Review: Seeing clear through
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 17, 2011
There is one story in this download, This is Not a Love Story, taken from the collectionReasons for and Advantages of Breathing: Stories (P.S.). So, while this download here is only the one story, and a short one at that, it is more than enough story.Told in first person, a woman remembers a time in her life when she was young and had time to waste and time for mistakes. An old stack of black and white photos brings back memories of when the narrator was twenty-two and maybe reckless. She decided on an adventure, leaving Connecticut for the unknown- the South, and there, the "wide-eyed Yankee college girl" met a man twice her age. She began a relationship with Tommy, and if that was love, it was dysfunctional.Just as the narrator and Tommy are characters in this story, the South is there, too, in all its natural beauty and man-made ugliness, serving as a mirror for Tommy, for those good and dark parts of him. Just like Tommy, nothing in this place "was what it seemed, nothing was permanent, and so much was concealed." After I finished this story, I kept thinking about it, about those people and places who have hidden truths and old ghosts, about those wrong turns we take in life and the lessons they teach us.There is so much depth to this story. It is written in such a masterful way, with complete control of language, no word unnecessary, no word contrived, just wonderfully well-written in every way. This is what a short story can and should be-- complete, short but substantial, and layered with meaning and feeling. To me, this story was brilliantly done.