Full Blog--All Posts

As described last time, Mavis Gallant’s Forain begins with the funeral of Adam Tremski, an eastern European author whose writing Blaise Forain has published. And it’s clear right away that Forain has organized the event. We can assume that this story has some meaning, that it is planned, not random. One thing that stands out, that may provide a clue to the story’s meaning, is the quantity of oppositions that can be found. In the first sentence, we have snow opposed to rain—an

This week, let’s continue our exploration of the stories of Mavis Gallant, focusing on Forain, her June 1991 piece published in the New Yorker and available in her collection, Paris Stories. Is it about people living in Paris? Yes. Forain begins with both a funeral and a mishap. “About an hour before the funeral service for Adam Tremski, snow mixed with rain began to fall and by the time the first of the mourners arrived the stone steps of the church were dangerously wet.” Bl

Let’s continue our exploration of the work of Mavis Gallant, in particular her 1963 story, The Ice Wagon Coming Down The Street. Okay. Last time, I talked about how the story expresses a certain emotional tone. Peter Frazier and his wife Sheila are Canadian ex-pats effectively exiled back to Canada after unsuccessful attempts to garner appreciation for their greatness. Peter ruminates over an encounter he had with another Canadian, Agnes Brusen, in Geneva, an encounter that m

“Now that they were out of world affairs and back where they started, Peter Frazier’s wife says, “Everybody else did well in the international thing except us.” So begins Mavis Gallant’s story, “The Ice Wagon Going Down The Street,” first published in the New Yorker in December of 1963. It is contained within the story collection Paris Stories, published in 2002. Last time, I threatened to look for symbols, metaphors, allegory and rhymes in this story, and I intend to do that

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 creates the voice that audiences hear when they read. Mavis Gallant certainly has a distinct style, I’d argue that one can identify her writing after a few paragraphs. What is this style? Numerous wise ones identify several components in style, including: tone, narrator-structure, and the use of creative devices like symbolism, allegory, meta

We’ve noted the intriguing structure in Mavis Gallant’s Voices Lost In Snow, how the story contains an apparently autobiographical narrator looking back to and showing childhood. Memory it would seem. ‘Kay. That is the illusion created by this marvelous tale. I stand by my comment from last week that it's more fiction than anything. George Woodcock, Canadian writer and savant, said in a rather fussy way, “Linnet Muir is about as near to Mavis Gallant as the namesake bird (a m

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 confusing to children and/or that children misinterpret their parents’ behavior. This week, let’s look at the prime example of this—Linette’s visit to her godmother, Georgie, accompanied by her father, Angus. “You didn’t say you were bringing Linette!” This is how the adult Linette recalls the visit beginning. Her father says, “Well, she is your god

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 available in the collection Varieties of Exile. Is length the only difference between a short story and novel? Is a short story essentially a short novel? No, best beloved. Our friends at the Encyclopedia Britannica say this: “The short story is usually concerned with a single effect conveyed in only one or a few significant episodes or scenes.

The ending of The Moslem Wife tells us what the story is about—the point—if you will. We talked last week about how the style of the story shifts, with the past imperfect sections diminishing, the appearance of paragraph breaks. There is also a greater use of Netta’s consciousness, more in her own language and voice than that of the Narrator’s. Here’s a nice example: “Not a hope, she was trying to tell him…If I say it, I am free…If I relied on my memory for guidance, I would

What is the style of The Moslem Wife? By way of review, fictional style can be thought of as the implied author, an entity who mediates between the text and the real flesh and blood author, in this case, Mavis Gallant. Each particular story has its own style, expressed in terms of narrative structure, use of language, use of time, etc. It is the way the story is told. As readers of the all important last blog entry know (we happy few!), my theory about Wife is that it’s told