What I see from this story is that the young lady, Vivian, is that life is leased, not really permanent or long termed from her unstable living environment, her roommate's flightly passion switches, even her williness to sleep with Toby, lack of foundation from her elderly parents, and even the end of the marriage between an unseen couple except for the male who came in her office. Things, including the entire world of her short story, are fleeting and it took a while for me to sit and think about the word temporary as applying to many aspects of Vivian's life. Silver is an excellent writer who even risks the fallacy of imitative form by leaving the short story unfinished in wisps of the past which really showcases her skill and talent. There are a lot to learn from her about the art of storytelling. Look forward to other thoughts on this.
DH
· 2 months ago
Hello Patrick, You make a lot of good points about detailed and deep the metaphor of "temporary" is in this story. I especially liked you pointing out that the marriage of the interviewed couple also breaks up...and then the separated husband asks if he can adopt anyway (!). Maybe I recoiled too much from the sadness in this story. But, you're right, Marisa Silver is a wonderful writer.
Patrick T. Kilgallon
· 2 months ago
Yes. I can see how one can recoil from the ending of the story. It is very jarring and a bit dis-jointed to end the story actually unfinished and I did check myself out to see what page of the New Yorker Magazine I am on, then thought a bit, but it seems to work out well for Silver and does fit in the theme of temporary. This story is six pages long, right?!
Andrew Ross
· 2 months ago
solid review, i agree with the last few pages of the story, where was it going and why move away from the vivian/toby action? overall, it felt like the story was a mash up of ideas from forgotten screenplays. i posted my video review of the story at www.strangerthanfictiontv.com
Jarred
· 2 months ago
It was the ending that got me worked up and convinced me the author has chops. At first the flat reportage style bored me until the power of her story telling and characterisation made it easy to ignore my stylistic quibbles. The ending and its connections with the rest of the story gave me something to ponder and chew on all day. God bless the woman who wrote those words.
DH
· 2 months ago
Well that's interesting, Jared. I was hoping that someone would have a different reaction from mine...just to keep me honest. I guess I liked the flat reportage style. But maybe...like I indicated...having gone through all this myself with a dying parent...made me want a cooler approach to the subject. I had had enough. It was too rough to experience it a second time in a story.
All Comments
You make a lot of good points about detailed and deep the metaphor of "temporary" is in this story. I especially liked you pointing out that the marriage of the interviewed couple also breaks up...and then the separated husband asks if he can adopt anyway (!). Maybe I recoiled too much from the sadness in this story. But, you're right, Marisa Silver is a wonderful writer.