I can't say Sag Harbor was the most enjoyable book I've ever read. The narration was consistently disillusioned and flatly nostalgic, without the vitality of some of the other narrators we have read.
At the same time, I did like some parts. Benji's narration, while unenthusiastic, told a compelling story of a boy's summer vacation. I liked all the insights that Benji shared about his life, friends, and family.
Perhaps one reason for the difference in tone is that Benji does not give us attributes to root for as Jason does. Jason is a poet and a bullied kid with troubled parents. Benji is a kid... who does things. There is less arc and defined structure in Sag Harbor, instead opting for partially-related snippets.
It's interesting how everyone seems to "root for" Jason, but opinions are much more divided about all of the other protagonists we've encountered in this course. As you say, Jason definitely experiences problems that we can relate to. Though Benji's problems are similar (his parents fight, he is somewhat of an outcast), he is not as innocent. His home life seems to have hardened him to some degree, and he is open about doing morally ambiguous things such as letting the ice cream at Jonni Waffle melt, without fully explaining his motivation. I think a lot of this has to do with the presentation more than the actual events themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, maybe narrator-Ben's desire not to invest his narrative with too much nostalgia creates some distance between the reader and Benji. It's a similar effect as in Joyce: Ben is so eager *not* to portray his younger self as at all cool or together, the reader becomes convinced that he's not all that cool or together. The narrator is so ready to wince at his younger self, we wince as well. With Jason, his experience is much more immediate. Imagine that same narrative retold from the pt. of view of Jason in his 30s or 40s, talking about what an idiot he was. We might respond quite differently.
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