SH Comments
Reged: Feb 16 2004
Posts: 1056
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This thread is for comments about The Disappearance of James H___, by Hal Duncan.
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SarahP
Regular reader
Reged: Mar 08 2004
Posts: 29
Loc: Iowa City, Iowa
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Oh, maaaan. I loved this piece, right up until the penultimate sentence. Making James into Hook was, for this reader, too obvious or pat, an anticlimax. Some beautiful lines here, though. My favorites: "—Morning will not find us here, it says. We must go looking for it." and "—Every time you say that, I whisper, a little part of you will die." Very nice.
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Tim Pratt
Unregistered
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Oh, I think it works, but I'm a sucker for secret origin stories. I liked it.
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Stephanie Burgis
Unregistered
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I actually thought the "Hook" bit at the end wasn't supposed to be a surprise--it was embedded in the whole story leading up to it (from the very opening set in Scotland, with a narrator called James and references to other literary characters tossed in throughout), so the use of the hook at the end didn't come off as a cheap twist to me, but just a nice metaphor for the historical situation. Of course, it may just be that I've watched "Finding Neverland" way too often... :) But I thought the story was really lovely.
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Christopher Barzak
New user
Reged: Mar 15 2004
Posts: 21
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Loved it. Peter Pan's one of my favorite faery stories, and Hal's managed to do it a good spin. Poetic and piercing.
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SarahP
Regular reader
Reged: Mar 08 2004
Posts: 29
Loc: Iowa City, Iowa
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Yeah, Steph, as you say, the 'Hook' is embedded in the story. Maybe that's why the 'revelation' at the end felt a little (erm) heavy handed to this reader.
Otherwise, y'know, I really liked it!
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Stephanie Burgis
Unregistered
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>>Yeah, Steph, as you say, the 'Hook' is embedded in the story.
LOL! I was thinking too slowly to mean it that way this morning, Sarah...but I like it anyway!
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David J Schwartz
New user
Reged: Mar 11 2005
Posts: 7
Loc: Chicago, IL
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It worked for me, all of it. But then, I didn't see the Hook coming. (Sometimes I'm slow.)
Now I have to go read it again.
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johngilbert
New user
Reged: Jun 04 2005
Posts: 4
Loc: California (Bay area)
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For such a very short piece, it has a lot of craft to it. But it seems that a lot of what I read these days ends up being a kid's story reworked with some naughty parts, and that leaves me feeling a little sad.
John Gilbert
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http://home.earthlink.net/~mrjohngilbert/write.html
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Liloo
Unregistered
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Yeah, it seems that way to me as well. I don't see what's so trendy with that, actually it's a bit sad the way someone twists at innocent stories.
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