Slice of Life by Russell Baker

 Slice of Life

- Russell Baker

Russell Baker

THOUGHTS

When I first saw the name " Slice of Life", my initial thought was that the author would be writing about either an experience in life, flashbacks of memories or exciting things that make life great. This entailed non of that! In fact, the work, 'Slice of life' is about how to carve a turkey. 

When I got over the shock of what the extract was about, I then realized that the author is using the process writing style to give instructions on what to do. As I read through the directives, they quickly turned from serious instructions to ones with heavy satire. 

The author started off by telling the readers what tools to gather. This was inclusive of a barbell, meat cleaver and an ax. At this point I still had not gathered any ideas that this was going to turn to the level it did. As Baker continued, his instructions began to turn into a person with a knife vs turkey situation. It was then I understood the double meaning of the title. By the end of the story as the turkey ends up cut by a family member, and the protagonist deciding not to carve the turkey at all, we get to see that cutting a turkey can be a very bothersome task that nobody does well at. 

What did I love?

I loved that the author was able to pull me in with subtle words of interest and then gradually apply the full weight of his feelings as the work went along. Furthermore, I love that the story began serious and got humorous from the middle to the end. I especially found the ending funny when the author spoke about walking around the neighbourhood asking for a knife and then wasting time watching their tv so that the family members would get tired of waiting and cut the turkey. I did not know that people had such a difficult time carving turkey's! The frustration of the protagonist was enlightening and especially in the wake of thanksgiving and Christmas made it 10x more funny. I will now observe my family members cutting the turkey and see how hard of a time it gives them. Lastly, I love that even though the title 'Slice of Life' was not clear at the very beginning, by the end of the extract, we surely understood what the author meant.