Christina Bonvicin
May 3, 2009
The Soloist
As I read through some of the posts of my classmates this weekend, I was surprised to see that a few couldn’t get into the book. I, as picky with my books as I am with my dresses, read the first few pages of the book and I was hooked. I don’t know what it is about the book. It’s much easier to read, that’s for sure. The font is small, but large enough that my eyes aren’t killing me after the first couple of pages. And there’s enough space in between each line that I’m not squinting trying to follow the print.
Not only on the physical side of the writing, but the writing itself is very easy to read. Unlike J. D. Salinger, Steve Lopez doesn’t go over board on the thoughts of his mind. The first person narration for my own personal stories is written such that the character’s thoughts aren’t going into extremely explicit detail, which gets very boring very fast.
No, Steve Lopez caught and held my attention with his vivid but short descriptions and easy to understand vocabulary. The story of Nathaniel Ayers itself is a sad story so far, but the inspiration of all those Lopez was trying to get to help him is so uplifting in a world where so much wrong and seemingly nothing right. Of course, it’s sad that Nathaniel had to battle this illness for so long without anyone to help him. Not that he wanted anyone’s help to begin with. If he did want anyone’s help, he wouldn’t have been living on the streets playing a two-stringed violin, transposing Bach and Beethoven from bass to violin. Something never easy, especially not living on the street.
The care that Lopez shows of Nathaniel is genuine, something not easily found in many people anymore. Lopez only talked to Nathaniel for a short amount of time, but after that Lopez worried about Nathaniel’s well being. This was particularly apparent after Lopez writes about the findings of a Juilliard alum living on the streets of LA playing a two-stringed violin, when all the letters came pouring in saying that violins were being air-mailed to Lopez’s office for him to pass onto Nathaniel. Lopez didn’t want to give Nathaniel the new violins and cello, fearing what the thieves on the streets would do to the man.
That kind of care and compassion is something that draws me into a book. I like something where, if it’s in the first person point-of-view, the narrator actually has feelings and isn’t this uncaring being who can’t stand anything or anyone (cough Holden Caulfield). Overall I find Nathaniel’s story interesting and the way Lopez tells it extremely fascinating. I can’t wait to continue to read the book, hoping it gets better as I get deeper into the book.
Focus on...
--- grammar.
--- my thoughts and ideas vs. your own.
--- flow / ramble of the piece.
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Chrissy , I like how in the beginning of your blog you talked about your phsical likings of the book . This was really differnt. Also, I agree with you on the part about why you liked Lopez's firt person point of view. Last, the(cough Holden Caulfield) really shows your style of writing .. GOOD JOB = ]
ReplyDeleteChris, your post reminded me of an interview as seen on TV like you were answering questions on your own personal thoughts and opinions about The Soloist. I was intrigued by how you compared The Soloist to The Catcher In The Rye. (I remember you said you didn't like that book at all.) Your post overall flowed smoothly, and I'm curious as to what else you will write about this book.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you focused on what you call "the care of composition" in Lopez's book. Something that I think turned me off about his writing is that it seems very journalistic to me (simple, straightforward) but at the same time unapologetically full of Lopez's own feelings about what he is experiencing. I had a hard time figuring out what kind of story Lopez was trying to tell, whether he wanted to take on the role of reporter or biographer. But I know that this may be a bias on my part in the form of some expectation for how I think Ayers' story 'should' be told, and I have to get over that.
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