I enjoyed reading both of the 'Talk of the Town" essays mainly because they were so different from each other in both writing styles and opinions. I thought both authors, Updike and Sontag, had some really good things to say, and supported their arguements by using detailed and thorough explainations.
Updike's essay really struck me because he actually witnessed the events of September 11th from a Brooklyn apartment. His article definitely had many emotional aspects to it, which made it very appealing to read. He was also an excellent storyteller and I loved the quote, "It seemed at that first glance, more curious than horrendous: smoke speckled with bits of paper curled into the cloudless sky, and strange inky rivulets ran down the giant structure's vertically corrugated surface." This quote brings such a vivid image to my mind, and it made me feel as if I was witnessing it as well. His essay had a very hopeful tone and he seemed fairly optimistic about both New York and overall America's future. Even after witnessing the awful events of 9/11, he still believed in the glory of New York, which was quite inspiring.
Sontag's essay took on a much more pessimistic tone, but was nevertheless interesting to read. Although I thought Susan could be a little extreme in some of her opinions, I could definitely see where she was from on several of them. I could understand her frustration regarding politicians and other figureheads telling the public that everything was going to be O.K. Clearly everything was not O.K. and even today, a decade later, that remains to be untrue. To an extent, I can also concur with Sontag that the government was focused more on consoling the public than acting as a democracy.
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