tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post2440577474791855096..comments2024-03-28T11:48:59.566+00:00Comments on FICTION on the WEB short stories: Eating Van Gogh by Mark Simon BurkCharlie Fishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04834189452905372024noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-52047713207110612762022-06-28T19:26:11.648+01:002022-06-28T19:26:11.648+01:00A great story. Really evocative use of the senses ...A great story. Really evocative use of the senses and an enjoyably dry sense of humour. Ronan O'Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10796347079387035102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-17545072338871006272021-08-24T19:54:50.813+01:002021-08-24T19:54:50.813+01:00Thanks for reading Ron! You just jogged a memroy f...Thanks for reading Ron! You just jogged a memroy for me: Playdough! When I was a kid, the smell of Playdough was so delicious so of course I had to tase it. And, of course, the taste did not in any way match the 'aroma'. SimonBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13197388360000870856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-10080898888860287152021-08-24T19:48:02.663+01:002021-08-24T19:48:02.663+01:00Thanks Jenna. So glad you felt this one!Thanks Jenna. So glad you felt this one!SimonBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13197388360000870856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-90539242493727638142021-08-10T19:38:35.869+01:002021-08-10T19:38:35.869+01:00Dark, dry, fabulous. This is just the kind of twis...Dark, dry, fabulous. This is just the kind of twisted funny I live for. The tight canvas, the mint-refusing guard, the moment-by-moment obsession all played out with fantastically crafted sentences and a truly sick sense of humor we should all be so gifted to have. Bravo. More.. Just one more bite is all I ask ...Jenna DeAngeleshttp://www.jennadeangeles.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-50106788615090372202021-08-08T00:40:37.615+01:002021-08-08T00:40:37.615+01:00This story is brilliantly absurd...and absurdly br...This story is brilliantly absurd...and absurdly brilliant. We've all experienced something like this on a very small scale...for example, smelling coffee and feeling an absolute compulsion to satisfy the sense of taste in addition to the sense of smell...or seeing a delicious steak and wanting to both smell and taste it...but what a leap to consider needing to satiate additional senses while appreciating a work of art. Fun story.Ron Schultehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058258071909410778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-79178052453726752062021-08-07T21:10:11.626+01:002021-08-07T21:10:11.626+01:00What a treat!!! I love the irreverent quality that...What a treat!!! I love the irreverent quality that never breaches it’s role in the narrative. I miss this kind of deep humor. And I love the care taken in the composition of words, sentences, and paragraphs. I can picture the author wandering the streets of Paris trying to tame his obsession….sniffing his fingers…. Please write more. You are so good. MGoldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01778373198905174743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-14427839320996473872021-08-06T14:14:08.816+01:002021-08-06T14:14:08.816+01:00Now, that is brilliant. Does that mean that the wr...Now, that is brilliant. Does that mean that the writer in turn should consume his own story?SimonBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13197388360000870856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-34956970779941421232021-08-06T14:12:43.739+01:002021-08-06T14:12:43.739+01:00Hey Chris,
Huge thanks for reading my story! I alw...Hey Chris,<br />Huge thanks for reading my story! I always wonder how empathetic a character he appears to a reader. And, yes, I made 'The French' a character, because, well, who can resist!<br />Mark Simon Burk SimonBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13197388360000870856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-63876859937614597842021-08-06T14:08:52.479+01:002021-08-06T14:08:52.479+01:00I love that he's someone you'd avoid on th...I love that he's someone you'd avoid on the street! Huge thanks for taking your time to read and... for your Gogol reference (if only!)<br />Mark Simon BurkSimonBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13197388360000870856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-49265774020116148352021-08-06T14:07:00.137+01:002021-08-06T14:07:00.137+01:00Rosemary,
You capture the story's essence bea...Rosemary, <br />You capture the story's essence beautifully! Thank you so much for giving my story your time and thought.<br />Mark Simon BurkSimonBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13197388360000870856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-49086657068057739802021-08-06T14:05:43.693+01:002021-08-06T14:05:43.693+01:00Ha! I get it Brian! Wonder what that'd taste l...Ha! I get it Brian! Wonder what that'd taste like??!SimonBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13197388360000870856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-60220078487087188282021-08-05T22:46:03.498+01:002021-08-05T22:46:03.498+01:00He couldn't be Van Gogh but he could get close...He couldn't be Van Gogh but he could get close enough to taste him. I fear for his ear. I like the droll narration. Successful therapy would involve him eventually eating his own words.Harrison Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06747310376412907313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-69571515055746800842021-08-05T14:26:32.227+01:002021-08-05T14:26:32.227+01:00To call this "funny" is a huge understat...To call this "funny" is a huge understatement. Of course it's hysterical (love how the French are depicted). But it's so much more as to make any humor nearly incidental. Subtle metaphors abound. Only "rape" overtly (and, in my opinion, unnecessarily) expressed. By the end I can understand, actually even empathize, with the narrator's synesthesia, and motives. Intelligent research, clever throughout, brilliant description. Unforgettable, I have no doubt. Thanks for sharing.Chris Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13435037314612068333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-58431131748077610902021-08-04T05:08:48.539+01:002021-08-04T05:08:48.539+01:00Well, that was wonderfully weird. But now I have a...Well, that was wonderfully weird. But now I have a late-night hankering for something by Pollock and all the galleries are closed.Brian Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267227010803463791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-75124008993260221192021-08-03T02:03:58.527+01:002021-08-03T02:03:58.527+01:00This story reminds me of Gogol’s “The Nose”.. the ...This story reminds me of Gogol’s “The Nose”.. the absurd situation treated realistically, the idiocy of bureaucracy, the narrator one would avoid on the street. Ms. Johnson above points all these things out above perfectly. This story could be a classic! Thanks for posting it. Janevchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00357919348685242369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155197540326010032.post-52420365595960930882021-08-02T19:02:15.710+01:002021-08-02T19:02:15.710+01:00What made this story for me was the author’s use o...What made this story for me was the author’s use of the five senses, as he described looking, hearing, feeling and touching and eventually tasting. How well he made us feel main character’s intense need to experience all forms of art, on a level which most of us can’t reach.<br />I also enjoyed the nonchalant manner in which he recounts an absurd storyline, as if such things were commonplace. <br />The comments on French prison food and mc’s interaction with his lawyer lightened the narrative and added touches of humour.<br />Rosemary Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05797123703252258773noreply@blogger.com