From: Angela Read <aread>
Date: Wed, 7 May 1997 15:52:53 -0500

I have been especially interested in the discussion about The View from Saturday that has been mingling with Joyful Noise. I see an interesting comparison between The View ... with Black and White. In Macauley's book, none of the 4 stories is especially compelling by itself. However, when presented with the other three, the total effect is absorbing. The whole is far more than the pieces.

I see the same thing in Konigsburg's book. None of the five main characters struck me as being unusually "real" (so I appreciated what
"Farmerette" Dr. Ruth Gordon wrote about the book's characterizations) but the layers created when these characters are combined becaomes a 3 dimensional puzzle that keeps falling masterfully into place. It is this craftmanship I most admire about The View fom Saturday. Non-linear in the finest of ways, I would like to try and draw Venn diagrams to illustrate and clarify the characters' relationships. (Try and make it linear so I can "see" it.)

The other element I have savored is the images Konigsburg creates. I continually re-read the lines on p.85 at the tea party. "We sat at the four sides of a table-for-four and slowly began not to hurry." Another is on p.87 when they are discussing calligraphy. Noah says to the others,
"Filling the pen is not what you do before you begin. It is the beginning." Since I'm on a roll, I will include my last favorite lines--p 89. (You'll think I only read up to p. 90.) I think it is Noah again:
"Had I gained something at Sillington House? Or had I lost something there? The answer was yes."


Angela Read Library Media Specialist Glenn Stephens Elementary School Madison, WI aread at madison.k12.wi.us
Received on Wed 07 May 1997 03:52:53 PM CDT