Rewarding Superstitions

Maybe it was a spanish thing but I felt that alot of it was above me. However I did note the writers good use of language and the repeated ideas(motifs) of superstition and ignorance. This story WAS a deep story that maybe became "lost in translation."

It was missing something, but it was funny. It needs more body to it.

i felt this story had more to give but it stopped too abruptly. it could have gone on for another 2 more pages to satisfy the readers interest.

I think the story had some potential. It had the right idea, but it didn’t seem to properly tie up. It did a good job characterizing the character however. Though short, you get an image of a dishonest man with not much of a future. It would be interesting if the story were extended to see what else could have been said.

What I thought about this particular story was how it ended. It just sort of came to an end of a sudden. The story just sort of ended but I had the feeling that there was more to it. Also I think that this story would have been a little better if there was more background about each superstition. Lastly this story was good because it was different than other stories because this story just started and it didn’t have to go through a history or introduction.

The story starts out as what appears to be a satire of little consequence. As we move into the second page, it becomes clear that there is a something more significant afoot. Typically i like to take a literal analysis of what happens in a story, and let the emotional meaning wash over me at some unconscious level. stylistically this piece is fascinating, the speed at which his romance progresses is alarming. Enough so that i had to re-read it. its really quite a striking romance, i find myself feeling a lot of sympathy for the male character.

I fell the writer would benefit from using his language skills in a more profound way. The story needed something else, it missed the snow caps on the mountain.

I thought this was delightful and the subtle way the writer in turn becomes a victim of his own superstition by falling for the stauette... I love stories like this where you are never quite sure..It was well translated, some stories can read in a very stilted way if the translating isnt done sympathetically. Ginny

I thought that the superstitions discussed left each one to a subjective level. It let you decide how the superstition came about. I liked that aspect, but, I think that it ended a bit too soon. Kristie, 20, New York City

i thought it was creative and i liked the idea it started with, but it did end a little awkwardly. it seemed like it was leading up to something but then it just dropped off. although the last sentance does do a really good job wrapping it up, its not quite as satisfying to the reader as it could be if it was longer and more detailed.

Im still trying to figure out how the title ties in to the rest of the story, but then again, it stopped too abruptly to know what was going to happen. The piece was well worded with good descriptions, which kept it moving forward. I think it could have definitely gone on for a few more pages. My favorite part so far, was the old lady with the two turtles. I could picture the lady really well.

I thought this story was funny; although it wouldve helped the descriptive part if it were longer. The description could have been more elaborate. I liked this story because you could tell the guy was b/s-ing about watching the tanks and turtles. Then he really started to join and believe in the other peoples superstitions about the statuette. He really fell in love with it and personified it. This could have been developed further, but all in all good job.

A nice little story. I think its so short because it mirrors the characters relationships with his various jobs. Hes such a lonely figure also - he mentions how little the job pays, but not how its affecting him emotionally. The reader is shown this by his immediate love for the statue.

perhaps a comment on how little or nothing can come from superstition. Chris

The writer has a great voice, enough to carry the contrived parable-like scheme of the story. but there is no story in the sense of a narrative. the reader has not learnt anything about the narrator, nothing has been resolved-does he get the girl.? a man who lives off the supersititions of others sounds a fascinating man but we need to know a bt more about him.

Great little story, very original and it was well told. The idea of this man living off of other peoples superstitions really grabbed me. I do feel that maybe the ending should have had a greater payoff, maybe the old couple were themselves deceitful and set the man up or alternatively if there had been something seemingly harmless said at the beginning of the story about the man that could have linked up with the ending. All in all an interesting read that fell short of its great potential. Good job though.

I think that it would satisfy the reader more if the story was extended and written in details. Show and dont tell" It needs to show us whats happening so we can be in the story, not just told. Other than that, I really like the story, the idea, and the genre of superstition and gothic.

Way, cool. This is great, i didnt knew people could be such,... you know, lets say Clumsy. This story at some times ha made me get a smile on my face, not as that trash of the catacomb they tell "sotry of today" or whatever. Right now Im saying "Thank ya for this enjoyable less than 5:00 minutes Ive been reading this" and Im going to search another story of this guy. ...I like stupid stuff and stories... you know?

I think that the story was string to start out with. The use of repition (yes, but which one?) was a good idea to bring the reader to realize just how rediciouls the superstitions were. I thin that the story ended too abruptly and that, if gone on longer, would have been awesome. All in all, not a bad story but there is a LOT more that the writer could do to make it infinatly better.

I just didnt get it.

i think the devil turtle is a metaphor for the nuclear power.both are extremly dangerous.also the french beauty is a danger for the trucker but he will do it like the human beings use the nuclear power.

i think the devil turtle is a metaphor for the nuclear power.both are extremly dangerous.also the french beauty is a danger for the trucker but he will do it like the human beings use the nuclear power.

