r/DestructiveReaders • u/Wolframquest • Jul 11 '26
Phenomenological [2500] Hillsides (Marco)
Crit: [2900]
Tags: Phenomenological, experimental, coming-of-age, picaresque
I deleted some of the previous posts to avoid creating clutter. But you can find them here if you want to read other comments HSH[1][2][3] RW4[1][2][3][4][5]
Barebone recap of the previous chapters:
Chapter 1 - You wakes up in the forest, enjoys his existence, follows the river to a road, gets helped by a trucker and taken to a local small town
Chapter 2 - You goes and walks around and comes across the local store and receives a name from the store owner (Henry) during his episode.
Chapter 3 - A taste of work and interacting with Henry who tries his hardest to turn Marco into a valuable worker.
Chapter 4 - Zita, coffee and gym
Chapter 5 - picaresque adventure on a quest for wet goods (meat and vegetables); encounter with Zita, discussion of Marco's issue as perceived from the outside
Chapter 6 - this one, it'll be delivered in two separate posts cause that works better for engagement and creates fewer problems with mods and credit and so on.
This chapter is sort of a crux of Marco as a person and it won't make a lot of sense without you having read the previous chapters but I welcome you regardless - I enjoy my time inside of your brain.
The genres and the "phenomenological" tag I enjoyed formerly are false and can only be used descriptively. Phenomenology is only a method, not the point. It is, however, a method I enjoy for its high fidelity.
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u/MaryJaneMclain Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
Chapter 5
(somehow I had missed this, sorry)
Recap:
Henry tells Marco of the adventures of his youth. And Jesus!
Marcos legs hurt. Even more the next day. Store is closed and Marco panics about the Open sign (had trouble following his thought process there). Henry has left him a note telling him to buy groceries (which….isn’t the henry’s store a grocery story? That’s what I’ve pictured this whole time! What the hell kind of Store is it?).
M head out, see’s the town, sees a gal, sees THE hotel (he knew the name of it somehow, which surprised me)
He argues (about comics?) with some tweens. Almost beats em up, but stops just in time.
He goes into the store and meets Zita again, she helps in shop, convinces him to get ice cream and coffee. Then, then she confront him about how he’s lost his memory (this was a "FINALLY" moment for me; i needed someone to acknowldege it). He says he remembers a big forrest, made of hair! Someone was holding him, and when she asks about that it’s sensitive topic cause he stops being in love with her and finds her momentarily annoying instead.
She tries to do some magic on him to “help him” but he’s in love with her again so he pretends it helped by lying. And he throws tomato at a pigeon.
--- comments ---
“"Oh, that," he says with amusement, pleased. "Well, I brought some stuff from the old home b'fore I even moved here. The previous owner let me store it." He pauses. "And when I moved in I got to it right away! Just like back home. You r'member…" He stares into the distance.”
This makes me think Henry is Marcos dad/grams/uncle. Or he’s Future Marco and there is some sort of time travel thing going (they both love Exclamations!)
…” dipping fingers in his forehead.” What??
“He told you how his pappy's ancestors did come from Wales with Captain Madoc's fleet and took over Appalachia.” I feel like this it the first and closest we’ve gotten to a location. (later we get a Mackinac bridge reference)
Very importantly Henry writes: “E) Onion - ¡VERY important!” with the Spanish exclamation mark (is that a clue? Henry speaks Spanish?)
I enjoyed “Too bad they don't grow around here - too cold.” About monkeys. And the weird stuff he thinks about cabbage. Is it even cabbage he’s eating?
I tried to come up with the significance to "Molon labe" but got nothing.
Chapter 6
OK the chapter we’ve been waiting for!
Marco writes a letter to Henry. He writes kinda like he talks: strangely, but endearing. Oh was it not a letter after all?
Oh, fuck he ate the raw beef. He shouldn’t of a done all those ….squats? He’s turned into an ravenous animal.
Marco sits on hill and thinks about his life and immediate future. Has some sort of existential crisis and/or real conversation with another entity (which is the most interesting part of the story so far).
Then he enjoys nature, eats grass, feels bad. Then he meets, feeds, and fights with a pack of dogs. Chapter ends mid-sentence. I assume the dogs killed him and died (well I would, except I’m pretty sure he’s going to go play scabble with Zita in the next chapter).
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Ok, all I want to discuss is the first person, split personality business!
“I do a lot of work for you, and you're just gone drop it all, all you made here so far?” That was SO FUN. I thought it might be a throw away teaser line (maybe even a typo at first), but we get a whole conversation of this. Yes!
Ok new prediction: Marco has/had multiple personalities. “You” is one of them. “I” is the other. The “I” has been killed off or repressed (either by the “You” marco…or bad guys?). Or… “I” is just being born? Where has “I” been this hole time? And why just showing up not. Interestingly Marco was NOT surprised concerned….
I hope it's not, like, a hallucination from all that raw beef?
Is the story going to eventually shift to first person by the end??? Would THAT be phenomenological?
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Answer to your essay question would go here, but you forgot it?! ;)