Claire Keegan is a marvelous writer. Years ago, I was awed by her novella, Small Things Like These. Recently, while on vacation, browsing in an indie bookstore, I came upon her collection of three short stories, So Late in the Day. And while I’m not particularly fond of short stories, I bought the book.
So Late in the Day traces a day in the life of Cathal, an Irish office-worker of some kind. As he goes through the motions, it becomes clear that this day is not unfolding the way it had been planned. He recalls, bitterly, spitefully, a relationship with a Frenchwoman who is no longer in his life. The reader may be tempted to have sympathy for him as the story begins, but by the end, it is clear that the woman dodged a bullet. Cathal deserves his miserable-ever-after ending.
In The Long and Painful Death, a thirty-nine year old woman who has been unlucky in love arrives at the home of a famous author who it seems has bequeathed his house to be a retreat for other writers. She is anticipating two weeks of writing and relaxation. But her space is invaded by an embittered German man who seems to feel entitled to the house himself. She puts up with his rudeness and intrusiveness until she can’t take it anymore and puts him out. She gets her revenge by writing him into her quite unpleasant story.
And Antarctica follows a young married woman on a sexual spree. Leaving her husband and children at home while she goes on a “shopping trip,” she bar hops and flirts with a stranger, then goes home with him. She spends a couple days in drunken abandon, enjoying her sexual freedom with a perfect-for-this partner. Until it goes awry in a ghastly fashion. Her punishment is on a Biblical scale.
The stories are all beautifully constructed and written, but they are also all disturbing in their own way.
No comments:
Post a Comment