"East Wind" is the first thing I've ever read by English author Julian Barnes, who has written about a million books and won a bajillion prizes and is generally considered to be the man and who also happens to be older than my father.
In this story, a divorced Englishman begins a relationship with a foreign-born waitress. It is not so much a love affair as an I'm-a-lonely-dickface-and-you're-there affair, so don't go in expecting to actually like the characters too much or to really care one way or the other about what happens. Perhaps this makes the story realistic, but it's not a particularly fun or exciting read, although it is, at times, amusing. It's just not really a "wow" story in the sense of opening your eyes to some wonderful thing in the world that normally goes unnoticed or unmentioned.
The prose is serviceable, clean, efficient, controlled. Easy to overlook the skill it takes to do that, so I give props to Mr. Barnes there, despite what I consider to be a lack of fireworks. Great prose around the ending, even if the first few lines and the last paragraph could probably bracket pretty much any story at all where something sort of sad happens and be just as effective.
The most interesting thing about the story in my opinion is the way Mr. Barnes manages the passage of time. In six New Yorker pages, the story covers unspecified months in the lives of the characters and manages this feat with confidence and verve. (Compare the challenges of this temporal structure to the challenges of a typical Hemingway story, say, where the whole thing takes place in ten clearly rendered minutes).
More problematic is the climax of the piece, in which a secret in a certain character's history is revealed. It's not that the secret isn't surprising or interesting or it has been telegraphed too clearly before hand, but rather that an over-reliance on a dramatic revelation seems to me to be a losing strategy for a story, an unsatisfying form to strive for, no matter how well-executed a particular example is. As opposed to say, "Araby" or "The Dead" by James Joyce to which I return time and time again, there doesn't seem to be any reason for a person to ever read "East Wind" a second time.
But, anyway, I'm not sitting here drinking pure Haterade. I liked the story enough to search the New Yorker's archives for other stories by Mr. Barnes. I found one, "Trespass," which I read and actually preferred, although I probably won't be writing a detailed review of it here, due to the fact that it's brain burning work to be this cogent/funny/honest.
6 out 10.
But what does anyone else think? Comments and discussion welcomed.
6 comments:
The story is a realistiv portrayal of the post modernistic human being. I dont think that it is supposed to exite you, but make you think about the modern individual.
Have you perhaps considered that there is more to this story than you have discovered? The general feeling of uncertainty about characters and lack of knowledge of their background is essential in this story, rather than a sign of inadequate writing skills. Underlining the, sometimes, futile attempts at understanding our fellow humans makes this short story more of an eye opener to me than you have found it to be.
I disagree about the characters being unlikeable. I think Vernon is very honest and even though he is passive and seems not to care, i think that, as a reader you would actually feel sorry for him.
Andrea on the other side is not at all honest, but still she is struggling with her past, and most readers would sympathize with her because of that. Andrea is a victim, she is not a lier, she is simply traumatized.
You don't seem to understand the short story completely. It's about this divorced father of two not som "Dick-head". He might act a little bit like an idiot, but he might just be lonely as you state yourself.
Seeing as it is about a divorced father which isn't common stories other than those from post-modernistic stories, this is clearly from that time. You do not seem to get that. Furthermore it does not seem as though you even comment on the time it is from. You could have done so, it would have helped on your review instead of mostly comming forward as a pessimistic idiot.
Dear Blogger.
It doens't seems like you really understand the themes in the short story East Wind?
It is not about "a love affair as an I'm-a-lonely-dickface-and-you're-there affair".. It is about how family patterns and love has changed in the Postmodern Society. The story also focuses on historical ideologies in old East Germany....
Maybe you should read it one more time :-)
I sense that you get provoked by the meaninglessness of the story. I just thing you need to read it in the light of the post moderen literature. In our time the truth and the 'right way of living' is an individual question. You need to find your own personal meaning and truth.... So, this short story doesn't gives you any answar. You are left by your own - and that's just reality.
Does this give you someting to reflect about?
Post a Comment