Response: Vacation from Boyhood

The story begins with the introduction of the narrator and his friend Connor, followed shortly of a recount of a selection of memories shared from their childhood growing up together from kindergarten through college. Then the telling of a road trip undertaken by the pair to go ice fishing in Wisconsin begins, complete with some very funny bits of banter between the friends in an attempt to display absolute masculinity. When they get up to the cabin, the narrator fulfills a long time desire to chop wood and though he is only somewhat successful, he finds satisfaction and returns with the already precut wood to build a fire. After filling the cabin with smoke, the pair laugh and decide to watch a meteor shower as suggested by Connor’s mother. While laying underneath the stars, they realize that the cabin is on fire.

First off, this story was incredibly funny. With the hyped up male bravado mixed with realistic dialogue, there were a lot of hilarious parts that make this collective story feel whole. The term bromance came to mind more than once and that kind of relationship is easy to relate to and understand with regards to the right audience. The theme is pretty obvious and constantly displayed throughout quite noticeably but in a solid comedic fashion. My favorite line, “we spotted the lone cabin that was to be our Walden of testosterone” was brilliant.

Some points that could improve would be adding a bit more poetic language, clearing up some issues with the author/narrator voice, and cropping some of the extraneous background and expanding on the effects of the trip. More often than not we had basic descriptions told in first person narration that tended to be boring until a funny line of conversation cut in. With the narrator, we never get much a sense of identity separate from Connor, which detracts away from the story.

And lastly we have an incomplete and vague backstory presented for the tale of the narrator and Connor’s friendship leading up to this trip but when the cabin is destroyed, it just ends. Are we supposed to assume what the title suggests and that they go from being college-aged boys, to men for a weekend, and then go back to being their prior selves, or did that trip truly affect their friendship and lives? Just a thought to keep in mind for conflict since there didn’t appear to be much of any.