Real Life Wears Slippers by Deetwall
Wed, 2006-10-25 09:47
#1
Real Life Wears Slippers by Deetwall
http://www.abctales.com/story/deetwall/real-life-wears-slippers
Wow! What a fantastic read! Laugh out loud hilarious, as the plot - and the colours - thicken. What I like most about this story (apart from its brazen absurdity) is the attention to small details that make all the difference - the narrator's obsession with the colour of his penis, his blue hand waving behind a curtain. Although the events in this story are utterly ridiculous, the reader remains damn sure that - if they did happen - this is EXACTLY how events would unfold! Well done Deetwall.
Jack Cade
It's a good idea for a story, but reads to me more like a sketch. None of the characters have any flesh - hard to do in a story this short, but a couple of details about their personalities wouldn't go amiss. I also wasn't quite convinced by the rise to fame - seems like he'd only merit a page in The Sun, or Bizarre (where people like that turn up all the time) rather than cutting an album deal and appearing on Richard & Judy. I was less convinced still by the sudden plummet - I know people do have a habit of disappearing very quickly, but the narrator seemed to imply that it was because he was turning red. What's less impressive about being red?
~
I'll Show You Tyrants * Fuselit * The Prowl Log * Woe's Woe
ggggareth
Jack, you're absolutely right about the 'sketchiness' of the story. It reminds me of the old Harry Enfield sketches - when the Slobs win the lottery, or Wayne marries a supermodel (or was that the same sketch?) - I think the story sets itself up as an allagory, rather than a sketch - it's not so much that there's anything special about redness, per se, but that there is something inherently shallow about the 15 minutes of fame allotted to your average Big Brother contestant these days.
ggggareth
If Deetwall was to have a go at making the story longer, do you think it would lose its allegorical qualities? At first, I thought the answer to this was Yes, but the more I think about it, the more I'm tending to think that it wouldn't matter - and Jack's (as always!) right that the characters could benefit from being drawn in more detail. I personally would LOVE to hear some of the Richard and Judy dialogue!
galfreda
Brilliant and mad! (Jack I think you might be taking it too seriously.) I read it standing up but my knees kept bending with laughter.