Finally, Solotaroff brings us back to
“A bit much” ...then again the South is just that sometimes.
The story-
A battle between the generations. It’s the easy theme in this short story ( not that short...it is a New Yorker piece).
Peter Taylor considered on of the finest American Short Story writers. Pulitzer prize winner for fiction in 1987. Long relationship with the New Yorker. In 1979, he received the Gold Medal for the short story genre given by the
Such a wonderful story. Stories such as this are what make the BASS so great. I remember reading this the first time several months ago and finding it captivating, but after the second reading, so much more. Loss, love, introspection, heartache, longing, memories, and rebirth. Perfect ingredients leading to a wonderful dish.
Solotaroff takes us to
There are so many aspects of this story that I can connect with.
First, and the most powerful, being the death of Wallich’s family(wife and son).
I tend to think a lot about the death of my loved ones. I think hard and long on how I would deal with my wife’s sudden death. It brings me near, if not to tears, sometimes when I play out various scenarios.
I don’t know why I do this...have these thoughts. I just don’t know what I’d do without her. I have often thought about how I would live my life if she was suddenly taken from me. How would I behave? Would I retreat? Explode? Go insane?
Running away to the mountains such as the Wallich did, is something that I could easily see myself doing. My family would make every effort to keep me close, but I think that I would need this time alone. Helprin taps into a strong emotional vein and I am drawn into the story.
Second, life in a small village at the base of the mountain. Man, I’ve been there. I know how it feels to have the entire village know what you ate for dinner. I know.
Finally, the intense physical preparation that is made for Wallich’s climb up the Schreuderspitze. The past 2 years, I have spent pushing my body harder further and faster. I’ve felt the muscle soreness, the pain in my lungs. I feel that I am at the peak of my physical condition. I only plan to go further.
Beautiful quote:
“The small things, the gentle things, the good things he loved, and the flow of love itself were dead for him and would always be, unless he could liberate them in a crucible of high drama.”
Dealing with death. I am afraid...I know I will have to face it and I respect it.
In closing, I think that I have settled down into reading and writing for these reports. I am not trying to burn through the years. I’m taking the stories as they come.
Score...10 out of 10. Mr. Helprin, you produced a wonderful story. Thank you.
1930-1996
Yet another piece presented that takes place in a country other than
This was a rather small selection. Filled with detail and the observations of a 7 or 8 year old girl.
I enjoyed this story, and I’m not really sure why. Perhaps it had to do with the authors ability to give me the chance to experience life as this little girl for a few minutes.
She is remarkably observant but those observations are realized by her at a late age.
Honestly, I am having trouble with this review.
I can’t seem to get much out. I also want to take the time to reassure myself, and you, whoever you are reading this that like any other piece of artwork, these writings about the stories I read are just my interpretations of the piece of art I am experiencing. I could be way off on what the author is attempting to relate. Sometimes I may not read correctly, and other times I may read too much into a story, paragraph or sentence. I think though that this is the beauty of the story. It can be read as something that is to be taken very lightly or one can look deeper into the story for meaning.
Score : 7 out of 10.
I found that I remembered more about this story than the previous two after my reread. I enjoyed it. I am also
picking up on a theme here by Solotaroff. This is the third story the collection and the third to take place in a country other than
I’ve been to
I can’t nail down exactly what it was that appealed to me about this story, but I think that it was just “written well”. It flowed nicely, good tension in the spots that needed it, and the characters were appealing enough.
I related to the fronts put up by the characters and the acting that took place between the threesome. The courtesies and niceties exchanged all under the knowledge that each knew what was really being said. Happens too often in life and it’s too bad so many people fail to see this.
Best line in the story is the last.
–For, with all the resources it has to command, happiness remains a shaky fortress. Sorrow is the stronghold.
So true.
Score: 7 out of 10.
It’s great that the second story I read in this project came from Joyce Carol Oates. Oates and her writing are what solidified my love for the short story. Of course, Glimmer Train came first, started the fire, but JCO can be credited with dousing the fire with plenty of gasoline. I have been fortunate enough to read countless stories by Oates from various collections and in numerous magazines. It seems that no matter the literary magazine/journal I come across, I seem to look for a piece by her. I like the thought that there should always be an artistic anchor one hitches himself/herself to.
This story is another from the 1978 collection that I read several months ago and reread today. As I mentioned in the previous post, I first read this during a visit to my car dealership last year. I found today’s reread much more to my liking. I suppose that I am quite susceptible to environmental conditions while I read.
JCO does a fine job with “The Translation”, and it is of course worthy of this collection in BASS. Good selection by Solotaroff. Then again, I wonder what sort of pressures he felt to include her. She had made quite a name for herself by the time of this selection, and if she was left out...
This story hit me with another interesting draw. I was expecting the typical JCO plot, theme and rich details...but she was surprising in her “normalcy”. At least that is what I thought 7/8ths of the way into the story. I think she does a nice job of causing the reader to question the relationships in the story; Oliver with himself, as well as his relationship with his translator and the object of Oliver’s desire, Alisa.
The setting of the story is also special to me. I too smelled the
There is a scene that Oates describes in the story that takes place in a crowded café. I can honestly say that I was in the same position as Oliver on more than one occasion. I felt the pains of not knowing a language that was being spoken around me.
People entering and exiting my life under suspicious circumstances while I lived in
I also found myself in a conversation where this quote would have fit perfectly.
“the nature of freedom is not so simple. But it is always political.”
I’ll give this a 7 out of 10 a bump up from the 6 I had on my first read.
Having read about ¾ of the stories in this collection without posting one review, I suppose that I need to reassess how I go about “doing” this. I need to have the discipline to read one story and then post my thoughts. –RIGHT –
I first encountered this story shortly after receiving the BASS 1978, so you can do the math by looking at previous entries to see when it arrived. I started reading it one morning at my car dealership, and it not holding my attention at the time, I decided to skip ahead and read the JCO story positioned right behind it.
The second encounter came sometime between the hours of 6 and 7 a.m. this morning. I think you will see that my stories are going to be read mostly during this time block. Either I will be reading or doing my morning exercise routines.
The review and other thoughts.
It held my attention. I enjoyed the description of the “Macbeth” production by the Polish Jews. The description of the audience and their reactions to the play was another hook that held my interest. Being that these were Jews in
How may readers of this collection actually read each story? How many read the first few...with the editor knowing this, positioning certain authors up front. Joyce Carol Oats in the second slot...Solotaroff recognized talent. Dribble a few other “well-knowns” towards the end, keeping the reader’s interest.
Was Epstein a friend of Solotaroff? Was this story purposely placed in the first position? I can only think it was...given Solotaroff’s editorial skills...if he paid attention to every word...every sentence...the position of an entire story in a collection would certainly fall under his decision.
I wonder what the frequency of “Holocaust” stories were back in 1978. This piece appeared in Esquire, and must have been read by hundreds of thousands.
Was the short story market in recent years saturated with Holocaust stories? Surely there was an explosion of interest after ‘Schindler’s List”. I wonder though, are the masses a bit tired of these stories today? Do the number of these stories cause me to really struggle to give this story all the attention it deserves?
Overall, the story was fine. Just that – fine. I was happy to find that Leslie Epstein is still alive and according to online sources, is the director of the Creative Writing program at
Points – 5 out of 10. Initially a 6 but changed after thinking about it a little more.
