"Forever Overhead" by DFW

By reading Karr and Barthelme, I realized that nothing is better than a story that has a sense of truth. When we write something reliable, it is much easier to catch the reader´s attention and transmit our feelings and experiences. In fact, it happened in DFW story “Forever Overhead”.  As Karr said, it is good when we bring something totally unexpected to the story. This is, in other words, to begin one way and finish it in another. In the beginning, DFW portrays a kid at his birthday, starting puberty; in the end, he is jumping from a diving board. Besides that, according to Barthelme, this “not knowing” what is going to happen is a very useful technique that is crucial to art. It gives the audience a certain kind of anxiousness.

Moreover, the language used by DFW certainly built common ground to his audience. His very descriptive style, full of imagery, made me feel as if I were in the story, experiencing the same things the character were. “The board will nod and you will go, and eyes of skin can cross blind into a cloud-blotched sky, punctured light emptying behind sharp stone that is forever. That is forever. Step into the skin and disappear.”  In this passage for instance, DFW describes in his own way, how one’s feel towards the unknown.

The words he chose were essential for me to understand his thoughts. As Barthelme said, what matters is the way how each part of the work comes together. Due to the fact a work depends upon a complex series of interdependences, DFW knew how to tie each paragraph by using the right words. He brought each part of the text together by very descriptive knots, building a terrific story. Hopefully, I will be able to keep the reader interested in my story by using some of Karr’s and Barthelme advices.

-Renan Lima