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Alan Bray
- 3 days ago
- 5 min
The Flamethrowers
“Valera had fallen back from his squadron and was cutting the wires of another rider’s lamp.” So begins Rachel Kushner’s 2013 novel The...
Alan Bray
- Nov 24
- 4 min
Creatures - Amongst Women
In Amongst Women, John McGahern—like any writer—tells the story using a particular narrational style. Let’s consider the opening...
Alan Bray
- Nov 17
- 4 min
What Kind Of Fool Am I? - Amongst Women
Who am I? That’s a question that self-reflective people ask themselves again and again as they move through life. The answer is more than...
Alan Bray
- Nov 10
- 5 min
Rose - Amongst Women
Immediately after the section in Amongst Women that depicts the last meeting between Moran and McQuaid, there is a paragraph break. Then...
Alan Bray
- Nov 3
- 3 min
Old Friends - Amongst Women
Last week, we started thinking about the structure of Amongst Women—the way it establishes a present time at the beginning when Michael...
Alan Bray
- Oct 27
- 4 min
Amongst Women
This week, a new story, best beloved, Irishman John McGahern’s 1990 novel, Amongst Women. Great choice! Yay! Thank you. John McGahern is...
Alan Bray
- Oct 20
- 5 min
You Are Some Kind Of Woman
On the surface, Sun would seem to be about male bonding promoted by such activities as bullfighting, fishing, and heavy drinking. Brett...
Alan Bray
- Oct 13
- 5 min
That Old Green-Eyed Monster - The Sun Also Rises
Of all the male characters in The Sun Also Rises, Robert Cohn is conspicuous for having not fought in WW1, and so, is not technically a...
Alan Bray
- Oct 6
- 4 min
Iceberg Ahead! - The Sun Also Rises
Well. Last week’s post caused quite a stir. It did say that the characters in Sun are largely static, that Sun lacks the transformational...
Alan Bray
- Sep 29
- 5 min
Ahoy, Matey - The Sun Also Rises
Some critics say The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway’s best novel. The writing, the style—something we will delve into more deeply—is...
Alan Bray
- Sep 22
- 4 min
The Sun Also Rises
“Kay, this week a new story, Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel, The Sun Also Rises. Whoa. Yes, best beloved, Hemingway’s first novel, highly...
Alan Bray
- Sep 15
- 3 min
Friends Till After The End
As described last time, Mavis Gallant’s Forain begins with the funeral of Adam Tremski, an eastern European author whose writing Blaise...
Alan Bray
- Sep 8
- 3 min
Forain - Mavis Gallant
This week, let’s continue our exploration of the stories of Mavis Gallant, focusing on Forain, her June 1991 piece published in the New...
Alan Bray
- Sep 1
- 3 min
We Have The Balenciaga
Let’s continue our exploration of the work of Mavis Gallant, in particular her 1963 story, The Ice Wagon Coming Down The Street. Okay....
Alan Bray
- Aug 25
- 4 min
The Ice Wagon Coming Down The Street - Fun With Metaphor
“Now that they were out of world affairs and back where they started, Peter Frazier’s wife says, “Everybody else did well in the...
Alan Bray
- Aug 18
- 4 min
The Resurgence Of The Implied Author
This week, let’s examine the style of Mavis Gallant’s short story, “Voices Lost In Snow.” Style is the way an author writes a story; it...
Alan Bray
- Aug 11
- 3 min
When Is Now? - Voices Lost In Snow
We’ve noted the intriguing structure in Mavis Gallant’s Voices Lost In Snow, how the story contains an apparently autobiographical...
Alan Bray
- Aug 4
- 3 min
Dad Rehabilitated - Voices Lost In Snow
Last week, I began a look at Mavis Gallant’s Voices Lost in Snow, remarking on how the theme of the story is that parents may be...
Alan Bray
- Jul 28
- 4 min
Voices Lost In Snow
This week, a new story, a short story, Mavis Gallant’s Voices Lost In Snow, first published in the New Yorker in March of 1976. It is...
Alan Bray
- Jul 21
- 5 min
Are You A Woman Or A Tree?
A lot of contemporary fiction can be viewed as a confluence of plot and character. An important concept is the character arc—the...