Sister Ravioli at Age Ten

I had a hard time with Benson's piece, as I've noticed some of you have.  When reading fiction, my many of my favorite stories are super-short and to the point - like "The Flowers" by Alice Walker.  However - Benson's story is NOT fiction, and I found the length of the piece a little off-putting.  I, too, felt that while there was a point to the story, I was not really interested.  The topic was interesting (a sexy sister-rival story) but the main character (narrator) did not get me involved.  I wanted to know more - and it didn't leave me wishing there was more text - I kind of wish I didn't read it in the first place.  The one good thing I will say about her piece is that I likes the epithet "sparkling-eyed boy."  Normally, such an epithet would be found in a grand, epic poem, like the Odyssey - but the fact that it was employed in such a short piece was really interesting.

Regarding Mr. Ravioli - I loved the piece.  It was engaging, and interesting - not least because it was a bit disturbing.  Again - I hold these non-fiction pieces up to as close a scrutiny as I would a fiction short-story - and I expect many of the same things.  The narrator did a great job of making me interested in and care about this little girl.  I will admit that the reason I liked her so much is that she is obviously precocious, and possibly emotionally disturbed.  I like that in a character.  I did feel, however, that there was a bit too much analysis in this piece.  Or - alternately - the analysis often interrupted what I saw as "the good stuff."

Age Ten confused me at first - but I think it was a brilliant piece.  There is nothing more amazing that what comes out of the mouths of children, and Orlean took a cool kid and really allowed him to shine through.  She could have spent pages and pages dissecting his comments and giving commentary - but instead she crafts her words to put a kind of frame around him - getting her points across without beating us over the head with her analysis.  My favorite aspect of her work is the fact that although he says ridiculous things at times (like any 10 year-old might) she always represents him with respect and makes us take him with a grain of salt.  Her opener was stellar, too.  The marriage idea was confusing, but ultimately worked to get me involved in the "story."