Some Manhattan in New England – Peter LaSalle

Peter LaSalle

Born May 27, 1947

Whew...this was a tough one. I reaaaaallly had to concentrate to make it through this story. I wonder if my modern ADD mind was not ready for a story crafted as this was. To make it short and sweet, I found another entry into BASS that just didn’t make it onto my list of stories that will remain with me.

What did the story gift me with? Well, to be a jerk, it didn’t give me much, but stole about 20 minutes of my life.

I suppose though that I have been in situations where I have wasted 20 minutes in a worse way. Thinking of that, I need to carry this book with me more. The problem I have though is that I have a tough time reading in areas where distractions are abundant. I’m also afraid that I’ll loose my book. I think I lost one of my O. Henry prize books before, and I think there is a subconscious drive in me that forbids me from carrying books into public.

Reading about LaSalle, and all of his past writings and awards, I was upset with the selection Oates provided.

For the life of me, I could not figure out where this story was going or from where it came.

I will though give it a point for providing me with a couple of sentences that will stick with me (unlike the rest of the story).

“After I died, I returned to the mill city to visit him as a visible ghost on June 15, 1953. I loved him so much that I wanted to hug him right there. I wanted to tell him that although I was dead, real love somehow goes beyond that. But we argued again, and it was never said.”

Score 4 out of 10.

The Quail - Rolf Yngve

Rolf Yngve born around 1951???

There are times, and those times come in lengthy intervals, when I run across a really good short story. I do hold hope that those times will come with greater frequency as I progress through the years of BASS but for now, finding little treasures like “The Quail” will do just fine.

There was a special feeling that the writing imparted from the first few paragraphs of this story. It had real substance – meat. It was thick and full of flavor, but at the same time easy for the mind to flow over the words and sink into the story.

I found connections with the couple in the story...as I feel that most young couples would. Hope, devotion, longing, wonder, love, warmth and the knowledge underlying it all that all of those feelings is a certain fragility and that at any time one or more of those feelings could be extinguished by a force unseen – or seen. You could say that your life together sometimes would be similar to walking across a frozen lake in spring.

I read the final two paragraphs twice. I wanted to derive from the words their full strength.

Upon reading the biographical notes at the back of the volume, I came across a pleasant surprise.

I’ll reproduce it below.

- Rolf Yngve is a native of Minnesota, has lived in Utah, and is now home-ported in Norfolk, Va. He has been in the Navy for eight years. He holds a B.S. in Meteorology from the University of Utah, obtained through the Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program. While at Utah, he bootlegged English courses and wrote. ‘The Quail” is his second published story. At sea, he stands watch on the ships bridge, tries very hard to be good to the people who work so hard for him, and writes as well as he can to make himself feel better. He is twenty-eight and married to Gail Flowers.

The first thought that I had when I read this was that it sounded an awful lot like a fragment from the bio’s of authors in the back of “Glimmer Train”. I should also say that that occurred simultaneously with the “Holy crap” moment I experience with the Norfolk connection.

I had to know more about this guy. I fired up the Google machine and “pop” there you go. I see a Rolf Yngve with a Facebook page. I see that some of his interests include those of a literary genre. Hummm...I’d bet this is him. I wrote to him asking if he was in fact the author of “The Quail”. Figured that I’d start there. Early this morning, I discover a nice message from Rolf in my inbox. In short, yes he did write it. Looks like he is writing once again. – Great! - I decided to do some more digging. I find the below on the NewPages Blog

Third place: Rolf Yngve, of Coronado, CA, wins $300 for “Going Back for His Brother”. His story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing his prize to $700.

Rolf also has a Blogger profile and 2 reviews on Amazon.

I like his “In My Own Words” passage on Amazon.

“It occurred to me that I somehow find things to read not widely known or appreciated. I like a fine turn of phrase, a skilled account, and a humanist's view (humanist in the modern, non-atheistic sense.)”

And appropriately, under interests:

"Reader of non-mainstream literary fiction. I actually subscribe to literary magazines."

