2007:09/09 Hills Like White Elephants by Hemingway

[Koach_Bot]

Our discussion of Ernest Hemmingway's 'Hills Like White Elephants' was in some ways similar to the story itself and in some ways very different. The story itself is comprised of dialogue and we certainly had PLENTY of it - often with multiple strings occuring simultaneously. While the story presents a lot of room for interpretation and differing views - so did our chat !! The story has a fair amount of imputed silence -- our chat did NOT lol. In fact, even during breaks we couldn't stop talking about the story.

 

There was a lot of research done by several prior to the story and that certainly facilitated discussion points as well as providing a richer experience with respect to independent analysis of interpretation and origin.

 

One of the open points we started having fun with at the end was deciding who we might cast as the lead characters (The American and the girl - Jig) if this were to be a play. Continuing that in the forum would be interesting I think and would probably demonstrate how we indvidually 'see' these characters (age, culture, etc). So - please do so !

 

Here is how the rankings stacked up:

Interest/Entertainment Value: 5,4,5,5,4.5,4.5,3,2.5,3.5 = 4.11

Artistic/Social Value: 4.5,5,4.5,5,4.5,3.8,4.5,3,2.5 = 4.14

Discussion: 5,3,4,3,4,5,4.5,4.5,4.5 = 4.16

 

Thanks to ALL of our participants - lurkers are welcome anytime as well to get an idea of our chats. We did have one new member last night, however it was a very difficult story and discussion for them to follow. I do hope you give us another chance - come back again.

grip

 

Ranking Scales:

 

Interest or Entertainment Value:

5--One of the most engrossing stories I have ever read

4--Very entertaining, I would recommend it to my friends

3--A good read, I might recommend it to people whom I know share my interests or tastes

2--I would not recommend this story to others

1--A really bad read, I am sorry I wasted my time with it

 

Artistic Value (Social/Emotional content)

5--A work of art, pulitzer prize material.

4--A significant contribution to literature

3--Well written

2--Pretty Forgettable

1--Garbage

 

The chat discussion itself:

5--One of the most enjoyable times I have ever spent in chat. This is what chat is for !

4--A really enjoyable chat, as good as warm chocolate chip cookies with milk.

3--A nice chat, time well spent.

2--Better than a sharp stick in the eye, but not by much

1--I may never chat again as a result of this experience.