Friday, July 11, 2014

Killer Sentence

Cheever.

From "The Chimera".

He is describing a parade, the "annual march of some provincial and fraternal order."

Describing the marchers he says (and you better duck): "In the ranks I saw faces lined by drink, harried by hard work, wasted by worry, and stamped invariably with disappointment, as if the gala procession was meant to prove that life is a force of crushing compromise."

I have decided to describe this man as brilliant. Brilliant is not a word I use much except to describe myself and Guinness Stout.

I am plowing my way through 700 pages of this man's words and I am thrilled. The stories suck me in, the writing is superb, his insights are killer.

He makes me forget my unhappiness.

There is a definite tone to the stories. a way of wording things. Even when I get a little complacent, like starting a story and thinking "OK, here we go again", he throws me a curve. A curve that  focuses my brain and vibrates my soul.

AND THEN I read two stories this morning that just blew me away with the originality.

"A Miscellany Of Characters That Will Not Appear". He writes about characters you will never see in his stories. Gives seven examples.

And he turns each example into a mini story. Unbelievable. Creative. Amusing.

Only one example is short and sweet. #2 says only: "All parts for Marlon Brando."

"The Chimera" is about an imaginary mistress a guy creates for himself to escape his boring marriage. The story is so well written that you are not sure if the mistress is imaginary or real. Cheever throws in so much detail, little things, precise descriptions of the life of the mistress in this guy's mind that you are forced to wonder.

He also throws in observations. The guy wanders out to his tiny porch sometimes to think about his mistress. He looks at his other male neighbors standing on their tiny porches and wonders if they have imaginary mistresses too. Wonders if he walks over and says "Mine is a red head, what color hair does yours have?", will his neighbor know exactly what he is talking about with no pretense?

I discovered John Cheever by reading a book exploring the relationship between alcoholism and great writers. I knew the name, had heard of the man, but I was certainly not actively pursuing his writing.

Now I realize that having his words in my life enriches my existence.

Amazing where inspiration comes from.

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