Victory Lap, by George Saunders, was a difficult one for me to easily jump into. I found the first narrative voice, that belonging to (or perhaps just focusing on) Alison Pope, to be confusing, her trains of thought hard to catch. The jumping around caught me off guard. I think my favorite line, though, is below. I found it amusing first, then felt it fit the character's voice very well.
The next character, Kyle, was easier to follow, his voice being both clear and distinguishable. The inner workings of his mind felt natural, and I found his background more enjoyable to piece together, seeing clear correlations between his actions and his history. While Alison had been a fun challenge to read through, Kyle's perspective made the story more interesting to me and kept me invested so that I could remain gripped as the story approached it's climax.
After Kyle's section, the point of view changes felt natural and the voice for both characters was clear. I don't know if this clarity was because I was now used to Alison's voice, or if it was less of the fun disjointed quirky voice from before. As the plot came through both of their voices, and they each battled with their internal monologue, trying to deal with a terrifying experience, I found myself captivated and feeling certain I knew who these characters were. And I care, which I think is a more important point. I cared by the end in a way I hadn't when Kyle started talking.
"Egads! One found oneself still standing on the top of the stairs.Though the story's voice at this point was not very easy to follow or understand, I still found it interesting and worth pursuing. But just as I got the hang of the style, BOOM! Another point of view.
Do the thing where, facing upstairs, hand on railing, you hop down the stairs one at a time, which was getting a lot harder lately, due to, someone's feet were getting longer every day, seems like."
The next character, Kyle, was easier to follow, his voice being both clear and distinguishable. The inner workings of his mind felt natural, and I found his background more enjoyable to piece together, seeing clear correlations between his actions and his history. While Alison had been a fun challenge to read through, Kyle's perspective made the story more interesting to me and kept me invested so that I could remain gripped as the story approached it's climax.
After Kyle's section, the point of view changes felt natural and the voice for both characters was clear. I don't know if this clarity was because I was now used to Alison's voice, or if it was less of the fun disjointed quirky voice from before. As the plot came through both of their voices, and they each battled with their internal monologue, trying to deal with a terrifying experience, I found myself captivated and feeling certain I knew who these characters were. And I care, which I think is a more important point. I cared by the end in a way I hadn't when Kyle started talking.
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