Friday, June 15, 2007

The unthinkable

If you think this collection contains some sad, screwed-up relationships, read "Dimension," the story I linked to in an earlier post.

"Nettles" has a dad who killed his child accidentally. "Dimension" has a dad who did it on purpose. There are really interesting questions in both about survival and pain and self-worth in the aftermath of an unthinkable act.
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5 comments:

Erin said...

Wow. That is an amazing story.

11:29 AM, June 16, 2007
kc said...

Isn't it?

It's stuck in my brain.

What did you think about the ending?

1:16 PM, June 16, 2007
Erin said...

I liked it. Very unexpected and life-affirming.

5:12 PM, June 16, 2007
kc said...

You were expecting her to end up with the a-hole?

I was. She was bound, through loneliness and tragedy and a kind of mental squalor, to that guy, as Mike was bound to his wife after their tragedy. The bond seemed even stronger. Then it just evaporated.

One could maybe argue that the life-saving at the end, while she's on her way to her seeming fate, is kind of contrived, but I thought it really worked and capture that essence of you-never-know-what's-going-to-happen-to-alter-your-outlook.

5:25 PM, June 16, 2007
Erin said...

Yeah, I agree. I think it was one of those great Munro endings that could have seemed horribly contrived in the wrong hands.

10:01 PM, June 16, 2007

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