"la vida es un sueño"
This has probably one of my most favorite short stories of all time, yet I know I can definitely benefit from reading it a few more times. I like it for various reasons.
It is a great insight in Post World II LA, a very culturally diverse LA, where I get this vivid image where everyone is kind of cruising around, taking in the diverse and lively experiences, lights, sounds, music and entertainment that the city has to offer. How I imagine it through the eyes of Rycooder, it is a beautiful kind of chaos. It is a chaos where music filters through the air, but this music consists of the different sounds that make up the city: perhaps sounds of conversations, games, arguments, songs and work, and violence. But, it is a city where everyone contributes equally to the culture of Los Angeles.
I like that in a sense, it is a story about music and murder. This can emphasize the idea that nothing in life is permanent; however, the mixture of crime and death with music softens the image and puts value in what I understand to be probably most important: life goes on... definitely still not a "light" topic per say...
I appreciate that the short story itself is like a dream. It's direction is always unclear and the atmosphere that Rycooder sets up seems very hazy. I think that for this reason, I was able to feel apart of it, experience LA for what it once was and I particularly liked the way that he talked about the street lamps..observing them was an old habit of his..."styles change as one passes from one district to another, one era to another. Very interesting for one who travels by streetcar at night"... it really caught my attention and this was one of those moments in the story where I momentarily took a detour and started thinking about the street lamp, while doing some self-reflection....it really must be much much different from a streetcar....
...It's unfortunate that today a lot of what once existed in the "old" LA has been washed out and overlooked by all the Hollywood noise--it really does make me value this beautifully disturbing story even more...still can't quite put the image to my thoughts....
