Great use of detail in this piece. Some of it was pruposely mundane, but all of is was well executed and added to the piece in some subtle manner.
'She pushed at another string bean. She really hated this stuff.' Clever use of juxtaposition there, she seems to be talking about the situation with her parents as well as the string beans.
'She eyed the annoying line of string beans on her plate and without much fanfare, lifted up her plate and flung it against the wall.' Loved this scene, very evocative. It is a great close to the frustrations on display in the first part of the story.
You use sections from Paul McArtney's songs to split the story into parts.
“You threw dinner again?” - funny line, great little piece of characterisation for both brother and sister.
'He was an insomniac and a very good one at that.' Another great line, you're packing them in this time!
'He was lucky in that aspect.' should that be respect?
'She wasn’t planning to tell anyone anything anyway' nice rhythm at the end of this line, great writing.
'There is nothing wrong with my daughter, Mr. Pepper' Is that a Beatles reference slipped in there?
What a gripping read, I think my coffee break finished somewhere in the first third of the story, but I couldn't 'put it down' so to speak.
This is a great story of dysfunctional family, the little song segments were employed very well and fit perfectly into the story.
Great work. My longest review of all time!
Suggestions
'The years had been kind to her and her features betrayed the fact that she was pushing forty come May.' This sentence seems to contradict itself, it says the years have been kind, but she still shows her age in some way. Therefore, I think but would be better than and in this instance.
'we are both getting a divorce' does both not go without saying? I'd have thought so.
'She wasn’t stupid[,] neither was she born yesterday' Needs a comma.
'with a small nod[,] as if hoping to justify Mother’s statement' Needs a comma.
'all expense paid trip around the world' I'd tend to say expenses, but that might just be another 'cultural thing'.
'She knocked on her brother’s door and[,] not waiting for him to reply, she stuck her head in to announce flatly.' Does this need that extra comma? I think it does, since it is 'extra' information.
'Oh, it’s marvellous and wonderful' 2 Ls in marvellous?
'teach children the important of being friendly' Importance.
'she’s very antisocial[,] Mr. and Mrs. Hornsby' Comma?
'. Now, if she had stolen school property or vandalized anything, we can understand' I think it should be could rather than can, changing tenses.
'the Looney bin' Loony.
'Of course[,] Sean had never understood her obsession' comma.
'She finally stopped brushing her hair as the song came to an end. Placing it upon her dresser' I'd change 'it' to 'her cosmetics bag' or whatever 'it' is here, it doesn't quite flow otherwise.
'There were a few but rather expensive perfumes that Mother had bought' I'd change this to 'There were a few, rather expensive, perfumes that Mother had bought '
'Her parents were too far gone in their abyss of distrust and bitterness that they had failed to recognize the needs of their offspring' I'd change too to sp in this sentence. |
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