A Good Loser : Elizabeth Cullinan

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 America. Not quite sure if it really has any underlying meaning but it is strange nonetheless.

I’ve been to Ireland once, and the “visit” could hardly be called that. I was there long enough to scramble off an Aeroflot flight and grab a quick Guinness at an airport bar. The bar seemed to be situated at the end of the concourse for the very purpose of dispensing beer to passengers in a manner that would allow the passengers to scramble back onto their flight in a few seconds. It was my first Guinness, and I wouldn’t know if it tasted any different in Ireland vs. the US. As a matter of fact, I think I was drunk at the time - or my sense of taste and smell had been obliterated by all the smokers on the flight.

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.