Post by mikeralls on Jun 25, 2007 12:17:23 GMT -5
For anyone who is interested, here is my interpretation of how Casanegra follows the Hero's Journey as well as some notes.
WARNING!
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
HERO CONFRONTED WITH CHALLENGE: Tennyson Hardwick old friend Serena, and current rap / movie star, is murdered. The police heavily think he did it. Ten’s challenge is to find the real killer.
REJECTS CHALLENGE: He considers just leaving town a couple of time, but he is pretty dedicated to finding Serena’s killer.
ACCEPTS CHALLENGE: The pivotal moment would probably be when he calls Mother to get him into a Rap party, thereby showing he is willing to risk getting sucked back into a life he worked hard to escape in order to solve the murder.
ROAD OF TRIALS: Ten goes through a lot, from being beat up by a Rap star’s entourage to resisting the temptation to make a few easy thousand dollars and skip town, to rescuing a underage girl to admitting to his father that he is a murder suspect.
ALLIES AND POWERS: Ten has most of the same skills at the beginning of the story as at the end. Some of them may be a little bit rusty but by and learn he doesn’t seem to learn any new skills, save for a greater appreciation of patience. He does gain a number of allies which he uses to solve the murder.
CONFRONT EVIL—DEFEATED: He is captured by some crooked cops who think he murdered a copy buddy of theirs and who also work for a rapper he beat up and humiliated.
DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL: Ten is locked in a car trunk and knows that if he does not figure out who murdered Serena he is going to be killed.
LEAP OF FAITH: Tells the Cops who actually killed Serena and their cop buddy. Trusts that they will not kill him anyways.
CONFRONT EVIL—VICTORIOUS: The cops refuse to follow the Rappers orders to kill him anyway. They let him go and he promises he won’t talk.
STUDENT BECOMES TEACHER: Ten is set up to be a mentor / father figure to the girl he rescued as well as patch things up with his father.
2. “As anybody in this town knows, some people give off a magnetic field.” Hmm . . . semi-true, IMO.
4. “Her eyes said she wanted me to say I was fine. Great. Never been better.
“Fine, darlin’. Great. Never better.”
“Don’t lie to me, T. For real.” So was this just a bad read by Ten?
13. “When I was thirteen, my junior high school drama teacher seduced me in her pool after school; so all things considered, I have to count Ms. Jackson as my favorite teacher.” It’s presented as airy and light here in the beginning but I wasn’t surprised to see him remember this in darker tones as the novel progressed.
16. “Was this how people felt when hey were making love?” Ouch. Poor guy.
18. “To celebrate my friendly treatment by an assistant – in this town, you learn to celebrate even the teensiest victories.” I like these touches of the life of an actor.
20. “My short walkway is flanked by cactuses, which, like me, don’t invite touching and don't need a lot of fussing and tending.” Definitely has the hard-boiled detective flavor.
20. “Alice doesn’t live here anymore, but at the same time she always will.” Eh. Too obvious a ref.
23. “There are two systems you want to avoid at all costs: lock-up and long-term medical care. All in all, I’d rather be in jail.” Sadly, I agree.
33. I’m so out of the Hollywood loop I had to Google the stars to see if they were real (they are not).
36. Ten knows how to appeal to people’s desires.
64. Ten never had any interest in men. “No reason to be rude about it, though. Anyone who appreciates you is offering you a gift.” Or in my words, “Even if you don’t want to go to the party, it’s still nice to be invited.
65. “I held his eyes and matched the pace of my breathing to his to create an emotional link. It makes people feel like they know you, without ever understanding why.” I wonder if that works.
89. Ten is taking it slow, after learning his lesson from M.C. Glazer. I think this is the only lesson he actually learns in the book. Everything else depends upon skills, mindsets, and abilities he already had. He does gain more allies though.
106. Sad tale of a former female star who went into the business. I’m not sure what role she plays in the story though. Just another motivation for Ten to stay out?
107. There is definitely a theme of Ten being hungry and not eating in this work. I wonder what that’s about.
111. Is this the scene depicted on the cover?
113. Ten knows how the manipulate people. He knew that M.C. Glazer was the type to care about a car, so he uses that.
130. After all the crap Ten has been through he still hits his workout for the night. That’s dedication.
164. “It was a bad day, and I was going to take it out on April. I vowed to myself that I was going to put tears in this woman’s eyes.” Out of context it sounds horrible until you know he’s talking about pleasuring her.
188. “A former schoolteacher who could talk about black science fiction all day and all night.” Not an easy task considering how white SF is.
212. “He was God to her. You don’t hook up with God.” And then God tried to rape her. Ouch.
