Post 2

Honestly, I am a little surprised that I am enjoying this book. I do not typically enjoy many of the stories that we are required to read in school, so I am glad that this one is appealing to me. I think one thing that has interested me in particular is the fact that the characters in the book are very close in age to me. This makes the events that occur in the story to be somewhat relatable. Even though I did find some similarities between myself and the narrator from Notes from the Underground, I think it is likely that I will have more in common with the characters of this book, simply due to age and their stages in life. Someone mentioned in class today that they enjoy the pretentious attitude of the characters, and I have to agree. Their constant comparisons to their parents always seem to result in their own superiority and I find it entertaining. Even though Tony sometimes belittles himself in comparison to other men his age, he does not forget to mention that his parents were probably worse off than he was, even though he has no frame of reference. His self-criticism can be seen when he says, “Even the supposedly simple trail of like-a-drink-fancy-a-dance-walk-you-home-how-about-a-coffee? involved a bravado I was incapable of. I just hung around and tried to make interesting remarks while expecting to mess things up” (21-22). Despite his negative attitude towards himself, Tony seems confident in his supremacy over his parents. For example, he states, “Besides, these girls were allowing far more than their mothers had, and I was getting far more than my father had done. At least, so I presumed” (24). I find his assumptions to be somewhat comical and light-hearted, though he seems to make these remarks in a serious manner.