Reading Response

E. L. Doctorow - Willi

  This story made me want to claw my eyes out after the first three pages. Until we discussed the story in class I could not have told you when was happening because my brain refused to process what I was reading. Doctorow's writing style is so poetic it made me work way to hard to understand what was going on. The class discussion really filled me in a gave me a much better understanding of what I had read. I went back to reread it after the class discussion and I was able to actually enjoy it the second time. The randomness of it didn't seem quite so random and the bipolar-ness of it didn't seem so meaningless. The only issue with rereading it after the class discussion is getting past the first page. Once you get the whole masturbation innuendo it's hard not to laugh and read it to every person that will listen to see if they understand... Childish? Yes. I know. But damn, it's so much fun.