Marcelo in the Real World Chapter 17 Summary

  • Marcelo and Jasmine go to lunch in the cafeteria. He tells her he wants to help the girl but isn't sure how. He wants Jasmine's help.
  • Jasmine tells him to tread carefully; after all, Marcelo has a lot more to lose in confronting Arturo than she does.
  • Jasmine does a little explaining about how litigation works. She gives Marcelo a few possible scenarios the defense might use in the girl's lawsuit: her parents didn't take proper care of the windshield, perhaps. Or maybe it wasn't installed correctly.
  • Marcelo changes the subject, because it's all too overwhelming for him. He tells Jasmine that the CD she gave him of Keith Jarrett playing Bach's Goldberg Variations is inferior to Glenn Gould's version. 
  • Why does Marcelo like Gould better? Because he plays "more correctly."
  • Jasmine freaks: how is Gould's technical correctness superior to Jarrett's ability to improvise?
  • Marcelo has never thought about improvisation before.
  • Jasmine uses the moment to draw a parallel: the pianist decides in the moment which note is correct. And if Marcelo wants to help the girl, he has to work out right and wrong for himself Only he can decide the correct note. 
  • The right note, she tells him, will just sound right, while the wrong note will sound wrong. Another handy tip from Jasmine.