whotheheckwasWilliamMaxwell

Over by the River, and Other Stories | William Maxwell

The Value Of Money: Draperville (aka Lincoln) is again the scene. Maxwell sets us up to side with the son against the father, and then stands it all on its head by the end. I was left with a feeling of quiet, slightly melancholy, calm, contentment. Not joy, not angst. Peace. #whotheheckwasWilliamMaxwell @Graywacke

Graywacke @Lcsmcat this was especially nice after reading the article you linked to. Thanks. Timely. I found myself very involved with all the kind a nothing, the normal stuff. It‘s interesting to me the end. I can relate with my own father to a degree. 5y

Graywacke @Lcsmcat but I think mostly I liked the color - the town that is captured, that has something real to it - well, real memory, if you like. 5y

Lcsmcat @Graywacke It was nostalgic in a way, and I thought Maxwell used setting well to represent the father-son relationship. For example, talking about how the town was the same even as he noted the differences. The loss of the elms (and it‘s symbolism of loss of privacy) really struck me. 5y

Graywacke @Lcsmcat the loss of Elms and all their beauty has always interested me. So i liked encountering it here so intimately. He also puts an interesting spin on it. (edited) 5y

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Lcsmcat

Over by the River, and Other Stories | William Maxwell

Haller‘s Second Home: I‘m starting to think the connecting thread, if you will, for all these stories, is disconnection. This week‘s story is full of characters alone in a crowd. Francis at boot camp, Haller at the Mendelsohn‘s, Abbie as the only girl, and the poor little kitten, the runt of the litter. (Reneé, although alone, seems less so, but maybe only because we saw less of her.) #whotheheckwasWilliamMaxwell @Graywacke

Graywacke Hadn‘t thought of it that way. Interesting. I was thinking of the repeated theme of a non-family member entering a family‘s home. (edited) 5y

Graywacke I liked the oblique take on WWII. We don‘t even know there‘s a war until something that happened 11 years ago is given a date of 1932. (Also, Halley was about the same age as my grandparents) 5y

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Yes, the outsider entering a family is there in most of the stories! But I think, looking at all the stories we‘ve read so far, there‘s some sort of aloneness. 5y

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Lcsmcat @Graywacke To your WWII point, I found it fascinating that it was such a minor part. Most WWII fiction would have you believe the war was constantly “the most important thing.” (Haller would be about the age of one of my aunts, but my mom‘s the real baby of her family. She was 6 when Pearl Harbor was bombed.) 5y

Graywacke @Lcsmcat an artifact of everyone‘s self concern? (You have me wondering about that kitten) 5y

Graywacke I meant the loneliness. 5y

Graywacke @Lcsmcat Maxwell has an interesting take on NYC life. It‘s not the whole world thinks or acts like his characters. They are each unique, but also there is a commonality to them, to the things they take for granted, the perspectives they accept as universal to their world. 5y

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Well, he is writing what he knows, I suppose. 5y

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Wondering about the kitten how? (The photo is from the internet, not one of mine.) I saw the casual mentions of “we‘ll probably kill it in the morning” as how each of them thought others were thinking about them. Or maybe only Haller thought that. I‘m not sure. 5y

Graywacke @Lcsmcat about the kitten - I don‘t know! That‘s what‘s weird. There must be a reason he put s spineless kitten the story to prominently. Is Haller spineless? Is it a reflection of his (non) courting? 5y

Lcsmcat @Graywacke That‘s an interpretation I hadn‘t thought of. (Good to have a male perspective. I saw his courting as stalkerish.) The kitten did stick out, and make me wonder why Maxwell put it in. He was an editor; he wouldn‘t have left in unimportant details. 5y

Graywacke @Lcsmcat stalkerish... to me that implies she doesn‘t want Haller around or isn‘t aware of his interests. But I think she does and is. She likes that he‘s interested. I find it odd that he‘s not family or singularly a super-close friend of anyone, but warmly welcomed, but I don‘t think it implies he‘s forcing or sneaking his way in. I think it‘s the welcome that allows him in. ... 5y

Graywacke @Lcsmcat as I‘m typing that I‘m realizing this whole story is a courtship gone wrong. We don‘t pick up on it immediately. But he‘s there for her birthday with a gift. He has a purpose. Yet, she says no by putting the present aside. Also the music is unknown, won‘t play, and his presence is overshadowed by the brother‘s arrival. It‘s subtly a very bad evening for him. (maybe ??) 5y

Lcsmcat @Graywacke You can be a stalker when your object is aware of your intentions. But I‘ll grant he doesn‘t quite rise to the level of stalker. Thus the “ish.” But I stand my ground that she doesn‘t want his attentions. She might be willing to accept friendship but he won‘t stop there. She is the object (word choice intentional) of his attentions. No one wants to be an object. 5y

Lcsmcat I think Mr. and Mrs. M are much more instrumental in creating the welcome for him than Abbie is. And yes, it‘s a bad evening for him. He thought he would get credit for Francis telephoning, and instead he shows up in person and Renée gets the credit. 5y

Lcsmcat Don‘t put too much weight in Sibelius being unknown. At the time he was a modern composer, not the warhorse he is now. 5y

Graywacke @Lcsmcat of course they want to marry Abbie off and will welcome any bachelor they approve of. ... wait, who‘s Sibelius? How do you know this? (Or, like Sweeney Todd, is it how do I not know this? 🙂) 5y

Lcsmcat I‘m afraid it‘s a bit like Sweeney Todd. 😀 Sibelius was a Finnish composer. His “big hit” was Finlandia, which you will probably recognize if you pull up a video on YouTube, but he wrote orchestral music in the early part of the 20th century. And I know this because I am a classically trained musician. @Graywacke (edited) 5y

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Can we have our next discussion on Sunday for this? I‘ve got family stuff this weekend. 5y

Graywacke @Lcsmcat no problem. Enjoy (or good luck, or both, whichever is more appropriate) 5y

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Thanks. It‘s fun stuff - my mother‘s 85th. It just takes more wrangling because of COVID. 5y

Graywacke Oh wow, how nice. (edited) 5y

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