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I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

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Re: I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

#81

Post by pvg »

sosborn wrote: post #80
pvg wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it matters. If it's real, it's a strange, perhaps touching story. If it's made-up, it's a trite and rather artless attempt to yank at your heartstrings. Being coy about whether something is a true account, fictionalized or outright fiction is a cheap way to avoid criticism of both one's reportage and art. Jack Shafer wrote about this sort of thing regarding a David Sedaris flap a few years ago: http://www.s…

> If it's made-up, it's a trite and rather artless attempt to yank at your heartstrings. Should we consider all fiction works in this way?

If it's a trite and artless attempt to yank at your heartstrings, sure. The difference is, fiction declares itself as fiction so you can judge it on its merits as such. This thing would not get a single repost nor an iota of internet attention if it announced itself as fiction. Comparisons to Murakami notwithstanding, it's terrible fiction.

Re: I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

#82

Post by sul4bh »

sdlm wrote: post #55
sul4bh wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please suggest me a Murakami book that resembles this story.

Reminds me a lot of this short story by Murakami: "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning" (1981) http://www.youmightfindyourself.com/post/22131227213/on-seei... It's part of his 'The Elephant Vanishes' short story collection.

I read the story. Very similar to the OP. You mind sending few more links of your favourite Murakami stories?

Re: I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

#83

Post by learning_still »

tjoff wrote: post #41
learning_still wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. The post is clearly fake. Even if the author hadn't messed up with any facts, the style of the writing gave it way. You'll notice that there are tons and tons of details. Everything is as specific as possible in an effort to adhere to "Show Not Tell". Even if we believed someone could have a memory this crystal clear after 40 years, many of the details are completely meaningless to the premise that is presented…

Even if we believed someone could have a memory this crystal clear after 40 years, many of the details are completely meaningless to the premise that is presented I'm not claiming the story is real, but just presenting a counter view to the above. You seem to be assuming that: A: This is real memories, given the story he's obviously thought about that encounter a lot. So, it's hardly been 40 years, it's been constant…

A is not true. There have been many studies on eye witness testimony that disprove everything your saying. The reality is that our brain fills in many, many gaps.

B, you completely missed the point. Just completely missed the point to read that sentence the way you wanted to, "many of the details are completely meaningless to the premise that is presented" has nothing to do with memory. That's why it starts with "Even if we believed someone could have a memory this crystal clear...." So why are you even bothering to argue about memory with me when I gave the memory the benefit of the doubt in my argument?

Re: I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

#84

Post by learning_still »

reledi wrote: post #42
learning_still wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presenting made up stories as authentic is by no means a new idea. To say it's an "evolution of artistic expression" is to give this piece and its author far too much credit. You're right, it does not matter if it is real or fake, but it absolutely matters if it is believable. You and I have read and believed many made up stories in our lifetime. Our instinct is to believe what we read. There could not have been a gr…

Your comment is exactly what Cidan is criticising. The authenticity of the story is not interesting but instead how an old platform was used in a novel way.

Do you actually believe that this is the first time that someone has posted a made up story to Missed Connections? I'm sure people have been posting made up stories since day 1. Made up stories on the internet are not novel. I'm sorry. Publishing fake stories has been around since publication. I guess you didn't actually read what I wrote. While the authenticity is not important, the believability of any piece of writing is paramount. Especially when that piece is trying to be passed as authentic. You would think that would go without saying.

Re: I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

#85

Post by uhtred »

Camillo wrote: post #28

I'm not sure what people find "beautiful" or "touching" in this story. A man is wracked by guilt over what he has done to the point of deciding to end his life, but then he forgets all about it as soon as a pretty girl gives him attention. Inasmuch as it is believable, this is a story about how all our lofty notions of justice, honor, purpose etc. are just bullshit, and it's really all about fucking, consuming and ke…

I find it sad that people feel it is acceptable to attack you personally, for this comment. It is your opinion and you are entitled to it, although apparently not on Hacker News.

Re: I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

#86

Post by Perceval »

DanBC wrote: post #38
runamok wrote: post #26

This reminds me of an anecdote where someone who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge wrote that if a single person smiled at them while they walked to the bridge they would not jump off. That sadly didn't happen... I think caring for one another in even minor ways can have a huge impact. http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_25438684/just-s...

There are a few examples of people who were about to die by suicide when someone asks how they are and if they need a bit of help. it doesn't take much to stop most death by suicide.