217. Meta question: When is Ten writing this story down? Is he, the character, actually writing it down sometime in the fictional universe, or is the first person just a POV and nothing more?
225. ““Oh, my God. What happened?”
“Someone just tried to kill me,” I told Chela. “Let’s get dinner.”” Smooth.
240. “I knew male escorts who had regular male clients – Gay-for-Pay – all the while claiming to be straight. They were fooling themselves.” I believe Ten believes that. I don’t think it’s true, but then I don’t think “Straight” is a binary conditions. I think it shades.
241. “I was used to casually analyzing other people, but I felt singed by April’s laser microscope.” That’s common. A book I read once had the quote, "If you are thief, get good locks because you will be very angry if someone steals from you."
247. “It pays to be kind; it’s not only good policy, but you never know where people will land.” That’s one of the reason’s it’s a good policy.
253. “I almost flinched at the monkeys running the zoo and those people comments.” Flew by my head. I’ve also heard those as referred to whites plenty of times, and can’t recall a time when I’ve personally heard someone use them to insult blacks. That either says something about the company I keep, the whiteness of Portland, or my poor and biased memory.
257. Mentions a Sudoku puzzle. Very 2007. When the 00’s retrospectives come out, I’m sure that Sudoku will be mentioned.
261. Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” I’m not sure I’ll ever hear that song without thinking of Tony Soprano.
267. Ten had pretended that Chela hadn’t come on to him. Easy way to “solve” a problem, but of course it doesn’t really solve it.
271. “Time skidded, then iced over. In some ways, time has never moved on. I still have nightmares about it.” Good at capturing the mood of situations like that.
273. Ten in the trunk. Is this the dark time of the soul?
292. Meta: I didn’t even suspect Devon. Good mystery to the end.
294. “Serena had killed Shareef? The world spun. The three children posing by the Impala in he photo in Devon Biggs’s office had been blown to bloody pieces. That car might as well have been wired with a bomb on a timer.” Another good twist.
300. Tyra gets Serena’s money. “Tyra had no way to thank Serena. No way to take back the past. Even thirty million wouldn’t soothe that sting.” For you and I, no, but For Tyra? It would likely make her as happy as she is capable of being.
304. “This might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Too hokey of a closing line for my taste but a good ending. Leaves room for sequels. Ten is all set up to be a good character in a serious of mysteries with his Dad and Chela living with him and providing domestic drama and some help (both wanted and un) with any future crimes. Also, it would make a good film. Probably Steve’s dream picture about a strong sexual black male.
WARNING!
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
HERO CONFRONTED WITH CHALLENGE: Tennyson Hardwick old friend Serena, and current rap / movie star, is murdered. The police heavily think he did it. Ten’s challenge is to find the real killer.
REJECTS CHALLENGE: He considers just leaving town a couple of time, but he is pretty dedicated to finding Serena’s killer.
ACCEPTS CHALLENGE: The pivotal moment would probably be when he calls Mother to get him into a Rap party, thereby showing he is willing to risk getting sucked back into a life he worked hard to escape in order to solve the murder.
ROAD OF TRIALS: Ten goes through a lot, from being beat up by a Rap star’s entourage to resisting the temptation to make a few easy thousand dollars and skip town, to rescuing a underage girl to admitting to his father that he is a murder suspect.
ALLIES AND POWERS: Ten has most of the same skills at the beginning of the story as at the end. Some of them may be a little bit rusty but by and learn he doesn’t seem to learn any new skills, save for a greater appreciation of patience. He does gain a number of allies which he uses to solve the murder.
CONFRONT EVIL—DEFEATED: He is captured by some crooked cops who think he murdered a copy buddy of theirs and who also work for a rapper he beat up and humiliated.
DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL: Ten is locked in a car trunk and knows that if he does not figure out who murdered Serena he is going to be killed.
LEAP OF FAITH: Tells the Cops who actually killed Serena and their cop buddy. Trusts that they will not kill him anyways.
CONFRONT EVIL—VICTORIOUS: The cops refuse to follow the Rappers orders to kill him anyway. They let him go and he promises he won’t talk.
STUDENT BECOMES TEACHER: Ten is set up to be a mentor / father figure to the girl he rescued as well as patch things up with his father.
2. “As anybody in this town knows, some people give off a magnetic field.” Hmm . . . semi-true, IMO.
4. “Her eyes said she wanted me to say I was fine. Great. Never been better.
“Fine, darlin’. Great. Never better.”
“Don’t lie to me, T. For real.” So was this just a bad read by Ten?
13. “When I was thirteen, my junior high school drama teacher seduced me in her pool after school; so all things considered, I have to count Ms. Jackson as my favorite teacher.” It’s presented as airy and light here in the beginning but I wasn’t surprised to see him remember this in darker tones as the novel progressed.
