Comments on Landless: FridayFlash: Back of the Class

Poor Danny. It's so hard to be a misunderstood ge...

2009-11-01T13:55:13.364-05:00

Poor Danny. It's so hard to be a misunderstood genius. I very much enjoyed this. Boron had me giggling.

Linda: Heh, see the comment by Deanna - I'm not wa...

2009-11-01T08:08:44.350-05:00

Linda: Heh, see the comment by Deanna - I'm not watching your house and kids. I've just known a number of smart kids crushed under the heel of educators with insufficient imagination.

Long live the geeks! Seriously, I love this story ...

2009-10-31T23:00:09.585-04:00

Long live the geeks! Seriously, I love this story (and yes, the edited version is superior to the first, but I do so see the brilliant armature in the first); we squelch the smartness and creativity out of kids. I didn;t realize you knew my son Will - isn't this who you modeled your Danny on? Super, sensitive story. Peace, Linda

Yeah, loved the ending on this and good build up. ...

2009-10-31T19:25:00.398-04:00

Yeah, loved the ending on this and good build up.

Kudos for the punchline

Okay, maybe it's just because I write speculative ...

2009-10-31T16:18:41.636-04:00

Okay, maybe it's just because I write speculative fic, but I got the impression that Danny isn't human, especially with the ostensible lack of parents. Loved the story, especially the ending!

I think geniuses always have a hard time in school...

2009-10-31T13:31:10.177-04:00

I think geniuses always have a hard time in school. They get bored and this equals in smart-allic behavior and bad grades. I was cheering for the boy standing up and walking away.

I love smart kids, but think it is a shame he can'...

2009-10-31T10:08:33.161-04:00

I love smart kids, but think it is a shame he can't really interact with people. While the teacher really was a boron for her attitude, I still feel sorry for a kid that can't play and have fun. Well done.
~jon

Laura and Mark: One of the things about kids who a...

2009-10-30T18:19:15.441-04:00

Laura and Mark: One of the things about kids who are off-the-charts smart is that they often completely fail to understand how "normal" people function.

Some of these kids, though, make a point of applying their intelligence to the problem of figuring out how to fit in. You can spot these kids a mile away - they seem *almost* human. Could easily pass for an alien. ;-)

Amy and David: As saintly as teachers are typically painted (and as this teacher believes herself to be), they are only human. The question is, how different does the kid have to be before you say that he's... not?

I like how the teacher loses control, nearly appea...

2009-10-30T18:07:37.894-04:00

I like how the teacher loses control, nearly appearing childish while the student is patient and polite like adults should be.

I love this kid's character! I would've taken grea...

2009-10-30T17:54:08.178-04:00

I love this kid's character! I would've taken great pleasure in behaving this way as a child...there's nothing sweeter than making the grown-ups feel stupid when you're 9! Great story!

But his behavior at the end of the tale could also...

2009-10-30T17:39:11.914-04:00

But his behavior at the end of the tale could also be taken as arrogance,although his being embarrassed earlier might deny that.

It's a provocative story. One hopes teacher learned a lesson.

I would think that a 9 yr old with that kind of br...

2009-10-30T17:26:31.448-04:00

I would think that a 9 yr old with that kind of brain would be bored in that environment, so I decided that he's an alien investigating our world. :)

Love how it ends. At first I thought the child mig...

2009-10-30T15:22:34.506-04:00

Love how it ends. At first I thought the child might be too much a product of a Foucaultian punishment/discipline society (maybe at home? or internalized too much from things around him?)-his body (and mind) completely controlled, contained. And his "success" at being "good," even more infuriating because it's *too* good. But, no--he just happens to be a very polite genius, obviously able to tolerate those around him (who must be, at times--unlike Mr. Feng--boring). Love him.

I guess he didn't say "boring." Great story. This ...

2009-10-30T13:32:53.154-04:00

I guess he didn't say "boring." Great story. This kid is going to be something great. Good thing this teacher won't be an influence on him anymore.

Emma and Jim: He might be an alien or a 47-year-ol...

