Discussion Notes: The Magic Chalk

Next Week’s Story is The Old

Man at the Bridge By Ernest Hemingway.

This podcast is available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spreaker. Please take a few moments to leave a review ( For Spreaker follow/heart us). It helps us immensely.

This week’s story was an interesting one that prompted discussion on the difference between magical realism and fantasy, and why a reader might like one and not the other. When Anais made a point about fantasy having rules within the world and magical realism breaking rules all my brain tingles went on high alert. Great conversation, interesting story and deeply varying experiences as readers. The messy video is on our Youtube page, and the glistening audio podcast is above. Anais also wrote an excellent post on Kobo Abe that included an enlightening interview with a PhD student of Japanese Literature.

Our rating scale just got a lot more epic. Listener, Todd Williams, sent us a lovely email with a bradberry designed just for us! Thank you Tom, we love it. For the history of this goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” If you want to design a bradberry, Anais has the sudden urge to create a bradberry collage… Imagine, bradberries on your desktop! You gave last week’s story, “The Laughing Man” by J.D Salinger, 4.5 Bradberries.

On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate “The Magic Chalk“? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give you the final tally on the next episode.

After Anais’ quiz, we selected “The Old Man at the Bridge” by Ernest Hemingway as next week’s story. I hope you enjoy it, I’m sure Gerald will.

14 comments on The Magic Chalk – Kobo Abe – Literary Roadhouse Ep: 8

  1. S.F.W. Concepts says:

    I suggest looking into Abe’s personal and Japanese society struggles after the war. He was raised poor and starved for earlier part of his life. His writing is influenced by Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher that is renounced for his contribution in existentialism.

    1. Thank you for this insight! Great comment.

  2. mconcepcion says:

    The fact that we can take away such different meaning from one story is truly the mark of a great story. I see a parallel between this story and "The Circular Ruins" (sorry Gerald). Just like a great piece of art, these stories inspire different reactions dependent on the readers’ own personal experience, and set of beliefs. This is what makes them literary fiction.

    1. Gerald Hornsby says:

      Ha! No need to say sorry. But I loved our discussion about magical realism and why I don’t "like" it, or why I feel a disconnect to the stories. And Anais suggesting that it’s all about rules. I think it clarified and explained a lot of my feelings for certain types of story.

  3. mconcepcion says:

    The fact that we can take away such different meaning from one story is truly the mark of a great story. I see a parallel between this story and "The Circular Ruins" (sorry Gerald). Just like a great piece of art, these stories inspire different reactions dependent on the readers’ own personal experience, and set of beliefs. This is what makes them literary fiction.

    1. Gerald Hornsby says:

      Ha! No need to say sorry. But I loved our discussion about magical realism and why I don’t "like" it, or why I feel a disconnect to the stories. And Anais suggesting that it’s all about rules. I think it clarified and explained a lot of my feelings for certain types of story.

  4. Douglas Concepcion says:

    I forgot to give it a rating, for me it’s a five.

  5. Douglas Concepcion says:

    I forgot to give it a rating, for me it’s a five.

  6. Douglas Concepcion says:

    I forgot to give it a rating, for me it’s a five.

  7. Douglas Concepcion says:

    This is one of those times where studying Theology since 19 pays out.
    The story is extremely well written, and reminds me of Hemingway. I don’t believe it to be magical realism, even though most of the aspects of it are, but rather a “Fantantisism” if there is such gender or word.
    This is nothing more than the biblical creation story once he enters the using of the chalk. I’m very surprised with the knowledge of the writer’s knowledge of the underlying themes of the biblical creation story. If you look at the biblical creation story it is nothing more than man (Adam and Eve) defining their new world.
    When Argon begins to use the chalk is because he is dying, and is entering the in between world of life and death. The sunlight represent being brought back into this reality, which is the reason why after the first time he eats his heart out, and wakes up, he is as hungry as before. Since he is moving between this reality and the one he is to move to, the latter is not defined… it needs definition which is his struggle. It’s not easing being a God!
    As he gets closer to death and closer to his next world it needs to be defined, so the biblical creation story takes center stage. As in the story of Adam and Eve… Eve betrays the trust, picks up the weapon. In this story the gun as in the biblical temptation of Adam, or Eve telling him “I ate of the fruit I didn’t die”. Yet the end result is of him being shot, or a death of the soul and not the body, the reason for no blood once being shot. When she destroys the real door and disappears into the wall, is nothing more than the separation from God through the eating of the forbidden fruit, and rejection of his forgiveness by not accepting their fault in his presence (the light). Argon is just as guilty for sharing the chalk with her, and not trying to fight her once she begins or is holding the gun (same as the biblical creation story). Once she destroy door with the hammer, which begs the question why didn’t she just open it? Represent both of them eating the fruit. At this point the Glory of God “represent by the light”, which is a biblical representation of God/Christ destroys their perfect reality… or Eden. At this point they are both destroyed, with him laying on top of her.
    We need to remember that the story is being told from Argon’s point of view, so what the people who enter the room see is his interpretation, not necessarily their reality. It is poetic that in the picture on the wall of him laying on top of her. Nothing more than Adam and Eve populating and defining this new world they have created, which what he wanted in the first place.