It is all metaphorical in nature, excepting specific names of places. An interesting read. Very short, but thorough. --Chris Huff

pretty funny story. The part about going beyond the decorum of a nineteenth century girl was especially funny. As i was reading the last paragraph i knew it was going to come to something like that but the way he phrases it just makes it so much better than what i wouldve expected.

Definitely an interesting story. While it could have gone on for two more pages, I like the way we are left to our own devices to see how he escapes. Dont know why everyone seems to think that he is actually in love with the statue. Personally I think he was playing along (he did mention that he believed the old couple to be spying on him) and that later on he will tell them that she has cheated on him (or some other blatantly rediculous fabrication) and that he must leave... that is, as soon as he hears of someone elses superstition.

It would have been more fullfilling if the story went on a little bit more and explained. It was very disapointing how it abruptly ended making you think of possible endings to come. Some may like not knowing the conclusion of a piece but I get frustraded when I come across a piece of work that never concludes clearly and consice. Other then those points I subjected the story was well translated with very interenting way of living life.

this story is weird. I think that at the end of the story he has become delusional from all the superstions and thinks the statue is realthe story isnt that good because it leaves you to use your imagination to figure out what happens

I think that this story is interesting. I like its unique theme of writing and the style of the authors writing. I can see how this book might be confusing and a lot of information and ideas is thrown at you. Overall this stories fresh twist in the writing world makes this an excellent read.

Cool, Im a newbie here and I hope the only comments will be anonymous ones. Easier to get honest appraisals that way, I think.

I am very impressed with the writing style, out of the mainstream, but if done well that is almost always a good thing.

And if the style is there, anything else can be fixed, usually easily.

Really, the only thing Im noting is the lack of depth to this, which can easily be resolved by adding additional detail andor enhancing the plot itself.

Other than that, this was a helluva first story to read on EOTW.

The superstitions are analogous to paranoia,
surveillance, and patriachy. One who partakes
knowingly in the prohibitive tools of society is morally
bankrupt.

This was a refreshing little tidbit. Hardly to be considered a short story but definately poignant in its simplicity. The writing was well done and the repitition of key phrases that run throughout the story hold it together to spin it into a well crafted piece of entertainment. I love the humor.

i think its great story.

the man who lives off
the superstitions of others

What a brilliant idea~!!

everybody got their own superstition

that is weird and freakish. But they

dont know it is.

By using this odd characteristic of

people,i think,writer made a funny

story.

The story is like a poem. The writer could make it more interesting and colorful.

Regardless of language (which was good), humour (which was subtle) and short length (which is never a problem in any walk of life) this story had heart. Taking a simple issue (a guy stuck in a rut of life) and expanding on his personality in such a short space of time is difficult and Sorrentino does a great job of giving his character idiosynchratic tendancies and eventually a darker streak, as he falls deeper into his employers dementia.
I hope that Sorrentino will continue to write. I hope that he may take this story and expand upon it, perhaps to thirty pages, perhaps to three hundred. Eiter way, with a little guidance, this could be a haunting love story, or a chilling horror.

It was translated. Something must have been in the original that didnt make it to this. Or were subsequent pages lost?

The story had an interesting idea but failed to express it adequately.Two pages just wasnt enough. The concept of a man preying on the paranoia of others is appealing. The story reads like a superstitous version of tales from a rear-view mirror. I liked the irony in the ending and how it can be interpreted as sarcasm or sincerity. Genius

wow, he was seriously devoted to the girl...=( so touching and sad!

great story

this story is amzing!!!!

Just a little slice of life. In a slightly mad old world.
What a hoot.:=)

The man is not crazy but he is taking advantage of the girl´s parents and their money. he is also trying to deceive the reader . he does not love the girl, he only cares about the money. Manuel Soiza. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

you must really be lonely to add comments on stories. Tomas Cortelezzi, argentina

therer was lack of humour, sense and the end was tooooo open!!!!!!!!!!!!It loooks as if there were a final paragraph missing.jorge, beccar, buenos aires.

i agreed to one who commented that this story might convey a deeper meaning in its original form (language).. the made of translation might have been the reason for its "true meaning"
however, i like the story! i feel like wishing it not to end

IF the satuette could play the piano and talk then it was not a statuette now was it? IF it was not a statuette then it was a real girl and the story is weird. Did not like it.

In his first two jobs, he seemed not to believe the superstitions and was just taking advantage for the money. In the final job, it is he who lives the superstition.
Alternate ending: when he goes "beyond what is permitted by the decorum and innocence of a late nineteenthcentury girl", he breaks the statuette.