"Christ": your work, my choices

Here is the pick of the week, in no particular order

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Other samples were just as good, but in this case I followed "my" reactions and responded to the directness of the content and the ability of these students to reach inside and reveal the raw emotional impact of the text.

 

COMMENT:  Which one, in your personal opinion, feels more like a "real letter?"

 

NINA:

Dear Christ In Concrete,

            I read 226 pages of you and am still left confused and on the edge of my seat. What happened to Paul and what exactly happened to Annunziata? Is she alive or is she really dead? Did Paul ever find his faith again or after what happened with his mother, has he lost all faith in God? What I enjoyed most about my experience with you is that you told a story within a story. While telling your audience about the struggles that Geremio’s family went through after his death, you also were telling us how Paul was loosing faith in the most important aspect of his family life…which is God. I was shocked after reading how Louis felt about God. It was devastating reading about Paul’s reaction. All he knew, what he grew up on, was this belief of God. After hearing the words “There is no God”, must have been awful. How could you do that to him? Paul is a 13 year old boy trying to help support his family after his father dies and know you are throwing at him that God may not be real? Don't you think he is confused and stressed out enough?

            I enjoyed your company during the time that we spent together. You were confusing to read at first and hard to understand but after a few times of getting to know you it was easier to understand you. I have a question though. Why were you written like that? Did you want your readers to come up with their own version of you? Did you want to leave us with many questions and confusion? Why weren't you clear with when things were taking place and why did you continue to jump back and forth from present to past without informing your readers? I guess this is just something that makes you unique!

            My favorite part about you was everything about the Cripple. I loved that she had a small roll but made a huge impact on everybody who she met with. She came across as crazy but she allowed the people around her to feel safe and comfortable while speaking to those who have passed. My least favorite part about getting to know you was how difficult it was to read and understand why nothing was working out for Paul. When he went to speak to the priest and he did not care for what he had to say, or when he went to the police station and they did not care to help this young boy find his father. Did they act this way because he was Italian or because he was a young boy who they thought was just playing around?

            Although you were not my favorite book to read and understand, I did enjoy getting to know you. 

 

 

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KATHARINA

 

        

You were everything I did not expect. You are rooted by many elements that make you, you. Your history, your place in society, and your knowledge on struggle couldn’t be more real. We as people hear things, and think we understand struggle such as poverty because we have seen it on television, or read about it in textbooks, but you never really sympathize, or grasp it until you’ve envisioned it through the irrefutable compilation and detail of poverty, an immigrant in a foreign country, injustice, low end of the socioeconomic latter etc. that you have provided me with.

“Fifty cents the hour, nine hours the day, brings four dollars and fifty cents. With six days the week brings- six by four brings twenty-four…” I cannot describe the sorrow that is felt to know that this is an actual conversation of an individual to himself, experienced by many. Imagine leaving your hometown where that is all you have ever known, and although you have experienced hardship you find comfort in the little things that you call home, to come live in a foreign country that promises things you never imagined to have where you come from, and that paints a perfect picture full of endless possibilities but come to find out it is not that way. You are an alien in a country where its citizens will more than likely always have leverage over you, a country where you work like dogs for people who are making more money than you while you are barely making ends meet, and have to figure out how you’re going nourish yourself and family to survive, amongst other things. “But I tell you that all my kids must be boys so that they someday will be big American builders…” the mentality of any immigrant who migrates to America in search for better opportunities, but that really means putting their children’s lives and future before their own and settle for dead-end jobs in hopes that one day they will be able to support their kids through any chances and opportunities they have that will land them a different lifestyle than their own.  This is just one version of an immigrant’s life out of many out there.

                Thank you for your cold truth of an eye-opener you have provided. You have unleased through your detailed storytelling the misfortunes one can deal with while facing all odds, and experiencing loss that can break someone on the inside, “There is no God”. You have taught me that there are bigger things out there, it can be worse, and this is something I will remember when I think about complaining about the little things that other may not even have a chance at.

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  SYDNEY

Dear Christ in Concrete,

First of all, let me start by saying that you are unlike any other book I have ever encountered, and you challenged me! When I first began, I felt scared and confused. I had to listen to videos by my professor in order to fully grasp the style of your writing and how to understand you. I had to re-read you out loud (in the comfort of my bedroom so people didn’t think I was crazy) over and over. Once I understood your style I became hooked. I felt as if I were watching a movie play out in my own mind while getting lost in your pages. I brought you on journeys with me to work and school and I even spoke of you to my family and friends. I suffered a loss of a dear friend, and I turned your pages hearing the story of Paul and Annunziata and how they coped with their loss, and it really helped me with a tough time in my life.  That is the biggest “thank you” I could give, you are a book I will hold close to my heart because of this experience. You were filled with amazing quotes, some of my favorites were “Shadows were once again personalities. Laughter added warmth”, “They prayed to god. They forgot themselves and their troubles”, and “Mother my life is now your shield. Nothing, nothing in the world can now harm you”.  The love of Geremio and Annunziata is one that I will remember and although they are not “real” their love was anything but fake. So again, once more I thank you Christ in Concrete for helping me through a tough time and I thoroughly enjoyed you. I am sure we will meet again and again! 

 

 

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SHAKHNOZA

Hello my new friend. I am really glad that I met you in my life. Honestly, you are the first friend that I had really hard time to get used to, in the beginning. Your character was very different and unique for me, I never had to meet people like you before. At the beginning I could not connect with you. Your way of presenting yourself was different that I use to meet before. I start to analyze you over and over until I found out that you are very interesting person and that you have a lot of good stories in you that I enjoyed.

Sometimes I found that your explanation about some story is very long than it could be. For example, you telling about tragedy that happened in construction with all the workers and Geremio. There was so much to read, and I would read them over and over so I could imagine that scene. After I got that image in my head the rest was easy to read.

That was not only thing that I felt during our friendship. I also had some confusion.  For example, at the end of our friendship I could not understand what happened to Annunizata and how Paulie changed. Again I thinks this is because of my poor reading skills.

I like parts when you were talking about Italian traditions, customs, their food. As an immigrant it was very interesting get to know about other cultures that also immigrated to America. Their lifestyle as an immigrant.  

As I said before I am very glad that I met you, because you gave that emotions that I never had and also you showed me different side of the world. After I became friend with you I can see how much my thinking has improved. My analysis about life and people changed. Now I know that not everyone is same, there are very different people and each have their own story and place in life.