I love Willa Cather's work. Who ever would have thought my adult self would say that since when I was a teenager in high school she was so 'talked up' by the nun's that I did everything I could to avoid her work. She wasn't just talked up but more thrust upon us, and being just the tiniest bit rebellious and thinking that anyone else must be better than a Nebraska author (I was dreaming of traveling and of Europe so nothing so close to home could possibly tempt me), but I have changed my tune. She's marvelous.
She tends to be lumped into a class of authors known as regionalists, but she is really so much more than that. Why does that make it sound like her fiction is something less than other classic writers? (Or is my perception off?). Actually as I was reading "The Sentimentality of William Tavener" in Infinite Riches I was thinking how versatile she is. How does someone who was never married write so elegantly and so perceptively about a marriage? I've never thought an author could or should only write about those things they have experienced or that were closest to their lives, but maybe it makes it easier? It certainly doesn't matter in the case of this story--yes, another cracker of a story in a collection filled with them.
The Taveners are a married couple with several children all boys. They are a farm family and so are used to hard work and a certain hardness of character and restrained emotion.
"It takes a strong woman to make any sort of success of living in the West, and Hester undoubtedly was that. When people spoke of William Tavener as the most prosperous farmer in McPherson County, they usually added that his wide was a 'good manager'. She was an executive woman, quick of tongue and something of an imperatrix. The only reason her husband did not consult her about his business was that she did not wait to be consulted."
She's a strong woman and determined, well-spoken and practical. But underneath it all, too, there is a soft spot. For farm boys in a rural area with strict parents and in the early part of the twentieth century proper off the farm entertainments are surely few and far between so when the circus comes to town, it is going to be celebrated and anticipated . . . if you are lucky enough to be able to go. Which the Tavener boys are not allowed.
It's Hester's careful maneuvering and insistence that nothing ever bad came of a group of well-brought up boys like their own going to a circus that will throw new light on her own marriage and subtly change the relationships and dynamics for all of them. As a matter of fact her own story of a youthful outing to a circus brings to light a shared memory they didn't realize they had. Both were at that circus so many years ago not knowing the other at the time. At that moment their marriage takes on a different hue.
"Their relationship had become purely a business one, like that between landlord and tenant. In her desire to indulge her boys she had unconsciously assumed a defensive and almost hostile attitude towards her husband. No debtor ever haggled with his usurer more doggedly than did Hester with her husband on behalf of her sons."
That shared moment of this forgotten incident in their youth begins a reminiscence between the two and they begin to really talk again for hours and hours. And it sets a different tone between the two, a remembered history and what initially brought them together. And William pulls from his wallet the money for the boys to go to the circus. An astonishing moment for them when they wake up with the news that they can go and a moment, too, of a tinge of melancholy knowing that in their mother they have perhaps lost a powerful ally. So beautifully told this story of lost or maybe forgotten love remembered and renewed. Such a perfect story for any weekend but especially on Valentine's Day!
Next weekend a story by (an author I keep meaning to get back to) -- Rosamond Lehmann.
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This week's (February 16 issue) New Yorker story is a curious one, but I liked it very much. To be honest I wasn't sure what I thought when I read it, but now that I have sat down and must think about it to write something, it's hit me how much I do like it. I've had an interest in mazes and labyrinths for a while now, just one of those things that hovers in the back of my mind and every once in a while I will come across something about them that will make me think. Amelia Gray's (another new-to-me writer) "Labyrinth" is part of a story collection due out in April called Gutshot: Stories. If you click through on the link and take a peek at the cover illustration you can get an idea of what this story is like--yes, a eerie sort of story indeed.
"Dale had been doing a lot of reading on Hellenic myth, so when he said he had a surprise for us at his Pumpkin Jamboree we knew he wasn't screwing around."
And he wasn't though whether the labyrinth took on a life of its own or if Dale had something to do with it does make me wonder . . . Oops getting ahead of myself here. The jamboree is a fall festival that you would find in a small town or in the countryside and this one includes a labyrinth. Not to be confused with a maze as the two are not alike. " . . . the path is unicursal, not multicursal. There's only one road, and it leads to only one place." You can't get lost, but that doesn't mean there is no point to getting to the middle. And what is in the center is the point and what the reader discovers in the very last line of the story. And I'm not telling, because this is a story you can read for yourself since it is online! So, go on, nudge, nudge. This is a very short story and you can easily read it in a short sitting (and get in a short story this week). Then go and read the author's Q&A here. I'm quite intrigued by her and what she had to say. I like the idea of a retelling of the Theseus myth. And I like what she has to say about short fiction:
"What’s the most a writer can say in the fewest lines? There’s a breathtaking quality to brevity. W. S. Merwin’s 'Elegy' is the poetic equivalent of a leg-sweep takedown. Even when I’m writing longer pieces, I look for small moments, turns of phrase, which allow each scene to stand alone."
