First 9 Response

When reading between the lines of the first nine pages of Weschler, one may discern a controlling metaphor of an idea or pursuit absolutely taking root in one’s mind and controlling their life from then on. This idea is rather brilliantly introduced with the example of the Cameroonian Stink Ant and the Tomentella Fungus, where a fungal spore inhaled by the ant will take over it’s nervous system and cause it to laboriously climb up vines or ferns, where the fungus will finally kill off the aunt and rain spores down on other ants. Weschler then segways to the story of Sonnabend and Delani, where Sonnabend puts his life into his work researching human memory, finally publishing his works only to have very few sales, if any. Parallels are easily drawn when Weschler adds that Delani, who had inspired Sonnabend’s work, died a little after Sonnabend had seen her concert performance. The other story discussed is that of Donald Griffith who put a lot of work into proving that the legend of a so-called demon that could pierce solid objects within the Dozo of the Tripsicum Plateau was actually just a locally found species of bat. After spending a long time trying to catch this bat, it is finally caught by Griffith, approximately 8 inches deep in a lead wall. Both men like the ant had received a “spore” or idea of some kind, causing them to behave obsessively with a one-track mind. While reading into the book can be interesting I think the true awesome part of the first few pages is that even at face value they bring the reader a sense of “wonder” that compels you to read on.