Image Study

I haven't gotten very far, but already Proulx has given some really good imagery for her readers to work with. At this point in the book, the main character- Bob Dollar-is driving through small Texan towns in the panhandle looking for a small enough, old enough, forgotten enough town to buy out for his new employer, Global Pork Rinds (no, I'm not making this up). Her descriptions of some of the sleepy towns that he investigates as possible future hog farms remind me a little bit of some North Georgian towns that I go to alot- a main street with a little newspaper office, a diner or two all surrounding a little patch of lawn, and a modest but proud courthouse at the center of it all.

(taken from:http://english.wunderground.com/wximage/viewsingleimage.html?mode=singleimage&handle=RaunL&number=34&album_id=13&thumbstart=0&gallery= )

In the book, Bob has some trouble at first finding a place to stay. Soon enough, though, he finds a woman willing to rent out log bunk house with no electricity or any modern appliances except for a couple of bunk beds. Sheets not included. The bunk house is out in the middle of no where, but he likes it that way because he is captivated with the landscape of the panhandle. This picture reminds me of the way Proulx described Bob's first glance at the bunk house.

(taken from: http://www.planetware.com/picture/usa-reddish-sandy-road-in-west-texas-us-tx520.htm )

The very beginning of the book starts out with Bob's long drive west, into the heart of the Texas panhandle. The way Proulx writes it, it comes off as being creepy and a bit ominous. There are buzzards and hawks circling and watching from the telephone posts, waiting for road kill, and Bob's rental car is the only one on the road for miles. Over all, it gives the reader and eerie feeling. This picture reminds me of the part in the book when Bob took a wrong turn and ended up driving on old, non-paved roads for hours.

(taken from:http://www.dizzypigbbq.com/HTMLCompetitions/comp21jack.html )

Through out his journey during the start of the story, once Bob gets to Texas, he starts looking for an appropriate small town. At one of his stops, in Cowboy Rose (the name of a town...it's named after a desert flower) he stops to get gas from an old gas station that had a little lunch counter inside. This really symbolizes how the place that he is entering is so stuck in the past and in it's ways.

Day One: Post One

Alright, I'll give it to you, Mr. Kent, this was pretty easy. I thought I would have to memorize code or something to make this. But, I'm warning you, don't expect any feats of technological brilliance. I'll leave that to the AP computer science kids.

The book that I picked was "That Old Ace in the Hole", by Annie Proulx. I have read some of her work before- I absolutely loved "The Shipping News".

It was great writing, and I really liked the setting. That's part of why I picked this book. Her writing is once again based in a place that I really don't know anything about, so it has the potential to be really interesting. If it was based in somewhere like Atlanta or New York or places that I am familar with, it wouldn't be as appealing. I also think that it's interesting that the two settings are basically polar opposites. I mean, it would be hard to find a place as unlike Newfoundland as the pan handle of Texas.

So, I'm really excited to start this book and this project. Hopefully, it'll be a good read and the big bad internet monster won't swallow me whole. Hopefully.

-Emily Beam

(picture taken from: http://books.simonandschuster.com/That-Old-Ace-in-the-Hole/Annie-Proulx/9780743548830/book_club_tips)