Post by rorschalk on Nov 8, 2022 22:08:51 GMT
gmail to VC:
Dear Mr. VC,
Guevara likes it! Please keep an eye on the Terminal to see if it advances to the executive suite for its final dispensation. Best of luck!
[see guevara's promotion to the terminal below]
*****
"Sunrise on Good Mountain" is a good story—a very good story! Let me explain why.
The author in this endeavor tells a story. He does not go off into exotic pathways, attempt to create a dystopian, futuristic, or dysfunctional society; does not create unrealistic characters, makes the characters believable—at least plausible if you are willing to give them the benefit of a doubt. This makes “Sunrise on Good Mountain” an appealing, enjoyable, and worthwhile tale.
In a way, the story is an old one, a plot that has been reworked in various ways for centuries—no, for millennia. It can be classified in the old tradition of the “trickster story.” The trickster is an ancient fictional figure and seems to exist in almost every human culture. Native American tribes had multiple stories about Coyote, the trickster animal who constantly outwits humans, other animals, and the gods. In Greek mythology, Prometheus outwits Zeus and makes a fool of him several times. We know, of course, that at last he is captured and cruelly punished for this. But the Greeks would not permit him to suffer forever, so eventually you have the stories of “Prometheus Unbound.” At last he is set free. The Greeks could not tolerate a trickster being punished for his brilliance and trickery—neither, apparently, could Zeus, as the tales tell us. Puss in Boots tricks the ogre. Jacob is a trickster in the Bible. Every man or woman in a fairy tale who outwits a magician, finds the answer to a riddle, defeats a sorcerer or witch by outwitting them—all of these are tricksters. The author of this venture plugs into that old tradition and uses it skillfully and entertainingly.
I won’t go into the plot. It is a somewhat standard plot but has an element of mystery to it. Despite being a standard plot, it is convincing and believable. The characters have a reason for behaving the way they do. The characters come across as genuine. And there is an element of testing and quest in it. But overall, it is funny. And, oddly, one does not know if the woman who is the trickster figure in the story is lying so she can make a profit, telling the truth but managing to make a profit from that, or something else. Even so, the story is compelling, interesting, and, in the end, downright funny. It’s not so far-fetched that you would think it could never happen. It is not unique, innovative, or brilliantly original. But the writing is all of these things, and that is what matters in a story; not just what the author is telling, but how he or she tells it—the skill with which the tale is delivered.
As I said, I like this particular venture a lot.