what is important to me. "Goody Bags" almost offers the opposite view of life, showing that a decent amount of young kids need money in order for them to be happy. This story certainly flows at a quick pace; however, this is necessary in telling the story from a kid's perspective. Amber Tamblyn was able to keep me engaged the entire time. She was rather entertaining to listen to, showing a lot of emotion throughout.
ReplyDelete"Turning" was not one of the ones I enjoyed as much. I did like the way Christine Lahti gave each character a different voice, especially with the three different older characters - it could have been so easy to just use the same voice for each of them. What I wasn't a fan of was the way she used the pauses: I tend to like a more flowing story, so the pauses between the dialogue and narration seemed to break up the story too much. I also didn't like the way that particular third person narrative was told because it was hard for me to relate to each character and the situation.
DeleteI definitely liked "Goody Bags" more. It used first person, making it easier for me to become interested in the story and see what the narrator was seeing. The storyline was also more interesting in general, with the mystery of who the man in the car was and what was in the goody bags (I suspect drugs). Amber Tamblyn's portrayal of the young character is what brought me into the story more than "Turning" because she was able to become her character more than a third person narrator would be. Her continual peppiness and rambling made it clear the character was a child and she demonstrated the way a child could be shallow and desire a better house and more money.
Party Animals: Turning, read by Christine Lahti:
ReplyDeleteThe start of this story- description about the three old ladies- intrigued me and left me wanting to here the rest of the story. Right from the start I like the readers voice, which annunciated words and had varied tones. There are appropriate pauses, which helped split up the story making it very easy to follow. The different voices for each character also made the story flow nicely. Between different voices and great description, I could really understand and picture the story happening as she told it. I must say, the story within a story became a little hard to follow. Perhaps it is simply the length, paying attention to another whole story was a little challenging. I would have loved more description about the room and the ladies and the boy rather than this second story. However, despite this, I enjoyed the second story and the message it had. I agree with Michael that it did show how elders can give wisdom to the youth. Overall, I enjoyed this story, and if there was not as much varied voices I would not have liked it as much.