A Trip bound for the South (from "Summer Lies")
I like a German author by the name of Bernhard Schlink. He always talks about "Lonely Middle."
His men's figures: not a macho type, let women domineering, undecided and weak like me
His women's figures: strong, self-conscious, self-willed and determined like my wife
Today I would like to tell you one of his short stories entitled "Summer Lies" It was written from the view of an old woman.
I quote on a book review from New York Times.
(Quote)
A beloved grandmother in a retirement home finds herself suddenly alienated from her four dutiful children and 13 grandchildren. Her perplexity and frustration about the choice she has made in her life-she divorced her philandering husband only after their children were grown-overtake her as unpridictablly as her back pain.
When a granddaughter escorts her to the college town where she lost her true love, she confronts the man, now widowed. They don't share a soulful reunion. Instead, he forces her to admit that she has deceived herself about why they separated, and offers a new way to come to terms with her stubborn feeling of loss.
(Unquote)
-My book review-
At first she was lucky to have a refined husband. Her sons became a judge and a professor. In the end he walked out on her. She felt deceitful. Triggered by the flu she wanted to abandon everything including her solid family. She yearned for a man who had lost his arm during the war. It was love by first sight, though. In the course of time her granddaughter by the name of Emilia brought her to the widower in the sourthern part of town. She recalls that he had been kind enough to take care of her while they were dancing in the ball. And she couldn't help remembering thier first kiss in the doorway of her parents house. Although the reunion was harsh for her, she dreams of dancing with him forever. In the meantime Emilia flew down to Costa Rica. That is where the subtitle refers to.
His men's figures: not a macho type, let women domineering, undecided and weak like me
His women's figures: strong, self-conscious, self-willed and determined like my wife
Today I would like to tell you one of his short stories entitled "Summer Lies" It was written from the view of an old woman.
I quote on a book review from New York Times.
(Quote)
A beloved grandmother in a retirement home finds herself suddenly alienated from her four dutiful children and 13 grandchildren. Her perplexity and frustration about the choice she has made in her life-she divorced her philandering husband only after their children were grown-overtake her as unpridictablly as her back pain.
When a granddaughter escorts her to the college town where she lost her true love, she confronts the man, now widowed. They don't share a soulful reunion. Instead, he forces her to admit that she has deceived herself about why they separated, and offers a new way to come to terms with her stubborn feeling of loss.
(Unquote)
-My book review-
At first she was lucky to have a refined husband. Her sons became a judge and a professor. In the end he walked out on her. She felt deceitful. Triggered by the flu she wanted to abandon everything including her solid family. She yearned for a man who had lost his arm during the war. It was love by first sight, though. In the course of time her granddaughter by the name of Emilia brought her to the widower in the sourthern part of town. She recalls that he had been kind enough to take care of her while they were dancing in the ball. And she couldn't help remembering thier first kiss in the doorway of her parents house. Although the reunion was harsh for her, she dreams of dancing with him forever. In the meantime Emilia flew down to Costa Rica. That is where the subtitle refers to.
コメント
コメントを投稿