In the Lake of the Woods/Short Story Assignment
Read to page 164 for Monday.
From New York Times Book Review:
There are three kinds of story in "In the Lake of the Woods." The first is a conventional, remote third-person account of plain facts, the events that can be reconstructed without conjecture, more or less. The second kind of story appears in several chapters called "Evidence": collections of quotations, excerpts from interviews and readings that bear on the Wade case. The third kind of story appears in chapters called "Hypothesis"; it tries to suggest what might have happened to Kathleen Wade in the days after she disappeared. But with these stories, Mr. O'Brien is also building a character, John Wade, whose inner architecture is more emblematic than personal. Wade is the son of an alcoholic father who hanged himself in the family garage. As a child, Wade consoled himself -- isolated himself -- with magic. In Vietnam he came to be called "Sorcerer," and one of his last acts before returning stateside was to make himself vanish from the company rolls. To become a politician was an act of atonement for him, but it was also the practice of magic by other means. Mr. O'Brien quotes Dostoyevsky: "Man is bound to lie about himself." The lie John Wade constructed, as man and boy, was intended to avert the loss of love.
Your assignment:
Write a short story of at least 5 pages that:
1. Has a historical background of your choice--
2. Explores multiple narrative lines
a. traditional 3rd perso narrative
b. Evidence paragraphs or sections--quotes, interviews, newspaper clippings, historical facts, etc.
c. Hypotheses sections--places where you as a writer question what you've written or possible endings
The movie compared to the book is terrible. The differences are obvious from the second the movie starts. In the book, they are already at the lake house trying to discuss things they can do to be "happy". But in the movie, it starts off in the middle of John's elections. In the movie, we also see this man trying to aquire information of John Wade at Mynmar. His childhood flashbacks parallel his current life.
ReplyDeleteThe book and the movie are different because in the movie they jump right into the election. The last names are different and they should start out at the lake house.
ReplyDeleteThe movie sucks ass! It starts off different than the book. The characters have different names. They start off in the middle of the election in the movie and in the book they start off in the lake house. The parallel is they mirror his childhood and in both and talk about how bad it was.
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ReplyDeleteThe movie shows a long scene on how john flipped out because he didn't get elected and in the book they didn't really get into detail on that. The book really shows how much John loves Kathy and the movie can't really illustrate that. The cottage in the movie seems different than the cottage in the book, in the movie it's portrayed as much bigger but in the book when they talk about it it seems not so big, kind of humble. In the book you really get into johns head and see why he wanted to win so bad and how much he really does love Kathy, there's no way possible you could see that in the movie.
ReplyDeleteParallels are as follows:
ReplyDeleteJohn "Wayland" is the Sorcerer, Carbo is his campaign manager, the dialogue between Kathy and John is almost exactly the same at the cottage, John's father is a drinker and emotionally abusive, his mom is very supportive, there're the excerpts from Thornbill's court martial, John needed Kathy and expressed it, there were many flashbacks to his childhood, and he was a magician.
Thndrft = Khari
ReplyDeleteThere is a sense of parallelism between both the novel and the film In the Lake of the Woods. One thing that is the same in both is that they both show Wade/Waylin's interest in magic when he was a child and how his father was abusive to him, which is shown in chapter seven. His father wasn't the best father, for he was verbally abusive by calling Wade/Waylin names. This is expressed through the film because when he is preforming his magic trick, his father doesn't really care, he's not amused by what his son has done and only cares about getting himself a drink. Overall, he's not really supportive of him.
ReplyDeleteA few parallels are John's father's traits as being abusive, and not supporting John. This helps me understand how John's father really treated John when he was growing up. Another parallel is John when he lost the election. In the movie, we understand how John really reacted to losing the election after his Vietnam scandal was leaked to the press. I think another parallel is John and Kathy getting the cottage. Even though in the movie the cottage is really a house, I understand how John and Kathy tried to cope with the loss of the election. I also like John's campaign manager in the movie. In the book, we learn about the character only through quotes. I like how in the movie they adapted the character just by quotes.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book they focus a lot on the relationship between John and Kathy before they got married. In the movie they didn't say anything about how he used to stalk Kathy while she was in college and they didn't focus as much on his time in Vietnam as in the book. In the book John's father seemed more abusive. They also changed his last name from Wade to Wayland.
ReplyDeleteLedibel Rivera
ReplyDeletei like the novel better because in my opinion it describes the mental and emotional problems that he has better. In the novel it describes the relationship that he had with his father calling him "fat". For me reading the novel is funner than seeing the movie because i can base my own opinion on how the characters look and how they feel due to what the book says. In the novel the character Kath is portrayed as softspoken where in the movie she actually argues back with John. Also in the novel it describes John as a person who suffers frrom post traumatic stress disorder where in the movie he seems normal to me.
The movie is different from the book because The Lake of the Woods is about a man driven by demons from his past and a mystery surrounding but in the the book there's the use of flashbacks of john's childhood and Vietnam experiences . The things that john has experience his father just not as surprised he doesn't really care about his son .
