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Page 147.

Machine Man (serial)

The hardest thing about cutting off my arm was reaching the saw. I was on an operating table, it was on the tiles: that was a real problem. I had to strain and stretch to loop my fingers around its cord. Then, to change my grip, I had to hold the cord in my teeth. Pull, bite, move hand, pull. It was a real trial. Then I got the thing up and thumbed on the power and wished I hadn’t been so enterprising. If the cord had been a little further away, beyond my reach, would that have been such a bad way to die? I would have been blameless. Even noble.

One time at a mall, I saw a guy demonstrating an electric carving knife. He had a steaming roast chicken on a plate, and as I walked by, he showed a middle-aged couple how easily the knife whirred through the meat, slicing off delicious strips with a noise like: vrrrreeeee.

For some reason I expected this to sound different.

147.

Comments

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gstein42 (#585)

Location: 127.0.0.1
Quote: "That's not change! That's more of the same!"
Posted: 6174 days ago

mmm, delicious strips of... arm?!?

Mapuche (#1184)

Location: Darwin, Australia
Quote: "Inconceivable!"
Posted: 6174 days ago

Max is showing some decidedly gross tendencies this week...

Electrichead (#3898)

Location: Toronto
Posted: 6174 days ago

Sooo .. why is he cutting off his arm? Doesn't that mean more blood loss? And what will he do after that?

SilverKnight (#2210)

Location: St. Louis
Posted: 6174 days ago

Best opening line of a page yet, "The hardest thing about cutting off my arm was reaching the saw." WOW.

Stygian Emperor (#2947)

Location: the Stygian Empire
Quote: "Flesh is a design flaw."
Posted: 6174 days ago

Do-it-Yourself Surgery - In stores now!

CrystalR (#4160)

Posted: 6174 days ago

I would do anything for love,
I would do anything for love,
I would do anything for love,
But I won't do that.

Max

Location: Melbourne, Australia
Quote: "I'm my number one fan!"
Posted: 6174 days ago

Today's MM Trivia: The last sentence here is one of those ones I really sweat over, because it's potentially ambiguous. I'm hoping you get that "this" means Charlie cutting off his arm, but I fear you might think I mean the chicken-carving demonstration. I could clarify it ("For some reason I expected my experience to sound different"), but that's clunky. And I fear condescending: I never want a reader to start thinking, "Okay, I get it, I get it." Books that insult their reader's intelligence get put down.

So I went with the ambiguity. I figured that even if it's confusing at first scan, the fact that it's the last sentence of a page prompts you to rethink and realize its meaning.

I'm not sure why I thought you might want to know that.

Mapuche (#1184)

Location: Darwin, Australia
Quote: "Inconceivable!"
Posted: 6174 days ago

Speaking purely for myself, I got it immediatly, and think the version you went with is definitely the better of the two.

There is a certian 'Maxness' to your writing that I suspect most of your fans 'get' which is one of the enjoyable parts of reading your work. It makes me feel clever when I get what you are meaning when it isn't explicitly spelled out. It helps me to feel involved and engaged in the story, somewhat like successfully filling in the blanks.

I suspect people who can't do that, or can't engage with the story like that, dont enjoy the books.

Allowing each reader to engage their own imagination to flavour the story helps to make the read more satisfying, rather than dictating every nuance. You do that very well.

David (#1456)

Location: Sydney, Australia
Quote: "Why are the pretty ones always insane?"
Posted: 6174 days ago

I got it. I kinda wish I hadn't but I did...

Bob (#4095)

Location: Kansas
Quote: "Freeze!!! This is the Government!!"
Posted: 6174 days ago

Mapuche:

You nailed it!

And really Max - the imagery of the past two days... well I have a vision of each day's happenings... from way back with the guy in the nice car yelling (that happened right?) to the little yapping dogs - to the events of the past two days. I 'see' what happens every day, except today I also heard it.

Chemical Rascal (#3964)

Location: Melbourne, Australia
Quote: "Don't read this. It's not relevant to anything. Go away."
Posted: 6174 days ago

I can say amen to what Bob said: With these past few pages, it has been very easy to interpret the scenes visually in one's mind. I mean, it has been the whole way through, but these ones in particular.

About that last line, though: It sort of reminds me of the kill scenes (as I call them) in an American TV drama series, Dexter, especially in the first season. Typically, as the main character went through with a kill, the camera would shift in a way that the focus was on the sound, whether it be an axe/hatchet thing going through someone's arm, or a surgical drill being applied side-ways to someone's neck.

On another note, I'm surprised Charlie didn't just use his good arm to pull himself off the table. But I suppose there's probably other dangerously pointy things littering the ground.

Toby O (#2900)

Location: Sydney
Quote: "vote with your wallet"
Posted: 6171 days ago

@Max there are so many ways to refer to the new sound and juxtapose the old sound; the word different led me to the new sound.

I probably would have done the same as you.

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