“There are many causes for a suicide, and generally the most obvious ones were not the most powerful. Rarely is suicide committed through reflection. What sets off the crisis is almost always unverifiable. Newspapers often speak of 'personal sorrows' or of 'incurable illness.' These explanations are plausible. But one would have to know whether a friend of the desperate man had not that very day addressed him indifferently. He is the guilty one." —Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

Re: I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

#87

Post by Mz »

Ah, the glory of unrequited love, always so much better than the real thing where we have to deal with their literal and metaphorical dirty laundry. In the absence of actual reality, we get to imagine them a perfect being. We get to fill in the blanks with such fierce emotion and lofty assumptions about someone we never really knew.

The beginning of the piece has such wonderful and evocative detail, it is either a genuine memory or well researched fiction or some mix of the two.

Unlike other cynics here, I don't think it can be easily dismissed as merely "Wow, our gonads sure drive us." But then I believe we are spirits in the material world and I have been sustained through many hard things because of strange and kind encounters myself. Edit: Also, my father and ex were both soldiers and I have known many military personnel. So, there's that.

Re: I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

#88

Post by tjoff »

learning_still wrote: post #83
tjoff wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if we believed someone could have a memory this crystal clear after 40 years, many of the details are completely meaningless to the premise that is presented I'm not claiming the story is real, but just presenting a counter view to the above. You seem to be assuming that: A: This is real memories, given the story he's obviously thought about that encounter a lot. So, it's hardly been 40 years, it's been constant…

A is not true. There have been many studies on eye witness testimony that disprove everything your saying. The reality is that our brain fills in many, many gaps. B, you completely missed the point. Just completely missed the point to read that sentence the way you wanted to, "many of the details are completely meaningless to the premise that is presented" has nothing to do with memory. That's why it starts with "Eve…

A: Which was my point... Just because memory isn't reliable doesn't mean telling something in detail from memory is a tell-sign that it is fake. It just means that those memories could be wrong or, subconsciously, made up.

As I said, I just wanted to comment on that. And that because of the way you gave the memory the benefit of doubt, considering the circumstances anything else could have been equally suspicious.

Also, it's not hard to imagine he doesn't really believe he'll find her and typing it up serves a purpose of its own. It could also be something he just wanted to share.

Again, I'm not saying it's real, just that I didn't think the arguments I commented on was particularly convincing. Sorry?

Re: I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

#89

Post by Camillo »

joostdevries wrote: post #35
Camillo wrote: post #28

I'm not sure what people find "beautiful" or "touching" in this story. A man is wracked by guilt over what he has done to the point of deciding to end his life, but then he forgets all about it as soon as a pretty girl gives him attention. Inasmuch as it is believable, this is a story about how all our lofty notions of justice, honor, purpose etc. are just bullshit, and it's really all about fucking, consuming and ke…

There's one view of life where everything is only about ultimate timeless contextless values. That seems your perspective here. '...so by the transitive property it's only about fucking.' At some point in my life I learned that I no longer subscribe to that point of view. The way I read that story is that within the context of flying bombing raids he felt he had no right to live. Which to me as a reader shows that he…

Sounds like you're projecting your younger self on me. But in fact, "it's all about fucking" is not a conclusion from some philosophical perspective. It's all there in the story.

The character forgot his guilt because a hot girl spoke to him. That's 90% of what we know about her, that she's sexual attractive to him - in fact, that she's the most attractive girl he's ever seen. This is not a story about "human connections" or finding "acceptance" for one's past - heck, they didn't even talk about Vietnam. This is a story about overcoming sexual arousal through guilt. No, about sexual arousal overriding guilt.

And that is why it doesn't matter that the girl left. What "redeemed" him was not the girl, it was his own boner. "You're with me still", indeed.

Re: I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

#90

Post by Camillo »

learning_still wrote: post #84
reledi wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment is exactly what Cidan is criticising. The authenticity of the story is not interesting but instead how an old platform was used in a novel way.

Do you actually believe that this is the first time that someone has posted a made up story to Missed Connections? I'm sure people have been posting made up stories since day 1. Made up stories on the internet are not novel. I'm sorry. Publishing fake stories has been around since publication. I guess you didn't actually read what I wrote. While the authenticity is not important, the believability of any piece of wri…

A few months ago, Reddit's /r/tifu was crawling with creative writing students, shoveling their slop all over it under the guise of "true stories".

(Nowadays it's all ridiculous sex stories, which somehow ends up being an improvement.)

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