Reading Response Week 10

This is in response to Waking Life by Dionne Irving. Upon first reading this book I was captivated by the piece’s ability to convey so much in only 28 pages. I was baffled that something as simple as a chap book could weave a story more complex that other books that are substantially longer in length. Another aspect of the piece that intrigued me was that the narrator herself was a writer as well. This put me in the mind of the ars poetica of sorts except with fiction. It made me wonder if the author simply researched the places found within the story or did she actually visit these places before. Also the use of dialogue in this book helped me see the way dialogue should be used. Every line of dialogue used in the book was completely necessary and served multiple purposes. Not only did it show the emotional state of the character at the time, it also revealed the personality of the one who spoke it. Finally I like the way the mother was seen in two different lights. How the narrator addressed the normal perception of a mother and then showed the true nature of her own mother. This dualism when it came to the mother’s personality was what I enjoyed most about the piece.