The Informers
thoughts + opinions after reading for the first time
Written April 4, 2024
the informers. pretty good
don't want to spoil too much (but maybe that's a spoiler in and of itself) but reading it makes you wonder why ellis has to make the stylistic choices he does… it's just short stories, but it's obvious he put care into it
speaking of stylistic choices, he once again begins us in a talking stage (reminiscent of AP and glam), aka confusing, out of context dialogue that makes it hard to care
it picks up around the 4th story (in the islands) which also has tim!!! i love the depiction of the relationship he has with his father and how different he is here vs american psycho
it's Very Real to me tbh how tim would retract even further everytime his father handled his son's embarrassment poorly. also enjoyed the fish facts and the callback to the "chances are looking good" line
5 and 6 were eh to me
7 (discovering japan).. oh wow. here it begins stands out that the best short stories are probably going to be the ones with interesting relationship dynamics (as with 4). the tension between roger and bryan is craaaazy good. the long sleeves line … the "rearrange my dreams for me" … the way they're so intertwined together is good and i hope the movie did them justice
8 (letters from LA) was sad and honestly the most horrifying for me. this was one immediately interesting because the letters' recipient is sean! anyway, not much to say other than that it kept reminding me of this image except reversed
9 is okay. great dialogue and enjoyed the descriptions of the narrator meandering around
10 (the secrets of summer) is my favorite lmaoo. for some reason the wikipedia summary writer thinks the narrator is lying when he says he's a vampire? idk it confused me considering the implications from the 2nd story and also the freaky shit that he does in this story
really funny, really fucked up. he makes this shitty racist joke and laughs at himself everytime. idk what to say about the story itself (still digesting) but the ending..? ??? ← that's what i'm saying about it (i liked it but oh okay!)
11 (the fifth wheel) is strange even though it has Normal People (as opposed to 10), but that's what makes it stranger imo. probably has my favorite flow and diction choices. the narrator is just so done with all the bs and it's great
12 (on the beach) has the same mysterious vibes as 11, though i couldn't get into it as much. if i think about the description of the girlfriend it might scare me i think. very much the horror convention of only letting you see a peek of the scary thing and getting the imagination to run wild
13 (at the zoo with bruce) is the last story. yet another ??? one for me. i did like spending the day at the zoo with the characters (though it sucks the animals were mistreated) it had a quaint feeling i could relate to