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Read Naked (1998)

Naked (1998)

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4.07 of 5 Votes: 4
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ISBN
0316777730 (ISBN13: 9780316777735)
Language
English
Publisher
back bay books

Naked (1998) - Plot & Excerpts

داستانهای کوتاه: «طاعون تیک»، «گوشت کنسروی»، «مادربزرگت رو از این‌جا ببر!»، «غول یک‌چشم»، «یک کارآگاه واقعی»، «دیکس هیل»، «حشره ی درام»، «دینا»، «سیاره ی میمون‌ها»، «چهارضلعی ناقص» و «شب مردگان زنده». کتاب با ترجمه پیمان خاکسار در 152 صفحه از سوی نشر «زاوش» منتشر شدهطاعون تیک: داستان پسربچه ای ست که ذهن اش لحظه ای او را آرام نمیگذارد، کلیدی برای خاموش کردنش در دسترس او نیست. فرامینی همچون لیس زدن کلید چراغ های کلاس درس، فشاردادن دماغ به در یخچال و کاپوت ماشین، کوبیدن پاشنه کفش به پیشانی و ... از متن: لذت جایی در این فرایند نداشت، باید این کارها را میکردم، چون هیچ چیز بدتر از اضطراب ناشی از انجام ندادن شان وجود نداشت. پایان نقلگوشت کنسروی: استفاده مناسب از عنصر غافلگیریمادربزرگت را از اینجا ببر: نخست توصیف زندگی مادربزرگ پدری راوی در آپارتمانی بسیار کوچک است که اصلا شبیه آپارتمان نیست، و به قول راوی: زندگی سگشان به کودکی پدرش شرف داشته است! خانواده پدری راوی از مهاجران یونانی هستند و مادربزرگ هیچ تغییری نکرده است و بعد از این همه سال، انگلیسی را هنوز خوب حرف نمیزند و بعد از گذشت یازده سال از ازدواج پسرش؛ هنوز به عروسش میگوید: "اون دختره". او را مخاطب قرار نمیدهد و البته که سایه ی همکدیگر را با تیر میزنند... خوشبختانه مادربزرگ یونانی در شهری دیگر ساکن است اما به واسطه ی تصادف و شکستگی لگن، مادربزرگ به خانه آنها میآید و ... وغول یک چشم: پدری که وظیفه خویش میداند که همواره بچه هایش را از خطر بترساند... ویک کارآگاه واقعی: مادر و خواهر راوی و سریال های تلویزیونی و البته تنها سریال های پلیسی جنایی... ودیکس هیل: راوی در کلاس هفتم است برای کار مجانی و عام المنفعه به تیمارستان دیکس هیل میرود... وحشره درام: در پی حضور یک بازیگر جهت الهام بخشی به دانش آموزان در کلاس نهم، راوی و دوستش به موضوع نمایش و بازیگری علاقمند میشوند و... ودینا: پدر عقیده دارد که هیچ چیز به اندازه کار بعد از مدرسه شخصیت آدم را نمیسازد و پول توجیبی را قطع میکند و راوی و خواهرش به کار در کافه تریاها مشغول میشوند... وسیاره میمون ها: ماجراهای اتواستاپ زدن های راوی... و چهارضلعی ناقص: راوی و هم اتاقی معلولش در دانشگاه و باز هم اتواستاپ... از متن: پدرم همیشه میگفت: «دانشگاه بهترین چیزیه که ممکنه تو زندگیت اتفاق بیفته». راست میگفت، چون آنجا بود که مواد و الکل و سیگار را کشف کردم... وشب مردگان زنده: راوی از شبی میگوید که جلوی در ویلای تابستانی اش ایستاده، و موشی را در آب خفه میکند، مینی بوسی میایستد و راننده از او آدرسی میپرسد. راوی میخواهد به او کمک کند اما همه چیز شبیه فیلمهای ژانر وحشت است... ا

