Frankly, I really liked The Apartment. If not because of anything else, it is because of how much I loved Bud Baxter. This scathing sarcasm and dry cynicism amused me to no end. I think it was made even better by the fact that there was virtually no subtext in the screenplay so I was able to invent the characters the way I wanted them...and I wanted them as sarcastic and cynical as I can make them! Admittedly...it made reading it require more thought than A Boys Life. I couldn't just categorize the characters the way they were described and instead had to actually make my own connection to them. Now I understand just how much subtext can change a story. What a difference from A Boys Life! I also felt more like the writer managed to make the characters very human because of all the habits they had. Baxter always adding the -wise suffix to the end of every word and stuff like that. I won't say it was the best story of all time but it was satisfying enough for me to refrain from complaining about it. For me, if I find a character I like then I have my reason to read on.
Discussion Questions:
1) Did you prefer the amount of subtext found in A Boys Life or The Apartment? Why?
2) How did you personally view Bud Baxter's character? For example stuff like, cynical, depressed, apathetic or naive.
1 comment:
I completely agree with you about the subtext, or lack-thereof. You made a lot of good points. I felt the characters could be portrayed and manipulated by the reader. You could mold their personalities and actions. And myself, like you, saw everything they said as some form of cynicism and sarcasm. Unfortunately, that is a downfall when developing underlying emotions within the character. I felt it still worked, but in a different way.
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