I love this story. All through the bizarregongs on with the hoppers, the mother reminded me of an even more crazy Jessican Tandy who played Rod Taylor's mother in "The Birds." The last moment when they drive off in the Honda is perfect.
One of the things that makes this story zing, is the back and forth focus on the yard and on the characters, one effecting the other. So good. Thank you for a terrific reading experience, Will.
Thanks so much Sandy! I went back and forth on the ending for a long time, I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I just knew the story needed to go out into the world ready or not. Thanks for the feedback about the ending, your perspective is much appreciated
Holy hoppers. Your serial novel is utterly devastating, gut-wrenching, and magnificent in ways I can’t put to words. I do think your hyper specific reference to nature and local is reminiscent of Faulkner, in a postmodernist way and I say that as a big compliment. I’m in awe of your dedication to language; phrases like malarkey, Nurtibullet, and uteral Eden had me literally screaming and almost nauseous (I say this as the strongest possible praise. I’m afraid of bugs. The visceral descriptions of the invasive hoppers gave me chills. I had to take tums to read, because I got so queasy with nerves.) Excellent twist at the ending; I had no clue where these two heartbreaking characters were going, but by the end I started sobbing like a broken damn. Jfc, this novel. I’ll never look at a grasshopper the same. Thank you for sharing this terrifying, heart-wrenching tale of tragedy, trauma, and grief. A beautiful mf of a story.
Holy cow Jessica thanks so much for reading and sharing your experience. I don’t think I’ll ever look at hoppers the same way either! If you encounter one remember to crush and cut
Man, I had to sit with this for a minute. I’m not sure how you captured primal motherhood so well, but the ending tied it all together so perfectly and poignantly. I choose not to have children and I always thought it was because I wasn’t really into the whole scene. But after reading this I wonder if, deep down, I was just afraid it would look like this inside my head. The dreadful world around me gnawing its way toward my babies with no way to stop it and no one who’d truly understand me. Fuck. Brilliant job my friend. Chills.
Wow thank you so much for sharing this. I don’t have kids yet and I find myself thinking the same thing. Because I lack experience with actual child rearing, I think a lot of this comes from those anxieties you pointed out. It was quite a journey working through them to write it,
i really wasn't sure where it was going but i adore the ending, i appreciated the final focus on the characters and less on the yard/hopper saga. also i took a long time between this and part 5 but remembered immediately what had happened, and with my brain that says something!
Great ending, Will. Subtle, yet enough to land. :)
Thanks for following along Michael!
Ah man. Bra-frickin-vo.
thanks daisy !!!
I love this story. All through the bizarregongs on with the hoppers, the mother reminded me of an even more crazy Jessican Tandy who played Rod Taylor's mother in "The Birds." The last moment when they drive off in the Honda is perfect.
One of the things that makes this story zing, is the back and forth focus on the yard and on the characters, one effecting the other. So good. Thank you for a terrific reading experience, Will.
Thanks so much Sandy! I went back and forth on the ending for a long time, I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I just knew the story needed to go out into the world ready or not. Thanks for the feedback about the ending, your perspective is much appreciated
Holy hoppers. Your serial novel is utterly devastating, gut-wrenching, and magnificent in ways I can’t put to words. I do think your hyper specific reference to nature and local is reminiscent of Faulkner, in a postmodernist way and I say that as a big compliment. I’m in awe of your dedication to language; phrases like malarkey, Nurtibullet, and uteral Eden had me literally screaming and almost nauseous (I say this as the strongest possible praise. I’m afraid of bugs. The visceral descriptions of the invasive hoppers gave me chills. I had to take tums to read, because I got so queasy with nerves.) Excellent twist at the ending; I had no clue where these two heartbreaking characters were going, but by the end I started sobbing like a broken damn. Jfc, this novel. I’ll never look at a grasshopper the same. Thank you for sharing this terrifying, heart-wrenching tale of tragedy, trauma, and grief. A beautiful mf of a story.
Holy cow Jessica thanks so much for reading and sharing your experience. I don’t think I’ll ever look at hoppers the same way either! If you encounter one remember to crush and cut
Man, I had to sit with this for a minute. I’m not sure how you captured primal motherhood so well, but the ending tied it all together so perfectly and poignantly. I choose not to have children and I always thought it was because I wasn’t really into the whole scene. But after reading this I wonder if, deep down, I was just afraid it would look like this inside my head. The dreadful world around me gnawing its way toward my babies with no way to stop it and no one who’d truly understand me. Fuck. Brilliant job my friend. Chills.
Wow thank you so much for sharing this. I don’t have kids yet and I find myself thinking the same thing. Because I lack experience with actual child rearing, I think a lot of this comes from those anxieties you pointed out. It was quite a journey working through them to write it,
i really wasn't sure where it was going but i adore the ending, i appreciated the final focus on the characters and less on the yard/hopper saga. also i took a long time between this and part 5 but remembered immediately what had happened, and with my brain that says something!
Thanks so much! It took me a while to figure out the ending, glad it resonated!