Aperto, Chiuso.

Aperto, chiuso translated from Italian to English means, "open, close." This was the title and theme of Updikes short story about two American tourist in Italy. The story revolves around George and his thoughts while touring Italy with his third wife, Vivian. Vivian was his mistress during his 2nd marriage, and his new wife. They travel around in a rented fiat, which is quickly running out of gas. This, and George's wild driving causes Vivian to be constantly nervous and frantic. They visit churches and memorials during their trip, but George's desire for other women becomes a strong theme in the story. Vivian is aware of his thoughts but doesn't voice it until the end of the story.
I selected this story hoping that more Italian phrases and words would appear, and they did. I know a good amount of Italian and Updike does an excellent job of using the foreign language to express confusion for George and Vivian. They are constantly trying to understand the workings of Italian culture and run into problems due to their lake of knowledge. Knowing what these words mean made the story comical because George incorrectly translates almost everything.
Updikes other stories were more interesting and this one kinda let me down. He does reference Hemmingway and other famous authors during the story, which further expresses his intelligence, but I felt like the story didn't convey the level of emotions and feelings his other work had. I still like Updikes writing, but this story didn't live up to my expectations.

Falling Dog

Donald Barthelme is without a doubt the strangest author I have ever encountered. His writing is very sporadic and weird. The story is about a dog who jumps out of a window and lands on a man. The man, who is never given a name, then tries to return the dog to its owner. While the story seems normal, it is written in a James Joyce stream-of-conscience style. He is constantly asking himself what the dog is thinking or how does a dog pass judgement on people. The characters are also weird because they are so many, and they are only in the story for brief periods. They're relevance is almost meaningless, and he incorporates strange rants, probably derived from the authors own issues. Little meaningless poems litter his writing, and drive the reader away from the story. It was difficult to read, and made me want to put the book down. I really didn't like the story, and after finishing it, I tried to read another one of his short stories. I was met again with unorganized writing that may or may not explain Barthelme's personal life.
Barthelme also uses homophobic language by referring to people things as "gay" or "flaming." I found this to not only be offending, but entirely unnecessary. While these words are still thrown around in film, literature, and common life, the use of them was blatantly intentional and insulting. While he may have a cult following, I am definitely not interested in reading anymore of his material.

John Updike: Wildlife

Updikes short story, "Wildlife" is about a man returning to his home town to visit his son. Since he had left 10 years ago, the town had gone down-hill. The forest is growing in, and restricting the town. The deer have become a huge problem to the citizens too. If they aren't eating from the people's gardens, they are spreading Lyme disease from the infected ticks they are carrying. The main character, Ferris, discusses how much the town has changed, but is glad to be "greeted by the familiar proportions of the buildings, the erratic layout of the streets, and unexpected souvenirs of his past."
The story is strange because Ferris offers very little emotion about the changes. The tennis court he once worked so hard on, is now littered with trash and the once pristine fences are laced with ivy. The people of the town, and Ferris' former wife have all become hippies. They don't want to kill the deer even though they are a huge problem, and don't want to cut down or remove and plants growing. Only at the end of the story does Ferris show any real emotion. He discovers symptoms of Lyme disease on his son, and quickly rushes him off to the hospital.
It was a nice story, not too exciting, but well written and enjoyable. I will be reading more of Updikes material.