Readings for 03/04

Debbie Urbanski's "When They Came to Us" was an excellent story that I loved reading. I really enjoyed how the author took a topic that is typically written from an aggressive or hostile invader stance and gave the reader a unique portrayal of what an extra terrestrial encounter / planetary invasion could look like. I also liked how the Blues were not very intellectually sophisticated like one would expect an extra terrestrial civilization to be. I believe that is a major hook of the story, giving it its fresh view and outlook. I like how the humans had so many dysfunctions that were highlighted by the arrival of the extra terrestrials, them being the scapegoat for "quirks." I feel like the author did a fantastic job of world building this story, as she used many elements I would like to incorporate into my own writing, especially writing from the "we" standpoint. That gave her a good handful of outlets to express many things through and that is very intriguing to me.

James Salter's "Dusk" was also a good piece that I enjoyed reading. It is very well written in my opinion. I feel like the author does a great job of verbally painting the picture for the reader through their descriptive ability. In the beginning when Mrs. Chandler was in the grocery mart, the part where it starts raining and the cashier mentions it, causing Mrs. Chandler to look out the window and get lost in thought and initiate a flashback scene was really nice. The ex-husband being there waiting when she got home was a bit of a surprise. I thought it was just a nice gesture, him wanting to see if there was anything needing to be done on the house, but after reading their parting dialogue, especially where the ex-husband was like, "I'm just a caretaker. She's my wife. What are you going to do, come up to her sometime and tell her everything?" really peaked my curiosity and interests. What exactly did he mean by that comment? Is there more going on between the two of them and the reader is being given a hint of it? He doesn't sound like he loves his new wife, saying he's just a caretaker and such. This was the most interesting moment of the story to me and I wish I could get answers as to exactly what the situation was.