December 17th, 2018 - Time for the Eyes to Adjust

Dear TNY,

So, “Time for the Eyes to Adjust” eh?  I don’t know what to say.  I guess, I do know what to say.  So I’ll say it.

I really liked the voice in this story.  The imagery was…it just was.  Bleak, faded, windy, cold, quiet, humble, good.  It felt like being there.  It felt like this story was being told to me at bedtime by an old man.  Actually, I met this guy once in the UK.  He was teaching a dangerous goods certification course, that’s how I met him.  But he had this whole other life.  He talked about riding his bike from the UK to Turkey for a wedding.  He once drove to India from the UK in the 70s.  He was a truck driver in Iran.  He had recently returned from a roadtrip to South Africa and back in a Morris Minor.  Specifically what reminded me was the trip when he took his family in an old army truck across the Sahara for Christmas.  He said they were cooking bacon over an open fire and there was no one around for miles.  This reminds me of that guy.

Except it doesn’t move me in any way at all.  This story may be compelling to read because of how it’s written, but it’s a fucking disappointment from an emotive standpoint.  Nothing fucking happens.  That’s super frustrating because I want to like this story, but the only thing I end up doing is appreciating the voice and imagery and not the whole point of the thing. 

Anyway, at this point I shouldn’t be surprised.  But I am.  At least this one wasn’t as terrible as some of the others.

Nick