Wreckage of Response

New York/LA Whirlwind Romance by Karen Lilis

Told entirely through quotations from one side of a long distance relationship, this particular story struck me because I only know the majority of my friends I know only through the internet and have never met in person. I've often thought about how great it would be to see them all but have never really considered the flip side; what if your relationship soured when you met someone in person? The couple in this story appear to be very in love, perfect for each other, until they actually meet. In the course of one trip the negative aspects that were either ignored or never apparent come out and the entire relationship falls apart." 'Let me tell you something about MEN: they don't like Women who're too needy.' ... 'Maybe then you won't compulsively talk about your problems' ... 'You wouldn't want us to be too SERIOUS about this would you?' ... 'I get accused of having no feeling.' ... 'I'm actually a really incredible guy.' ... 'Yeah, I'll talk to you sometime.' ". The complete breakdown of barriers that occurs when the couple have finally met, and the revelation of the mans ugly side is striking. He appears almost a different person from before, who was counting the days til they could be together.



Looking for Dr. Nick by Geri DeLuca

In this story the narrator struggles with both depression and her treatment of it. Recognizing the illness as nothing more then a chemical imbalance, she attempts to medicate it away but finds the side effects too much to bear and any relief to slow in coming. "I decided I wanted my normal depressed brain chemistry back". I feel lucky having little trouble with the medication I take to treat my depression. The titular Dr. Nick is the narrators psychiatrist who forgets all details about her between visits. "I thought he might be angry at me for having stopped coming to his office. The truth is he probably would not have recognized me at all." Giving up on treatment must be easier when your doctor can't even remember who you are. I wonder how someone would react if they were being treated for a physical illness instead. Mental illness just seems to be something we have to endure.

The Derech by Rosebud Ben-Oni

I'm just going to be blunt and short with this one and forget the crappy "book report" style I kind of did for the other two. I have a friend who is half Palestinian and she's helped me learn a lot about the situation in Israel-Palestine. You don't really hear about it much in mainstream media anymore, we're too focused on other things so it's a really nice surprise when you find something like this story approaching it and, further more, not having a pro-Israel slant. It was both interesting and aggravating reading about the Israeli characters who cared more for their countries appearance then they did for the country displaced and treated the narrator like a child. It was especially frustrating reading about the character the narrator is speaking to throughout the story, as he acts like he knows the narrators culture better then she does. The repeated line "I am silent and my insolence amuses you" perfectly encapsulates the smug superiority of the character in the face of the narrator who refuses to bow to his world view.