Google books returned him in the table of contents of the Quarterly West with a story entitled “Clean Fires”.

I suppose that the above mentioned story is the other published work considering it was contained in an early issue of QW.

“The Quail” was wonderful and I enjoyed my little brush with Rolf. I wish him success in his future writing!

Finally in closing, I should mention that I only include these briefs about the authors as a way to cement them deeper in my memory. Researching them gives me insight to their skills and where they could be operating from. Everything I find about them is freely available on the web or drawn from the bio pages of BASS. I am only mentioning this as to not freak out any of the authors who may stumble across these little postings.

Score 10 out of 10.

A Party in Miami Beach - Isaac Bashevis Singer

Isaac Bashevis Singer – 1902 – 1991

C’mon now...is there any way I could bash something written by Singer? The guy won a Nobel Prize in 1978!

I do have to say that this story didn’t do anything for me.

How about that.

Let’s just leave it there.

I suppose that if I was more familiar with the works of Singer...I may have picked up on his style and perhaps I would have enjoyed this selection.

Researching Singer, I discovered that he usually wrote about exactly what was contained in this story. Polish Jews, Yiddish language and culture and morality.

I don’t know, there just wasn’t anything special in this story for me.

Sure, I’m impressed by the man, but not the story. Perhaps Oates included it in the collection knowing that it would draw some eyes. I don’t know if the stories were read blind back then but I am pretty confident that she was able to recognize his writing. There probably weren’t many Yiddish authors in translation who were widely read here in the States back in the late 70’s...or published in Playboy.

The Paris Review does a wonderful job by making his 1968 interview with the journal available online. I couldn’t be happier that the PR makes these interviews available. It really allows me to know the authors beyond their work, and with a case like Singer, it gives me a perspective that I would not have had with out reading the interview. I will include several quotes from the interview below...as I find them special. I may not like the story, but I like the man.

“I say that we too in each generation see such sparks which we ignore just because they don’t fit into our picture of science or knowledge. And I think that it is the writer’s duty and also the pleasure and function, to bring out these sparks.”

“You cannot take life and suddenly turn it into one great delight, one ocean of pleasure. I never believed in it, and whenever people speak about a better world, while I admit that conditions can be made batter and I hope that we can do away with wars, still there will be enough sickness and enough tragedy so that humanity will keep on suffering more or less in the same way it always has. Being a pessimist to me means being a realist.”

Towards the end of the interview, Singer is asked about what seems to be the sudden rise in popularity of Jewish authors. I have noticed this trend with the last BASS and with the mention of several Jewish authors in JCO’s circle. I was starting to wonder if I had started to develop some sort of complex and that I was picking out these authors from some sort of weird filter that my mind constructed.

Singer gives an interesting reason...one that may or may or not be correct but one that puts my mind at ease nonetheless.

Score – 6 out of 10.

The Wedding Week – Rosellen Brown

Rosellen Brown - born May 12, 1939

I think, and I hope I am correct in the reading of this, that Oates has placed a nice piece of experimental literature into this portion of the volume.

This was a difficult read for me. I couldn’t find my way and had a feeling of slowing sinking after treading water with this story. My arms were tired, my legs couldn’t kick and my will – the most important part of the equation was failing.

Looking back, I think I am correct in this observation.

So, what did I get out of or learn from this story...because, of course there is something to learn from each one of these stories.

Well, there is the father/son---son/father relationship here. Again, I think I am reading this correctly.

So, if there is any parallel, anything that I can take out of this story, it is the story triggering the movement of me reflecting on my relationship with my father and what he and we went through, and what he and we are going through now.

The last line of this story brings it together nicely, and is probably what saved it from a savaging.

“I want him to promise me, promise me like a man, not like a shivering rabbit, that he is not going to die.”

So, Brown caused me to sit back for a bit and reflect on the old man...and then to write about it here. I suppose that’s good enough.

Again, it was a rough reading...but we can’t always find treasure.

Score – 6 out of 10.