I love what Richard Read did with this collection of
stories. He tricked me into reading about global economics, history, and
politics by disguising his story as a tale about french fries. How fascinating that
Hutterites (a people I am ancestrally related to) are linked to the far eastern
middle class and the global fast-food consumer. The potato is just Read’s
vehicle for telling a much larger story of connectedness. This, to me, read as
a four-part, turn-of-the-century commentary on globalization, not fast-food
logistics. From Muslim cleric Mohamad Joban to American anthropologists and
Indonesian entrepreneurs, Read managed to capture my attention and enlighten me
as a reader about dozens of people across the globe and their stories – all connected
by their tangential involvement with McDonald’s fries. After reading this, I
wouldn’t say that I came away more knowledge of the world economy, but rather
of the interconnectedness of our world in general. I loved this piece. It was
thought provoking and made me crave French fries. My only general critique is
that at times the writing seemed to ramble and go on a bit longer than was necessary.
In some contexts the long narrative worked well and really added to the
story/was entertaining, while in a few other places I siply didn’t resonate
with the character/story and wanted to move on. In all, I think this was a
small side effect of the massive scope of Read’s story and overall I enjoyed it
a lot.
Hi Paul,
ReplyDeleteI wonder how your appreciation for Read's massive scope might translate to your piece about The Vine neighborhood. For me as a reader, narrative joy lies in minuscule details and a tight focus-- like the narration in your piece about your block in the neighborhood. I do see the appeal of weaving a interconnected web, though. I would like to see you connect several specific spaces in Vine into a larger "Vine" collective.
Elaine
It's interesting that you look at the piece as a comment on how our world is connected rather than on economics. I think I was hoping for it to be the latter, and was thus disappointed by the piece overall. Now that I think of it in the first way, though, I'm starting to like it better. Reading it in the context of globalization, I think it's a pretty cool narrative. It strays from the usual condemnation and really looks at all of the aspects involved and the way in which people abroad use American fast food places.
ReplyDeleteElaine,
ReplyDeleteI have to say, this piece as well as Aupperlee’s “Life on Chittock” article both added to my arsenal of inspiration this week. I’ll be sure and remember that for some, “joy lies in minuscule details and a tight focus” Thanks for the reminder/suggestion.
Paul