16. “Was this how people felt when hey were making love?” Ouch. Poor guy.
18. “To celebrate my friendly treatment by an assistant – in this town, you learn to celebrate even the teensiest victories.” I like these touches of the life of an actor.
20. “My short walkway is flanked by cactuses, which, like me, don’t invite touching and don't need a lot of fussing and tending.” Definitely has the hard-boiled detective flavor.
20. “Alice doesn’t live here anymore, but at the same time she always will.” Eh. Too obvious a ref.
23. “There are two systems you want to avoid at all costs: lock-up and long-term medical care. All in all, I’d rather be in jail.” Sadly, I agree.
33. I’m so out of the Hollywood loop I had to Google the stars to see if they were real (they are not).
36. Ten knows how to appeal to people’s desires.
64. Ten never had any interest in men. “No reason to be rude about it, though. Anyone who appreciates you is offering you a gift.” Or in my words, “Even if you don’t want to go to the party, it’s still nice to be invited.
65. “I held his eyes and matched the pace of my breathing to his to create an emotional link. It makes people feel like they know you, without ever understanding why.” I wonder if that works.
89. Ten is taking it slow, after learning his lesson from M.C. Glazer. I think this is the only lesson he actually learns in the book. Everything else depends upon skills, mindsets, and abilities he already had. He does gain more allies though.
106. Sad tale of a former female star who went into the business. I’m not sure what role she plays in the story though. Just another motivation for Ten to stay out?
107. There is definitely a theme of Ten being hungry and not eating in this work. I wonder what that’s about.
111. Is this the scene depicted on the cover?
113. Ten knows how the manipulate people. He knew that M.C. Glazer was the type to care about a car, so he uses that.
130. After all the crap Ten has been through he still hits his workout for the night. That’s dedication.
164. “It was a bad day, and I was going to take it out on April. I vowed to myself that I was going to put tears in this woman’s eyes.” Out of context it sounds horrible until you know he’s talking about pleasuring her.
188. “A former schoolteacher who could talk about black science fiction all day and all night.” Not an easy task considering how white SF is.
212. “He was God to her. You don’t hook up with God.” And then God tried to rape her. Ouch.
217. Meta question: When is Ten writing this story down? Is he, the character, actually writing it down sometime in the fictional universe, or is the first person just a POV and nothing more?
225. ““Oh, my God. What happened?”
“Someone just tried to kill me,” I told Chela. “Let’s get dinner.”” Smooth.
240. “I knew male escorts who had regular male clients – Gay-for-Pay – all the while claiming to be straight. They were fooling themselves.” I believe Ten believes that. I don’t think it’s true, but then I don’t think “Straight” is a binary conditions. I think it shades.
241. “I was used to casually analyzing other people, but I felt singed by April’s laser microscope.” That’s common. A book I read once had the quote, "If you are thief, get good locks because you will be very angry if someone steals from you."
247. “It pays to be kind; it’s not only good policy, but you never know where people will land.” That’s one of the reason’s it’s a good policy.
253. “I almost flinched at the monkeys running the zoo and those people comments.” Flew by my head. I’ve also heard those as referred to whites plenty of times, and can’t recall a time when I’ve personally heard someone use them to insult blacks. That either says something about the company I keep, the whiteness of Portland, or my poor and biased memory.
257. Mentions a Sudoku puzzle. Very 2007. When the 00’s retrospectives come out, I’m sure that Sudoku will be mentioned.
261. Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” I’m not sure I’ll ever hear that song without thinking of Tony Soprano.
267. Ten had pretended that Chela hadn’t come on to him. Easy way to “solve” a problem, but of course it doesn’t really solve it.
271. “Time skidded, then iced over. In some ways, time has never moved on. I still have nightmares about it.” Good at capturing the mood of situations like that.
273. Ten in the trunk. Is this the dark time of the soul?
292. Meta: I didn’t even suspect Devon. Good mystery to the end.
294. “Serena had killed Shareef? The world spun. The three children posing by the Impala in he photo in Devon Biggs’s office had been blown to bloody pieces. That car might as well have been wired with a bomb on a timer.” Another good twist.
300. Tyra gets Serena’s money. “Tyra had no way to thank Serena. No way to take back the past. Even thirty million wouldn’t soothe that sting.” For you and I, no, but For Tyra? It would likely make her as happy as she is capable of being.
304. “This might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Too hokey of a closing line for my taste but a good ending. Leaves room for sequels. Ten is all set up to be a good character in a serious of mysteries with his Dad and Chela living with him and providing domestic drama and some help (both wanted and un) with any future crimes. Also, it would make a good film. Probably Steve’s dream picture about a strong sexual black male.
