won a kewpie doll at the county fair

[lewsk]

Hodges starts to say no, but Mrs. T.’s stolen Mercedes is still bugging him.
There is something very wrong there.
He felt it then and feels it more strongly now—so strongly he almost sees it.
But almost never won a kewpie doll at the county fair.
The wrongness is a ball he wants to hit, and have someone hit back to him.
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What is meaning of the sentence "But almost never won a kewpie doll at the county fair.", as it seems to have no relation with the context.
Is it a metaphor?
Thank!

 

[staropeace]

Damned if I know.

 

[Walter Oobleck]

You need to read it in an area of high-intensity arc-sodiums...usually the parking is free, too, a win-win situation. Yeah, sounds like one of those metaphorical analogies. Was at the carnival this once, those games...couldn't walk by without begging Ma for a dime. Pay the guy a dime, he hands me three baseballs. I'll never forget hitting the plate smack dab in the center, the guy looking at it, my jaw dropping, the guy looking at me to see my reaction. The plate vibrating slightly. Sometimes, even when you're close to right on the plate remains whole. What's needed is hand-grenades...or a horseshoe woulda done it, my bet. Several working there at the same time, hey? Couple guys smacking a ball back and forth. Kewpie doll on the shelf, out-of-reach. That's the point, my guess...nobody calling out, "we have a winner here!" Plus he's concerned about the lure of Under Debbie's Blue Umbrella.

When all else fails just lie on the floor on your back, legs and arms splayed, and hope for a tummy rub.

 

[Spideyman]

To "win a kewpie doll" is a common English idiom in the US, meaning that one has won a modest prize. There is something bothering Hodges, a small detail, something just out of reach that will give him an answer to something that is bugging him. Thus, he has not won the "prize" of answering what bothers him about the Mercedes.

 

[GNTLGNT]

To "win a kewpie doll" is a common English idiom in the US, meaning that one has won a modest prize. There is something bothering Hodges, a small detail, something just out of reach that will give him an answer to something that is bugging him. Thus, he has not won the "prize" of answering what bothers him about the Mercedes.

...correct...it's a metaphor, based on a Carnival or Fair Midway game of chance....

 

[Pucker]

Hodges starts to say no, but Mrs. T.’s stolen Mercedes is still bugging him.
There is something very wrong there.
He felt it then and feels it more strongly now—so strongly he almost sees it.
But almost never won a kewpie doll at the county fair.
The wrongness is a ball he wants to hit, and have someone hit back to him.
----------
What is meaning of the sentence "But almost never won a kewpie doll at the county fair.", as it seems to have no relation with the context.
Is it a metaphor?

The kewpie doll is a metaphor for finding what he can "almost" see.

The prize, if you will.

But "almost" isn't good enough . . . it won't win the prize.

 

[Sunlight Gardener]

It's pretty much the same analogy as "close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades."

 

[Susan Hood Parker]

Am in the US, am old, so I got the reference, always thought those dolls were freakishly ugly (how's that for two -ly words in a row, lol) Although, was many years before I actually saw 1 of the Kewpie dolls, but remember hearing that saying since I was a kid. Maybe it's a generational thing too. There was another phrase I especially love, if can find it ... can't find it at the moment, but about what life is about. Interesting.

 

[Pucker]

I can't help but wonder if that second "almost" was in italics in the text.

That phrase "almost never won" is kind of clunky.

If you're not paying too close attention, you might think almost is modifying never instead of won.

I don't know.