(I'm home with my book, and I'm giddy looking through it).
Here's something I have to ask, especially based on Erin's just-get-over-it remarks about romantics (hehe). Look at this description of Dennis' mother. What do you think McDermott intended by including a character like this (someone who is regarded as a "sage" in the family and who is seemingly at the other end of the spectrum from Billy)?
She was a Geiger counter for insincerity, phoniness, half-truths. She could dismantle a pose with a glance and deflate the most romantic notion with a single word. She had no patience for poetry, Broadway musicals, presidential politics, or the pomp of her religion — although my father, his father's son, loved these things in direct proportion to her disdain — and she sought truth so single-mindedly that under her steady gaze exaggeration, self-delusion, bravado simply dried up and blew away, as did hope, nonsense, and any ungrounded giddiness.
Her philosophy of life seemed to be to get to the bottom of things, the plain, unadorned, mostly concrete and and colorless bottom of things, and from there to seek to swat away any passing fancy that might cloud the hard-won clarity of her vision.
And is Dennis intended as a sort of happy medium between his mother's no-nonsense view and Billy's romanticized one?
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That's probably right. She was a pretty interesting character. And not presented in a flattering light, I don't think. It's like too much romanticism and you may often be a burden to your more practical loved ones and it will likely leave you disenchanted and disappointed in life. And not enough romanticism and you'll be thought of as disagreeable and sour, the killer of dreams.
I kind of liked her. Hehe
Did you?! Hehe
Well, she had such a crappy childhood — being orphaned and falling into the uncaring hands of her tightwad relatives, then being farmed out to work for the lecherous baker who was constantly preying on her. No one was looking out for her or loving her. And then she meets Dennis' dad, who seems to love her but who's too busy bringing Irish immigrants over to pay much attention to her. Then she's widowed and ends up with the German guy, who's maybe not a great love match (although I detected some mutual passion there) but who provides for her materially and makes her feel safe and cared for (maybe for the first time in her life). I just had the sense that she figured out pretty young that romance and dreams weren't going to be a realistic part of her life and that she had a greater chance at security and happiness if she kept her expectations fixated on everyday concerns and stability.
And she had a kind of soft spot for Billy, too, which I found touching.
Plus, I shared some of her disdain for frippery and silliness. She had a no-nonsense aspect that I admire.
Yeah, you're right. I hated that story about her working in the bakery. And I kind of liked her no-nonsense approach, too.
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