I'm being told that this is funny... but so far all I want to do is gather David Sedaris into my arms and rock him back and forth and tell him everything is okay. Okay, finished. Is it really supposed to be funny? I found myself pretty saddened by most of the stories. He's got a great writing style and I definitely felt pulled into each of the stories, but I think I felt more empathetic than anything. Especially in "C.O.G":I didn't want to quit my job. Quitting involved a certain degree of responsibility I didn't want to assume. Rather, I hoped that Jon might remove that burden and dismiss me as soon as possible. I had felt contempt for him, even occasional hatred, and now I was fighting the urge to feel sorry for him. He must have known it, and clearing his throat he proceeded to cut me off at the pass. "Let me tell you a little something," he said finally. "I don't appreciate being used. I'm not talking here about all the free coffee and rides I've given you. I mean used in here." He meant to point at his heart but, swerving to pass another car, wound up gesturing toward his lap instead. "You're a user, kid. You used my tools and my patience and now you want me to pat you on the head and tell you what a good little boy you are. But you know what? You're not a good boy. You're not even a good girl."More, I thought. More, moreThere's definitely similar themes in each story. He has low self esteem, he sees himself as weak and effeminate and hardly useful. He has strong ties to his family, although he isn't exactly sure why. Sure, they are told with a whimsical air, but I couldn't help but pick up on the self hatred and run with it. Maybe it's where I feel in my own life, but at the end of each story I reflected on his assessments and had to stop myself from breaking down. In 'Naked' someone asks him the question 'What if everybody in the world were allowed one wish, but in order to get it, it meant they'd bave to crawl around on their hands and knees for the rest of their life?'His observation: If I could have the face and body of my dreams, what good would it do me if I had to walk around like an animal? Mabe if I were to wish for happiness, I wouldn't mind crawling -- but what kind of a person would I be if I were naturally happy? I've seen people like that on inspirational television shows and they scare me. Why did I have to think about this in the first place?I enjoyed his stories and I will most likely read more but I'll have to up my anti-depressant dosage first.

What do You think about Naked (1998)?

WHen I went to see him I had just moved and all my books were packed away. All I could find was a used copy of COrduroy and Denim. He signed "a used signature."
—Joeji

If I read The Da Vinci Code for all those people who prefaced their enjoyment of the book with "I don't read much," I finally read my first Sedaris book for all my smartass indie literary-type friends who stared aghast at me every time for the last five years I said I'd never read him."You mean you've read Eggers, but not Sedaris? I'll bet you like the Stones better than the Beatles too, dont you?""You think your family's bad, wait'll you read about his!""No, I don't like him because he's cool, I like him because he's funny. But he's cool, too."Understandably, I went in a little leery. The first essay, Chipped Beef, did precious little to alleviate my skepticism - I guess it was a clever introduction to his family and his relationship to it, but it came off to me as a bit too snide and abstract, a deadly combination that Eggers is prone to as well. A Plague of Tics hooked me though, and the next 9 essays were all gut-busters, alternating between hilarious bombast and genuine empathy for his decrepit grandma, cocktail-swilling mother, multitudinous sisters, not-with-it father, and inept teachers. True Detective might have been my favorite of that set, leading the reader on a clue-sniffing hunting for the brazen perpetrator who repeated wiped his or her ass with the hand towels in the family bathroom.The longer essays that make up the second part of the book are where Sedaris really flexes his chops, though. Planet of the Apes and C.O.G. are Tangled Up in Blue-like accounts of his adventures in hitchhiking and public transportation across our fair land, while The Incomplete Quad throws a series of cripples into his road of self-discovery. I read Something for Everyone in a public place, and a handful of people stopped me to ask what I was reading that could make me embarrass myself laughing so much.Ashes is the closest Sedaris comes to outright sincerity, but he manages to inject even an account of his mother's cancerous exit with quite a few chortles and guffaws. And he closes the volume with Naked, a pleasant denouement chronicling his one trip to a nudist colony with one of the funniest moments of the book, when he arrives to a bunch of naked old men watching the weather and blaming him for bringing a cold front.There is surely more of Sedaris to come in this boy's life. I would venture to say, without trying to explain, that he writes like I want to.
—John

Naked David arrived first, but it was Holiday David who made the NPR splash. Those of us in the front row received the full facial and were covered David the Elf's funk. I've still got Sedaris stank all over me and I'm loving it!While Holiday took a step back from unadulterated intimacy, Naked (and Barrel Fever) begins the unveiling of David Sedaris' inner, most personal life. It has all the markings of an early work, feeling like a skeletal version of Me Talk Pretty... or Dress Your Family..., a funny skeletal version mind you, but incomplete and fragmentary nonetheless. Sedaris does not delve so deeply, mining the depths of his own existence to locate the funny bone, as he does in later works. His comedic flair has not yet fully caught fire. Even so, Naked presents some of the author's important first steps. Some are funny. Some are endearing. Some are tentative. Some are not pretty. All can be enjoyed by fans for what they are, a good beginning.If I could, I would rate this 3.5 stars, because the story-to-story quality ranges from 3 to 4. I'm feeling generous, so I've clicked the "4 stars" option. If you're a newcomer, you might want to start with Dress Your Family... though.
—Jason Koivu

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