This story is more of a conglomeration of moments than a regular narrative, it weaves together a spirit of memory and the contrast between reality and recordings. The tone of the story is very peculiar. The main character has just gone through a breakup, his girlfriend just left him and he finds a hologram rose, a postcard and an “Apparent Sensory Perception” tape. He breaks the postcard into pieces and then watches the tape, which has mostly been wiped out. This little short story reminded me a lot of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless mind. Mainly because we are living the memories of Parker, but through a more lens-y kind of view, instead of being there as a character. The whole memory erasing is very similar a concept, it made me realize how some parts of that movie might fall into some sci fi genre codes. This part particularly stuck with me “Thinking: We're each other's fragments, and was it always this way? That instant of a European trip, deserted in the gray sea of wiped tape - is she closer now, or more real, for his having been there?” It made me think about how memories twist over time and how it would play out in the future if we ever have holograms and ultra-sensorial ways of experiencing past moments in our lives. In the end Parker just realizes that this rose tinted fragment he just remembered wasn’t their history, it included all the gritty real moments that were not beautiful.
My oh my do I love reading Tolkien, his writing has a sense of whimsy and wonder I don't really find in other fantasy works. We talk a lot about the hero's journey, but not enough about what happens before. The Hobbit speaks about conformity in our homes, but the home is never demonized or berated. It is described with love and beauty, Bilbo cares about his home because conformity is part of his identity. Before we embark on our own journey through life we are the same way. We want to stay at home and live with our family forever. That's not how life works. However, The Hobbit never demonizes the home, it is a part of life, a nest, our childhood home. The home has many memories attached to it, and its not something bad. Bilbo's conformity, also ties into his refusal to let new people into his life. Some of us have loud family members who every time they come over they rock our routine. At first, we find them annoying but later we enjoy ourselves, let go and be free
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