Eyes by James I Wasserman

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kailhofer
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Re: Eyes by James I Wasserman

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"They"--What a stinker of a movie that was. A shocking premise that showed promise, until you cast a wrestler as the lead.<br><br><br>In speculative fiction, authors extrapolate worlds based on our own. In an unwritten agreement, readers assume that everything is the same in our world unless told otherwise. <br><br>This story presented as if it were just a standard drama. Nothing "out there," just a plain, Jane ordinary day in the life of an unhappy salesman. <br><br>There was nothing I saw that hinted that an ending so extraordinary as this one was possible. There was no foreshadowing, even when I looked back, that supported this separation from reality. There has to be a precedent, even if it's exceptionally tiny, that plants the seed in the reader's mind that Nazis could still be around, or even that things were visually an illusion.<br><br>Without that foreshadowing, the conclusion is not logical to the universe as presented, and it's no wonder people had trouble suspending their disbelief.<br><br>Following this vein, Dan E. asked what benefits the Nazis would receive from following this plan. I second this question, as it is not logical. It is not explained in the story, and I cannot fathom why they would want to proceed with this plan as it was. The ultimate goal of the "Final Solution" was not to enslave the Jews and make them miserable, but to eliminate them. Why should Hank send Joseph home to see his family if he's their enemy, unless this was a hit. Why assassinate your own employee who's helping you to complete your goals, however nebulous they may be?<br><br>Furthermore, what doctor performs surgery by himself? Even though Stein did the operation off the record, he had to have nurses or assistants who would have known what happened during the procedure. Also, operating rooms are a prized commodity to those health care organizations who bill for their use and their supplies. One cannot simply "borrow" them for hours without someone knowing. The big secret would not have remained secret for long. (Nazi insurance companies--that would have been less of a stretch. :))<br><br>Stylistically, the majority of paragraphs were the one line, two-sentence variety. This paced the story very rapidly, perhaps too quick to give the description that was needed to pull off the ending. That is, in order to pull this off, I think you would have needed to make the world concrete, and almost immediately begin wearing it away in the fine details. For example, perhaps Joseph could have hated the company dress code. The outfits looked nice, but he felt uncomfortable in them, like they were scratchy and rough. Whittling away slowly, erode the world. You can't do that with a two-sentence paragraph.<br><br>To be honest, I pictured things from "They", because there was not enough here to push those images from my mind. If I hadn't seen that movie, I would not have been able to visualize any of this. Concrete detail, using all the senses. That's the ticket.<br><br>Nate
Last edited by kailhofer on April 03, 2005, 03:21:42 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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kailhofer
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Re: Eyes by James I Wasserman

Post by kailhofer »

I've just learned on another site that this author died unexpectedly in May. He was only 30.<br><br>http://www.jamesiwasserman.com/index.html<br><br>
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