Jones/Heinz

Both pieces focus on a death, but each are vast opposites.

Chris Jones' three-part series on the death of Sgt. Joe Montgomery is much more personal, at least in the first part of the series. Jones is able to intertwine a great narrative along with highly detailed scene work easily. While the reading flows nicely, it's also hard not to stop and think about certain elements of the story. These moments grabbed me emotionally and acted as a blockade to reading further. For me, it happened twice.

The first instance was at Sgt. Montgomery's funeral, when it was noticed by Micah that his ring was missing. When Jones writes that Micah took the ring off his own finger and placed it on his brother's, only to fold in on itself, I could not rid that scene out of my head. Jones is able to place the reader directly into the action. The other instance was the folding of the American flag. As Jones explained how the widow clutched the flag to her chest, I knew exactly where the flag and corners were in accordance to her body.

While Jones' structure and style seems to place the reader so close to the action, I noticed the opposite for "Death of a Racehorse" by W.C. Heinz. I felt almost elevated while reading this short piece. I was no longer in the action, but instead watching above. The quickened pace and short length of the piece did not give me enough time to connect with this particular death. Because I didn't know all that much about the horse or the characters around it, I was missing the connection as a reader. I was still somewhat emotional to the death, but nowhere near to the extent of the Esquire piece.

The brevity of Heinz's article does not hurt the story entirely. I think there are some stories where readers aren't meant to know absolutely everything. Instead of an extensive three-part series digging into every little detail, Heinz is able to elicit emotion without holding readers down against their will.

I do prefer Jones' writing over Heinz's, but I don't mind looking at alternatives. They may be different, but that's how writing goes.