Okay loyal fans, I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that I will keep posting reviews of short stories.
The bad news is that I’m back in school taking an independent study on Nebraska Authors.
Well, that is not really bad news. I love Nebraska Authors. However, I’m not going to have much time for science fiction or fantasy in the up coming months. I will try, but no promises. I was able to sneek a collection of short stories by Robert Reed into the mix (I’ll get to it in late December).
So, on with the Nebraska Literature!
“Peter” is a fantastic character sketch. Cather goes to great lengths to show just Peter that you can both love and hate him. By the end of the story, you love Peter enough to care when he puts his toe into the trigger of his shot gun and the barrel in his mouth.
What I like most is the point of view. The point of view shifts from character to character, but when the point of view shifts it still focuses in on Peter. The other characters are thinking and talking about Peter. This way the reader gets to learn second-hand information, indirect characterization, most of which comes from Antone, Peter’s son.
The other brilliant way in which Cather indirectly adds to Peter’s character is through characterizing Antone. Antone is everything that Peter is not. This kind of negation fun to read and works very well. The reader is lead to believe in Antone and thus think of Peter as an old foolish man who only loves his violin.
Really, this is a very clean and quick story. I think that if you are stuck as a writer trying to flesh out a character, this story’s techniques can help!
Cather, Willa. “Peter” 24 Stories. New York: Meridian Classic, 1988. p. 1 - 4
The good news is that I will keep posting reviews of short stories.
The bad news is that I’m back in school taking an independent study on Nebraska Authors.
Well, that is not really bad news. I love Nebraska Authors. However, I’m not going to have much time for science fiction or fantasy in the up coming months. I will try, but no promises. I was able to sneek a collection of short stories by Robert Reed into the mix (I’ll get to it in late December).
So, on with the Nebraska Literature!
“Peter” is a fantastic character sketch. Cather goes to great lengths to show just Peter that you can both love and hate him. By the end of the story, you love Peter enough to care when he puts his toe into the trigger of his shot gun and the barrel in his mouth.
What I like most is the point of view. The point of view shifts from character to character, but when the point of view shifts it still focuses in on Peter. The other characters are thinking and talking about Peter. This way the reader gets to learn second-hand information, indirect characterization, most of which comes from Antone, Peter’s son.
The other brilliant way in which Cather indirectly adds to Peter’s character is through characterizing Antone. Antone is everything that Peter is not. This kind of negation fun to read and works very well. The reader is lead to believe in Antone and thus think of Peter as an old foolish man who only loves his violin.
Really, this is a very clean and quick story. I think that if you are stuck as a writer trying to flesh out a character, this story’s techniques can help!
Cather, Willa. “Peter” 24 Stories. New York: Meridian Classic, 1988. p. 1 - 4
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