Response to "Now We Are Five: A Big Family, at the Beach" by David Sedaris

I thought this piece of creative nonfiction by David Sedaris did a great job at describing the details and engrossing the reader into the story.  In addition to that, I really liked the way the writing gave the reader a sense of nostalgia for Sedaris's childhood and past.  While the narrative was generally more sad and serious in tone, I enjoyed the small parts that showed Sedaris's personality, as well as portraying this family's uniqueness.

I thought Sedaris's insight on this quote was very real:

Now, though, there weren’t six, only five. “And you can’t really say, ‘There used to be six,’ ” I told my sister Lisa. “It just makes people uncomfortable.”

My best friend's sister passed away when she was younger, and having to say that she only has one sister when in fact, there were two sisters, always made for an awkward situation.  Saying that "[i]t just makes people uncomfortable" is an honest portrayal of losing a sibling and makes for a narrative that is touching and easy to relate to.

I thought the way Sedaris presented the background of Tiffany's story was interesting as well, and I think it has given me insight on how to incorporate a background story in a piece.  Throughout the story, there is an air of mystery about why Tiffany committed suicide, and it is never revealed as to why she might have done it.  While in a fiction piece the reader may learn why, it is interesting to note how in this piece based off of real life, we never find out why, and Sedaris and his family may never find out, either.  Sometimes in life one will never get an answer to the question they are asking, and it's a simple reality that we must accept.  Sedaris portrays this theme well in his creative nonfiction piece.

The details in Sedaris's piece are what makes it marvelous for me.  I really got a sense of who the characters were because of all the details written into the story.  For example, there is the scene where they are in the grocery store and Paul used wet parsley to mimic a sneeze on Sedaris's neck, all while getting a hapless stranger wet in the process.  The bit of comic relief in the otherwise sad narrative was refreshing, and the child-like nature of his brother shown in this scene lends a lot to his character.

Overall, with this piece I think I learned that creative nonfiction should be real.  And by that, I mean that when writing a piece, you should write about things that are otherwise taboo.  A sibling's suicide is tragic and it is something that most people are not comfortable with discussing, but by writing this piece, Sedaris gives the readers a great deal of insight about what it is like.  The details in the story are impressive and woven into the narrative seamlessly; I felt like all of them were purposeful and had a reason to be in the story.  In addition to the details and technicalities of the writing, I think what I most likely enjoyed best was the humanity of the story.  Each character had a vivid and unique personality, and they all felt quite real -- just like they are.