Eight members gathered on Wednesday, February 29--a once-in-four-years eventuality--to discuss a once-in-a-century production, namely "Best Short Stories of the Twentieth Century," edited by John Updike. The book's sponsor had selected from the tome's cornucopia five faves. The first, published in 1916, was "Little Selves," in which a dying old woman immerses herself in her rich memories, briefly bringing back to life all those little selves that will die with her. We were struck by the biographical note on the author: "Mary Lerner published several short stories in national magazines. Nothing more is known about her." Nothing, not even the dates of her birth and death!
We all knew Richard Wright from his novels but his 1939 short story "Bright and Morning Star" was new to us. We were intrigued by the dialogue, the imagery and the connection between Southern blacks and the Communist Party. One of our group had seen--and been moved by--a play based on the story.
We were all moved by Bernard Malamud's 1964 "The German Refugee." Some found this portrait of an immigrant who's lost everything almost too much to bear. We disagreed over what exactly causes the refugee to lose hope and just what his Jewishness means to him and how much his thinking has been distorted by the persecution he has suffered.
Thom Jones's 1993 "I Want to Live" also divided the group into those who chuckled over the dark humor and those who couldn't bear to get so close to the main character's journey through cancer. (Basically, wicked funny as Jones is, those who had seen a loved one through the ravages of disease made this writer feel somewhat callow.) We all admired the author's skill writing from a woman's point of view.
In discussing Pam Houston's 1999 "The Best Girlfriend I Never Had," we departed from the subject of death. This contemporary, gritty, dark, funny piece is no feel-good, however. The hope that sustains three of the previous four stories is lacking here, and Houston's plucky thirty-something young woman is as adrift as Malamud's refugee.
At the end of the evening, the hostess, in keeping with the theme, distributed copies of a short story of her own--one in which death is no stranger.
Even though this collection of short stories is too unwieldy for reading on the subway or in bed, we thought it just right for people leading fragmented lives and/or "losing it." The five we read represented different time periods and were just the right number for lively discussion. We concluded the meeting intending to read more of the stories on our own.
In a postscript to last month’s entry, Wallace Shawn, according to the February 29 NY Times, is planning a filmed version of Ibsen's "Master Builder."
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