tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post5627526133452605710..comments2024-03-16T06:23:29.917-07:00Comments on The Reverberate Hills; or The Apotheosis of the Narwhal: El Otro, the SamePatrick J. Vazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-88816471128684167772009-08-30T08:16:53.205-07:002009-08-30T08:16:53.205-07:00I don't know how old Solis was when he wrote t...I don't know how old Solis was when he wrote the play, but I do have the impression he was pretty young. Also, I believe he played Lupe in the original production, which may explain why he's so indulgent to him.<br /><br />No, Ben doesn't really start using violence at the end. There's a lot of stuff in there that makes it clear this is sort of a visionquest/Carlos Castaneda thing, with some blurring of past and present, what with the peyote-taking and all. I kept thinking about Homer S. and his soulmate and wondering when the coyote that sounded like Johnny Cash was going to show up. I didn't want to give away too much of the ending in case anyone was planning to see it, and also it just wasn't worth the trouble to me.<br /><br />Ben is a Private Second Class, I think. I'm not familiar with army rankings so I didn't know quite what it all meant or if he was old for that rank or why they kept calling him Lieutenant or whatever. He briefly mentions some typical trouble he got into, which led him to join the army for discipline at his father's suggestion. It's not specified how old he was when he joined the army, but he could have been in his 20s. I guess he might be kind of a young stepfather, but you pretty much get the impression everyone has children at a young age, so it didn't seem like a big discrepancy.Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-15136254301779950142009-08-30T07:18:14.216-07:002009-08-30T07:18:14.216-07:00Ugh! It sounds like it was written by a teenager ...Ugh! It sounds like it was written by a teenager in some well meaning writing class that received a grant of some kind. To make it worse (correct me if I'm wrong...I've seen too many bad movies), I'm guessing that Ben ends up using violence to save himself and Romy, thus making him more cool?<br />Please at least tell me that Ben was at least able to explain or show that, though not an immigrant, his life hasn't been a walk in the park, either (if he's old enough to become an acting father to a 13 year old, then the fact that he's still a private needs an explanation).vicmarcamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13193094111343990233noreply@blogger.com