 | A WRITER'S WIT |
My Book World
O’Brien, Edna. Lantern Slides: Stories by Edna O’Brien. New York: Farrar, 1990.
At first I thought “lantern slides” were a different way of talking about the contemporary (yet obsolete) film slide, but no, they hark back to hundreds of years ago when photographic or other images were applied to a glass slide that then was placed in a “magic lantern,” to project images, say, on a white wall—a precursor to the motion picture. [I hate to defer to Wikipedia, but sometimes there seems to be no other source.] Edna O’Brien’s stories, each one in this collection, might just serve as one of these lantern slides, many times seeming “distant,” yet always making readers feel that they, too, might be present in such a yarn. At any rate, I once again find myself enchanted by Ms. O’Brien’s stories, even if I’m twenty-five years late in reading this volume. [See my profiles of her Saints and Sinners, as well as her Heart.] She has such a way with developing character, point of view, and other elements that allow her to engage readers quickly and not release them until she’s finished with them. For example, in some stories she may employ the second person to draw readers in as intimates, as she does in “The Widow”:
“You may ask, as the postmistress had asked—the postmistress her sworn enemy—‘Why have venetian blinds drawn at all times, winter and summer, daylight and dark? What is Bridget trying to hide?’” (36). Indeed you want to find out.
O’Brien possesses an impeccable vocabulary, challenging readers of the English language to season their reading in the same manner a chef might challenge diners with a rare but effective spice, for example “viaticum” meaning “prayer,” something an Irish Catholic would know but might be a bit arcane for an American Protestant.
And yet the meaning of some words may make themselves apparent by way of context of this opening sentence: “Bridget was her name. She played cards like a trooper, and her tipple was gin-and-lime” (35). Or this: “she kept toiling and moiling” (64), the latter meaning about the same as the former, a common phrase in the Emerald Isle.
Anyone who enjoys the short story as a form analogous to the poem will love these twelve stories by O’Brien, most of them having appeared either in The New Yorker or The Paris Review. I bought this copy in 2013 for $2.50 from a used bookstore. Though its original price has diminished, its value has only increased.
NEXT TIME: New Yorker Fiction 2015
At first I thought “lantern slides” were a different way of talking about the contemporary (yet obsolete) film slide, but no, they hark back to hundreds of years ago when photographic or other images were applied to a glass slide that then was placed in a “magic lantern,” to project images, say, on a white wall—a precursor to the motion picture. [I hate to defer to Wikipedia, but sometimes there seems to be no other source.] Edna O’Brien’s stories, each one in this collection, might just serve as one of these lantern slides, many times seeming “distant,” yet always making readers feel that they, too, might be present in such a yarn. At any rate, I once again find myself enchanted by Ms. O’Brien’s stories, even if I’m twenty-five years late in reading this volume. [See my profiles of her Saints and Sinners, as well as her Heart.] She has such a way with developing character, point of view, and other elements that allow her to engage readers quickly and not release them until she’s finished with them. For example, in some stories she may employ the second person to draw readers in as intimates, as she does in “The Widow”:
“You may ask, as the postmistress had asked—the postmistress her sworn enemy—‘Why have venetian blinds drawn at all times, winter and summer, daylight and dark? What is Bridget trying to hide?’” (36). Indeed you want to find out.
O’Brien possesses an impeccable vocabulary, challenging readers of the English language to season their reading in the same manner a chef might challenge diners with a rare but effective spice, for example “viaticum” meaning “prayer,” something an Irish Catholic would know but might be a bit arcane for an American Protestant.
And yet the meaning of some words may make themselves apparent by way of context of this opening sentence: “Bridget was her name. She played cards like a trooper, and her tipple was gin-and-lime” (35). Or this: “she kept toiling and moiling” (64), the latter meaning about the same as the former, a common phrase in the Emerald Isle.
Anyone who enjoys the short story as a form analogous to the poem will love these twelve stories by O’Brien, most of them having appeared either in The New Yorker or The Paris Review. I bought this copy in 2013 for $2.50 from a used bookstore. Though its original price has diminished, its value has only increased.
NEXT TIME: New Yorker Fiction 2015
READ MY ‘BEHIND THE BOOK’ BLOG SERIES for My Long-Playing Records & Other Stories. In these posts I speak of the creative process I use to write each story. Buy a copy here!
Date of Original Post:
11/13/14 — Introduction to My Long-Playing Records
11/20/14 — "My Long-Playing Records" — The Story
11/27/14 — "A Certain Kind of Mischief"
12/04/14 — "Ghost Riders"
12/11/14 — "The Best Mud"
12/18/14 — "Handy to Some"
12/25/14 — "Blight"
01/01/15 — "A Gambler's Debt"
01/09/15 — "Tales of the Millerettes"
01/15/15 — "Men at Sea"
01/22/15 — "Basketball Is Not a Drug"
01/29/15 — "Engineer"
02/05/15 — "Snarked"
02/12/15 — "Killing Lorenzo"
02/19/15 — "The Age I Am Now"
02/26/15 — "Bathed in Pink"
Date of Original Post:
11/13/14 — Introduction to My Long-Playing Records
11/20/14 — "My Long-Playing Records" — The Story
11/27/14 — "A Certain Kind of Mischief"
12/04/14 — "Ghost Riders"
12/11/14 — "The Best Mud"
12/18/14 — "Handy to Some"
12/25/14 — "Blight"
01/01/15 — "A Gambler's Debt"
01/09/15 — "Tales of the Millerettes"
01/15/15 — "Men at Sea"
01/22/15 — "Basketball Is Not a Drug"
01/29/15 — "Engineer"
02/05/15 — "Snarked"
02/12/15 — "Killing Lorenzo"
02/19/15 — "The Age I Am Now"
02/26/15 — "Bathed in Pink"
Listen to My Long-Playing Records Podcasts:
03/12/15 — "A Certain Kind of Mischief"
03/26/15 — "The Best Mud"
04/02/15 — "Handy to Some"
04/09/15 — "Tales of the Millerettes"
04/16/15 — "Men at Sea"
04/23/15 — "My Long-Playing Records"
04/30/15 — "Basketball Is Not a Drug"
05/07/15 — "Snarked"
05/21/15 — "Killing Lorenzo"
05/28/15 — "Bathed in Pink"
Also available on iTunes. Watch for more podcasts!
03/12/15 — "A Certain Kind of Mischief"
03/26/15 — "The Best Mud"
04/02/15 — "Handy to Some"
04/09/15 — "Tales of the Millerettes"
04/16/15 — "Men at Sea"
04/23/15 — "My Long-Playing Records"
04/30/15 — "Basketball Is Not a Drug"
05/07/15 — "Snarked"
05/21/15 — "Killing Lorenzo"
05/28/15 — "Bathed in Pink"
Also available on iTunes. Watch for more podcasts!
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