The Big Read IV: The Lottery and Other Stories -- Shirley Jackson "Like Mother Used to Make" and "Trial By Combat"
I can't believe I missed a post already! I blame election craziness for the general crappitude of my internet service yesterday.
"Like Mother Used to Make": In which I wished for a Roald Dahl "Lamb to the Slaughter" ending.
• The first few sentences make me think of two things: The first was that scene in The Weatherman where Nicolas Cage tries to remember the tartar sauce (decent amount of swearing and whatnot):
The second was, of course, this:
Okay, okay. On to the story.
• Have you noticed that the characters in these stories seem to get quietly mocked a lot? Or, at least, they think they're being quietly mocked?
• Who does that? Eats dinner at someone's house and then invites random guy in without even asking the host and says, "That's all right, it's just Davie"? Especially because he's so into having his world and his space Just So. Gross. It feels like a violation.
• And, yeah. I felt very much like David was kind of mothering Marcia from the beginning, but that doesn't mean it's okay for her to act like he IS her mother. That now she expects him to feed this guy.
• AND THEN SHE PRETENDS THAT SHE MADE THE PIE???
• AND NOW SHE'S PRETENDING THAT IT'S HER APARTMENT??
• When he was putting the silverware away, my heart broke a little bit. Even more than when he let her get away with it.
"Trial By Combat": In which Mrs. Allen totally wins.
• It's funny that I ended up reading both of these stories today -- in which the main characters avoid confrontation and making a scene and end up losing out, even though they were clearly in the right.
• And it's interesting that even though her writing feels really distant and detached, somehow, that it still evokes these violent reactions in me.
• I wonder what went through Shirley Jackson's mind during cocktail parties.
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Other reader/bloggers:
Heidi at Adventures in Multiplicity
Gail at Original Content (not posting about it, but reading and discussing!)
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Previously: