I can relate to the setting of the story the characters and time frame. In comparison, to the novel The Maltese Falcon there were less characters, Mist was more realistic. The characters in the Mist appeared to be real. The author was a male, seemed to be a white male but he wrote about a black female trying to find employment in Lousianna and her struggle with drugs and alcohol.
What I disliked about this story is that it was centered around small talk and nothing seemed to be productive. Overall, Lisa and Tookie were dealing with the same issues that most blacks deal with in a poverty striken area. Mist deals with drugs, unemployment, family death, and alcohol which most evacuies are still dealing with even today.
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It's quite interesting that a white male author would be writing about a black female in Louisiana, and the struggles in her life. I would wonder where he gets his background knowledge from? It sounds like this might be another good short story to check out. It also seems as though it is another one that is completely different from a traditional mystery/detective fiction. What was the mystery involved in this story?
ReplyDeleteHi Fred -
ReplyDeleteMist wasn't on my read list, so I am glad to get a synopsis from you. There is so much cheap (yet powerful) drugs like crack and meth on the streets today that it seems to permeate through daily life like a cancer. I am intrigued by it, yet I find myself buying into the stereotypes more than basing it on facts.
My wife recently served on a jury trial involving a female drug addict, her drug-pusher boyfriend, and her regular boyfriend which ended up with the drug pusher getting an axe stuck in his head (he lived), and the boyfriend going to jail for 20 years. The details of drug use, "tweaking" behaviors, shoplifting, assault, etc.. read just like a mystery novel.
Fascinating to me how drug use really does take people to the other side of the looking glass.
Dave
Hi, I chose to read the short story "Mist" this week. If you read my blog I have some of the same opinions. I agree that it was easier to relate to the short story because of the time frame. I agree with your statement that characters seem to be real. I stated that I was able to connect with Lisa more than with any other character I have encountered thus far. You disliked the "small talk" but to me I felt that is how you got to know what was going on with the characters.
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