I'm definitely going to check out her new collection of stories, and maybe while I'm waiting I'll look for her Museum of the Weird because something 'beguiling' and 'bewitching' sounds like great fun indeed.
Sounds as though Infinite Riches is well named.
I haven't read a lot of Willa Cather - just a couple of her novels, but enough to know that I like her writing and convince me to buy up any of her books which come my way. Hopefully one day soon I will get around to reading more of them!
Can't say I blame you resisting books that were forced on you at school - I'm sure exposure at school is what puts a lot of people off reading.
Posted by: LizF | February 16, 2015 at 04:07 AM
You are doing really well on having good stories week after week. I've not read this Cather story but I do like her writing very much. I'll try to remember to go read the other story later when I get the chance.
Posted by: Stefanie | February 16, 2015 at 01:21 PM
I really do need to read more by Willa Cather. I've only read one of her books but I enjoyed it a lot and it's a shame I haven't revisited. Do you try to read The New Yorker regularly? I have such a hard time keeping up with magazine subscriptions unless they are the crafty kind. I'm tempted by The New Yorker but I have a feeling I may just let it stack up.
Posted by: iliana | February 16, 2015 at 07:32 PM
Yes, it really is infinite riches of short stories. I have yet to read a clunker which says a lot really when you are pulling such a variety out from other places. I love Willa Cather and am actually now happy that I never read her in school--I wonder if it would have ruined her for me! (Sad to say school does that sometimes to books/authors). I would like to read something by her this year--but then I say that about every author I have read in this book so far it seems!
Posted by: Danielle | February 16, 2015 at 09:17 PM
I am having a great run of short stories at the moment. Even with the New Yorker--just one that I was not especially happy with. I think you would like this story--it's not terribly long but it's really perfect! Let me know if you read Labyrinth and what you think!
Posted by: Danielle | February 16, 2015 at 09:18 PM
I have a subscription to the New Yorker and I make a point of at least reading each short story. I usually then recycle the magazine and read anything else of interest online since I have access to the archives--which is pretty nifty and well worth the cost of subscribing! I have not renewed many of my magazine subscriptions for the very reason you mention. I only get the NY and the NYRB Review of Books--both really good. And if ever an author deserved a reading week devoted to their work, Willa Cather surely does. She is someone I want to read much more of, too!
Posted by: Danielle | February 16, 2015 at 09:22 PM
I hope that you enjoy the Rosamund Lehmann story.
I have only read novels by her, and that was quite a while ago (probably pre-children which, since senior son turned 31 in December is definitely in the dim and distant past!) but I always enjoyed them.
She is one of the writers I always mean to go back and re-read but haven't managed it yet and can't really see any point in the near future when it is realistically going to happen!
Oh dear, what I really need is to take a break in a remote cottage somewhere with nothing to do but read and I might stand a chance of fulfilling even a fraction of my reading plans!
Posted by: Liz F | February 18, 2015 at 03:00 AM
I need to read Willa Cather. I only ever hear such wonderful things. I totally get why you didn't want to read her. When you want to explore the wordl you don't want to read about home.
This story sounds excellent. I start to wonder if I shouldn't get this collection.
Posted by: Caroline | February 19, 2015 at 07:34 AM
My favourite quote from this story is something of a spoiler, but related to the passage you've quoted above, that idea that a married couple so often only discusses details like the price of eggs, in a pseudo-business relationship. If you haven't read Susan Ferrier's Marriage, I'm betting you'd find lots of quotes in that one too. (Like you need help extending your TBR list! :))
Posted by: Buried In Print | February 19, 2015 at 09:50 AM
I'd happily join you in that cottage! :) And I will be reading the Lehmann story tomorrow! I have only read one of her novels but have always meant to read more ever since!
Posted by: Danielle | February 20, 2015 at 11:37 PM
This is a collection I will happily recommend to anyone who likes short stories, or who likes stories by women! I have yet to read a story I didn't like or that I didn't think was well done. You really do need to read Willa Cather--I think you will appreciate her work. And yes, that is it--the idea of reading a Nebraska author when all I wanted was to get out and travel somewhere far away was not in the least appealing when I was in school!
Posted by: Danielle | February 20, 2015 at 11:39 PM
Oh, yes, I know the passage you are talking about--that really resonated with me, too! I am not familiar with Susan Ferrier, but I am off to look her up--and no doubt add her to my wishlist...oh, well, it never hurts making note of a new author, right?! :)
Posted by: Danielle | February 20, 2015 at 11:41 PM