ReplyDeleteWell, as far as parallels between the book and the movie are concerned, I noticed that the evidence sections were a predominant role in characterizing John seemed more prevalent in the film. The evidence sections of the novel seemed to focus on a more historical scope of the story, while the quotes in the movie were more or less centered around John and his wife. Both the film and the novel utilized flashback to further characterize John and his relationship with others. The film, however, used the flashback to explore more of John's life as a boy, while in the novel, the audience was able to see John during his childhood, his teenage years and even into his adult years. Both also used the theme of "dark secrets", though they approached it in different matters. For example, the film directly stated to the audience that John was involved in the Vietnam Massacre. However, in the novel, this was found out indirectly through the evidence sections.
ReplyDeleteSome difference between the book and the movie is that their last name is Wade in this book and Wayllen. in the book they don't start off in the middle of his election for Senator and in the book they start off at the lake house. The movie did not say that John would stock Cathy before they got married. John was abused by his father when he was younger and in the movie it shows a flashback of when he was showing his parents a magic trick but his father was not paying him any attention. When everything is spilled about the Vietnam massacre John becomes a new man because no one voted for him after.
ReplyDeleteA major parallel is the use of magic, and Wade/Waylin's tricks as a motif throughout the narrative, and how he a lot of his character is smoke and mirrors as evidenced by his Vietnam nickname as Sorcerer. Both also show development from his childhood to develop his character, introducing his disapproving alcoholic father, and his growing love for slight-of-hand. The plot of both the novel and movie are interrupted by snippets from interviews from tertiary characters offering insight into John's character and hinting at the the event's surrounding his wife's death. This develops Wade's character through how he is seen by these outsiders alongside his own interactions with his wife. He tries to pretend that everything is okay but he has a short fuse and is torn between his anger and his obsessive love for his wife.
ReplyDeleteMonica Berhe
ReplyDeleteThe characteristics of John and Kathy are different in the novel than in the movie. I feel Kathy is a little more out spoken to an extent in the novel than in the movie. John is more explosive in the movie and we actually see him getting mad and throwing a temper tantrum.
Jenee Skinner
ReplyDeleteThe novel addresses more of the Evidence and Hypothesis of the story. Whereas the movie dwells upon the events that lead up to the disappearance of Kathleen Wade. The book goes more in depth about John's mindset and past. The movie is very subtle when it comes to diagnosing the characters' personalities as well the sequence of events. One of the keys terms used in the novel;, "Kill Jesus", was left out of the movie. However, John Wade seemed more explosive in the film as in the scenes where he threatened a reporter and tore up the room the night he lost the election. In the book, John was implosive and only showed POSSIBLE violence towards the loss of his wife.
Both the movie and the book show parallels. They both shine a light on John Wades childhood then shifts back over to his adulthood. The film depicts his personality and how he tries to cover up his "abusive" childhood with fake smiles. Him losing the election due to the Vietnam Massacre probably had something to do with his father "neglecting" him as a child. This makes the Parallels relevant and purposeful, solely for a dynamic plot.
ReplyDeleteParallels
ReplyDeleteThe source of John's anger is conveyed in a slightly different way due to the inclusion of scenes added just for the movie that were absent in the book. Entire lines of dialogue are ripped right from the book. The movie includes the flashbacks present in the novel.
One effective parallel is the importance of the evidence in the novel and in the movie. Anthony (Tony) Carbo acted as one of the narrators in the movie. In addition, he was quoted in chapter 2 "Evidence"..... "He didn't talk much. Even his wife, I don't think she knew the first damn thing about... well, about any of it..." (O'Brien 8). The role of evidence in the novel is as important as it is in the movie. As the narrators of the evidence report, the viewers get inside information that is essential to follow along in the plot. Since the viewers can't read the "Evidence" chapters their reports act as these important sections in the novel.
ReplyDeleteIn the film In the Lake of the Woods, the evidence had much more detail than in the novel. characterizing. John and Kathy were described in depth in the movie, as far as the novel is concerned--their characters were much more vague. Memories were recalled frequently creating suspense in the novel and the film. The film, used the flashbacks to express the life of John as a young boy and the abuse he faced because of his father. The novel however,recalled most of John's memories during his teen years.
ReplyDeleteThe paralells in the book, In the lake of the woods and in the film version are apparent through the characters and the relationships between them.
ReplyDeleteThey setting and such are very alike, though more detailed in the film, the dialogue between the characters is almost exact in the book.
The book is definitely much more beautifully done, it is harder to understand and you have to read in order to understand the story.
Memories and such were in the film but understated though I think it was necessary to build the plot of the novel.
The book is definitely much more beautifully done, it is harder to understand and you have to read in order to understand the story. Memories and such were in the film but understated though I think it was necessary to build the plot of the novel. A few similarities are John's father's traits as being violent, and not supporting John. This helps me understand how John's father really treated John when he was growing up. Another parallel is John when he lost the election. In the movie, we comprehend how John really reacted to losing the election after his Vietnam scandal was leaked to the press. I think another parallel is John and Kathy getting the cottage.
ReplyDelete