Juice
Juice was a really different kind of read. It didn't read like a fiction story; I found it more similar to a poetic non-fiction piece. This is most definitely due to the author's style and use of detail.
- In the opening chapter, Translation, the speaker talks about her life as a child as tribe-like with each member of her village having a certain responsibility. As the chapter continues, the villagers begin to leave and, eventually, leave the speaker abandoned and wishing for anyone's return. She describes it as "[An] exodus of those who, in your mind, were extensions of yourself." As the speaker suffers through this harsh and dramatically described loneliness, the years become more meticulous, as she lists figures dealing with the time that everyone had left, the time since she spoke, and the inevitable death of the speaker, as well as being over-dramatic in stating the future tidal wave. Although overly dramatic for emphasis, the chapter, especially the closing line, "Things here slowly returning to slime and translation," speaks a lot about the importance of companionship and loneliness and the effects those ideas have on people.
- The next chapter, Proportion Surviving, is where the book gets its title. Here, the author is obsessed with a specific brand of apple juice which has been discontinued due to a shortage of apples the speaker refers to as 'the crisis.' At first, nothing can shake her uneasiness nor her ambition to create awareness about this crisis, until she comes across a girl stacking boxes. The speaker is immediately awestruck, and the couple begins to date. During the time of their relationship, the speaker completely forgets about the crisis. I think the author's purpose in writing this is to demonstrate the importance of love and ability of refocusing one's attention. These are powerful abilities granted to us as people that we take for granted, yet they control us in every aspect of our lives.
- 'No Through Street' was quite a different story. The tone was more pessimistic than the previous sections, however the purpose was much more powerful. The speaker begins with a description of her street as an alley and, over the years, the street signs her sister began to create caused a lot of commotion and in the years the speaker lives away from home, the alley transforms into a busy street. Where the houses used to stand, businesses now reside. The speaker then goes into a few anecdotes regarding her sister and herself as young girls and about the importance of 'looking' at something. Then, she mentions her visit to her sister at a museum after she discovers her sister is painting a mural composed of the signs she has drawn over the years. This entire section is about reflection and acceptance. The speaker was estranged from her sister and deals with the fact that they are different people who don't really know or understand each other.
- The last section. 'First Sleep,' was more abstract, yet more direct in message. I believe this section is about the speaker's mother and her death, and the speaker's coping process. She gets a phone call that wakes her from sleep, alerting her and causing her partner to wake. She then mentions old people 'getting up' and that one day, she herself will 'get up.' I believe this to be a euphemism for death. Overall, this chapter was more fragmented and seemed a lot more scattered than the previous chapters.
great responses here!
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