Critique of Weldon’s “Thirteen of These Thirteen of These Thirteen of These”

As the title suggests, Weldon’s piece consists of thirteen titled sections with varying lengths, written in the style of Gertrude Stein.  While there is no obvious plot or human characters (besides the first person I in “A Few Different Ones”), experimentation with language and syntax is very apparent.  Articles and prepositions are sometimes included where the reader would expect them, but are often omitted to play with such expectations.  Likewise, phrases are repeated in three’s in the middle of sentences before the syntactical units veer off in different directions.  Often a sentence will read as though it was originally three, and the writer simply cut out punctuation and select words.  The bizarre use of diction, though confusing, is quite entertaining to read and the piece presents itself as a collection of prose poems.  The reoccurrence of “Sandwich” is a playful break (I accidentally wrote bread first) in the attempt to undermine the conventions of language.

Critique of Stewart’s “Desafortunado”

Though the adjective Desafortunado (unfortunate) is used specifically in reference to the albino horse, it can be applied to every element and character of the story, including the small, stagnant town of Socorro.  Starting with the aftermath and meandering through every moment beforehand, the story traces the events involved with the accidental murder of Herman and the euthanization of a half-blind albino ex-race horse named Cheyenne. 

Stewart experiments with time and personification.  He abandons sequential chronology like Quentin Tarantino when arranging scenes and ascribes emotions and ambitions (or lack there of) to items as inconsequential as tumble weeds.  Both devices prove successful and make for an interesting read.  Despite the back and forth plot motion, the order of events can be reasonably deciphered with close attention to scene details and a little rereading.  There are a few noticeable slips in time, such as sunset occurring when it should be sunrise, but the slight errors do not hinder the story.