  8. Douglas Concepcion says:

    This is one of those times where studying Theology since 19 pays out.
    The story is extremely well written, and reminds me of Hemingway. I don’t believe it to be magical realism, even though most of the aspects of it are, but rather a “Fantantisism” if there is such gender or word.
    This is nothing more than the biblical creation story once he enters the using of the chalk. I’m very surprised with the knowledge of the writer’s knowledge of the underlying themes of the biblical creation story. If you look at the biblical creation story it is nothing more than man (Adam and Eve) defining their new world.
    When Argon begins to use the chalk is because he is dying, and is entering the in between world of life and death. The sunlight represent being brought back into this reality, which is the reason why after the first time he eats his heart out, and wakes up, he is as hungry as before. Since he is moving between this reality and the one he is to move to, the latter is not defined… it needs definition which is his struggle. It’s not easing being a God!
    As he gets closer to death and closer to his next world it needs to be defined, so the biblical creation story takes center stage. As in the story of Adam and Eve… Eve betrays the trust, picks up the weapon. In this story the gun as in the biblical temptation of Adam, or Eve telling him “I ate of the fruit I didn’t die”. Yet the end result is of him being shot, or a death of the soul and not the body, the reason for no blood once being shot. When she destroys the real door and disappears into the wall, is nothing more than the separation from God through the eating of the forbidden fruit, and rejection of his forgiveness by not accepting their fault in his presence (the light). Argon is just as guilty for sharing the chalk with her, and not trying to fight her once she begins or is holding the gun (same as the biblical creation story). Once she destroy door with the hammer, which begs the question why didn’t she just open it? Represent both of them eating the fruit. At this point the Glory of God “represent by the light”, which is a biblical representation of God/Christ destroys their perfect reality… or Eden. At this point they are both destroyed, with him laying on top of her.
    We need to remember that the story is being told from Argon’s point of view, so what the people who enter the room see is his interpretation, not necessarily their reality. It is poetic that in the picture on the wall of him laying on top of her. Nothing more than Adam and Eve populating and defining this new world they have created, which what he wanted in the first place.

  9. mconcepcion says:

    I loved this story! Magical realism rocks! haha

    I agree with the themes discussed in the podcast. I would add that this story is also about dreams. The creative power of dreams and the subconscious. The fact that everything he creates can only exist in darkness is what hinted me to this theme.

    I have very vivid and sometimes lucid dreams. Just the night before I read the story, I had a dream, and in the dream I realized, "this dream is like a short story (since I have been reading so many thanks to this podcast! haha), I should write it down. I know that if I wait until the morning I won’t remember any of it", but I was too lazy to get up. In fact I did not remember any of it in the morning, and even if I did, perhaps in the "light of day" the story would not have been as amazing as in my dream.

    The magical realism part of this story is how even in the most dire of circumstances and in the most common object like a piece of chalk we can find magic. As a painter he can create a whole universe, but when the creation has the power of affecting his life and the lives of many, he can’t give in to the fearless abandoment of a painter. As a human beign he feels responsible for his creation, the implications of creating a whole new world are overwhelming and maddening.

    I also loved that Abe Kobo gave us a little wisdom quote, which I actually wrote down. "Don’t you know that a promise is the beginning of a lie?" I love that!

    I give it 5 bradberries!

  10. mconcepcion says:

    I loved this story! Magical realism rocks! haha

    I agree with the themes discussed in the podcast. I would add that this story is also about dreams. The creative power of dreams and the subconscious. The fact that everything he creates can only exist in darkness is what hinted me to this theme.

    I have very vivid and sometimes lucid dreams. Just the night before I read the story, I had a dream, and in the dream I realized, "this dream is like a short story (since I have been reading so many thanks to this podcast! haha), I should write it down. I know that if I wait until the morning I won’t remember any of it", but I was too lazy to get up. In fact I did not remember any of it in the morning, and even if I did, perhaps in the "light of day" the story would not have been as amazing as in my dream.

    The magical realism part of this story is how even in the most dire of circumstances and in the most common object like a piece of chalk we can find magic. As a painter he can create a whole universe, but when the creation has the power of affecting his life and the lives of many, he can’t give in to the fearless abandoment of a painter. As a human beign he feels responsible for his creation, the implications of creating a whole new world are overwhelming and maddening.

    I also loved that Abe Kobo gave us a little wisdom quote, which I actually wrote down. "Don’t you know that a promise is the beginning of a lie?" I love that!

    I give it 5 bradberries!

  11. mconcepcion says:

    I loved this story! Magical realism rocks! haha

    I agree with the themes discussed in the podcast. I would add that this story is also about dreams. The creative power of dreams and the subconscious. The fact that everything he creates can only exist in darkness is what hinted me to this theme.

    I have very vivid and sometimes lucid dreams. Just the night before I read the story, I had a dream, and in the dream I realized, "this dream is like a short story (since I have been reading so many thanks to this podcast! haha), I should write it down. I know that if I wait until the morning I won’t remember any of it", but I was too lazy to get up. In fact I did not remember any of it in the morning, and even if I did, perhaps in the "light of day" the story would not have been as amazing as in my dream.

    The magical realism part of this story is how even in the most dire of circumstances and in the most common object like a piece of chalk we can find magic. As a painter he can create a whole universe, but when the creation has the power of affecting his life and the lives of many, he can’t give in to the fearless abandoment of a painter. As a human beign he feels responsible for his creation, the implications of creating a whole new world are overwhelming and maddening.

    I also loved that Abe Kobo gave us a little wisdom quote, which I actually wrote down. "Don’t you know that a promise is the beginning of a lie?" I love that!

    I give it 5 bradberries!

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