2009-10-30T13:29:31.030-04:00

Emma and Jim: He might be an alien or a 47-year-old inorganic chemist/electrical engineer sent back in time to relive his own life (again), but probably not an android or robot. He's described as flushing with embarrassment; I know *I* wouldn't build an android with the ability to blush.

Deanna and Jeff: Spot on! Some teachers would much...

2009-10-30T13:24:34.877-04:00

Deanna and Jeff: Spot on! Some teachers would much rather have a kid who is normal and fits their teaching models than someone who is way outside the norm, even if he doesn't cause trouble. Little Danny is just different - profoundly and significantly different, but different is not automatically BAD.

Don't worry, Deanna, I haven't been watching your house. Those cameras were turned off months ago.

I like how it ends with the reader (or maybe just ...

2009-10-30T12:15:59.373-04:00

I like how it ends with the reader (or maybe just me) wondering: is he a smart kid or a robot?

:)

http://writersnwriters.blogspot.com/2009/10/hand-prints-fridayflash.html

I too have a fondness for the geeky child, but I w...

2009-10-30T11:05:35.466-04:00

I too have a fondness for the geeky child, but I was wondering if he was an android, or something else all of the way through. I love how that's left ambigous :)

I also love how the POV is with the teacher; it reinforces the alienation when all we get are his reactions and then the notes at the end. Ace!

This made me laugh out loud. No, you boron, I didn...

2009-10-30T10:03:47.278-04:00

This made me laugh out loud. No, you boron, I didn't call him boring! No wonder the teacher can't stand him. He's got a brain like an advanced alien. She can't understand him. His emotions work differently than hers.

I appreciate your extreme juxtaposition here of the teacher to the student. Many levels.

And, of course, I love the chemisty. My father was a research chemist and I grew up in a world of mass balance equations and molar equivalents scrawled onto dinner napkins while my father forgot about eating and tried to explain to his family why the silicon atom had too big of an electron shell to adjust the containment. In fact, ages ago, he figured out how to purify crystalline silicon enough to develop the first computer chips. I inherited just a fraction of his brain, I'm afraid.

Jeff Posey

Tony, I feel like you've been watching our househo...

2009-10-30T10:02:30.589-04:00

Tony, I feel like you've been watching our household this last week. Danny is my Noah - he's an honor student in 5th grade, and his teacher can't stand him. We've been round and round this week.
You've got the whole situation down-pat, (except that we've met and talked to our son's teacher).
Super job and I love the play on words!

Mazz: Fear not. I'm a big fan of nerds myself.

2009-10-30T09:57:05.261-04:00

Mazz: Fear not. I'm a big fan of nerds myself.

Lily: I wish I could say that this was a clever "b...

2009-10-30T09:56:34.455-04:00

Lily: I wish I could say that this was a clever "branding" ploy, to make my e.mail (and hence my name) stick in you mind.

The truth is, when I signed up for my gmail account, a lot of the obvious permutations were already taken: noland@gmail, tonynoland@gmail, anthonynoland@gmail, etc. I could have done something cute like kickasswriter@gamil, but I'm a fairly self-effacing guy.

Interestingly, mail sent to nolandtony@gmail also reaches me. Gmail apparently ignores the "." in the name the same way it ignores capital letters.

URLs ignore capitals, too. So when I give my web address as http://www.TonyNoland.com instead of http://www.tonynoland.com, that is a wee attempt at branding. FWIW.

Haha - thoroughly enjoyed this, thank you. What a ...

2009-10-30T08:41:56.093-04:00

Haha - thoroughly enjoyed this, thank you. What a punchline!

People like Allison are scary because of their nar...

2009-10-30T07:57:30.486-04:00

People like Allison are scary because of their narrow world view adn popularity. Unfortunately there are plenty of Allison's out there in positions of authority.

I like little Danny! Am intrigued that a teacher...

2009-10-30T07:29:59.878-04:00

I like little Danny!

Am intrigued that a teacher would dislike intensely a child who was smart, always had homework, and never was a behavior problem.

My friend works with this age group and she would do a happy dance to have a Danny in her class.

Danny should go to a better school.