When a writer starts a piece of work with a first person narrative storyline, I find it difficult to stop reading. It is such a personal way to begin a story that the reader gets pulled into the writing. Don Stap definitely takes advantage of this strategy in, "Flight of the Kuaka," beginning in the midst of Wetlands in New Zealand. I felt as if I was there with him, up to my own knees in mud and overwhelmed by whatever was going to happen with these birds. As Stap goes on, he introduces more characters into the picture and it becomes more clear that they are studying the flight patterns of bar-tailed godwit, which apparently looks like this:
For some reason, I thought the godwit would be more colorful, probably because of the colorful descriptions Stap offers. Even though he is constantly giving facts and scientific information about godwits, particularly the one they tracked, E7, he carefully places these statistics and observations within the story. I absorb the information better because it's being presented to me in the form of a story. It's easier to remember details like the godwit consumes as much food as it possibly can before it migrates on what is known to be, "the longest nonstop migratory flight for any bird" because as far as they know, it doesn't stop to eat, drink, or sleep during the eight days of it's journey(108). I didn't just push these numbers and facts aside like I normally would because Stap found a way to give these words actual meaning.
Along with his storytelling strategies, his words are descriptive and metaphoric, creating beautiful imagery. Right from the beginning, he gives us pictures like, "Having given up all pretense of grace, I wave my arms about with each step, as if I'm on a tightrope."(106). It's impossible to not see him in the middle of the wetlands, struggling to balance as he treks through the mud and tries to avoid manure. Being able to tell as story in a way that the reader can actually picture what's going on the way the author wants them to, is a difficult task. However, I think that Stap does an outstanding job of getting the interest and attention of the reader and telling us a story through his words.
Yes, I know what you mean about Stap's writing. He is very much SHOWing this experience -- and as Natalie Goldberg recommends -- he is precisely taking us to the moment when he observes his beloved birds. This is why you felt the mud oozing into your Uggs. This is why we read. We want to go there with the writer -- and even if we don't want to go, we are compelled to go. The writer shows the way.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that Staps added so much description that you could feel what was going on. Athough, I have to admit I skimmed a lot of the description because I felt it became tedious.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Staps description makes the reader feel like they are a part of the story. I am not much of a bird follower myself, but I was drawn into the story also because of his writing style. I like how you added a picture of a godwit because it drew me in to reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteI don't really like birds, but I appreciate Stap's writing as well. After reading Lehrer and his pages of character despcription and background, I found Stap to be refreshing. However, I felt that his metaphors and simile were not clever or creative. the tightrope simile actually irritated me a lot and seemed unnecessary. I'm a minimalist, I guess. But you describe well why these things work for you and I can fully respect your opinions. Good work!
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