Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter

 Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter


Another version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:

-              https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E  and   http://realini.blogspot.ro/

Pale Horse,  Pale Rider is the title of a collection of three stories.
It is also the name of the last of the three accounts.

Last, but not least.
As it happens, in this case I can list the narratives in the order of impact:

1. Noon Wine
2. Pale Horse, Pale Rider
3. Old Mortality

Old Mortality was not exactly up my alley and I loved Noon Wine.
The latter is in fact one of the most thrilling stories I have read recently.

In fact, I guess I was so taken with it that I still don't know what happened.
Not exactly.

I empathized so much with Mr. Thompson, the protagonist that I apparently have decided to buy his story.
And I was really sorry for him.

So upset that look, I am talking about him outside his domain, in a different tale.

Pale Horse, Pale Rider has two main characters.
The others make what is called in the movies cameo appearances.

Miranda and Adam are friends.
But the setting and especially the timing of their relationship could not have been any more unfavorable.

Adam is about to go on the front.
It is World War I and we know the carnage and massacres that took place.

Adam and Miranda know about it and it is hanging over their heads.
Atone time, there is even this horrendous statistics that is mentioned:

The life expectancy of a group of soldiers sent to the battle lines measured in Minutes.
I think now of Hacksaw Ridge, a great achievement, if gruesome depiction of war, nominated for a few Academy Awards, including Best Picture,  Best Director and Best Director.

Miranda thinks that it would all be in vain.
She tries to help with the war effort as much as she can.

But there is absurdity in all this.
At the office, they come to ask her:

-          Why didn't she get the Liberty bonds?
-          Well, my salary is too small
-          It is a patriotic duty!
-           I can't afford to live on what I get
-          Everyone else has made the effort!
-          I don't see how I could do that
Other offices in the city and elsewhere have done it and we   Have to do the same

And they keep the pressure on, while the newspaper girl is both revolted and humorous in her thoughts

Why don't you get to the front line, where you say our soldiers are dying for the country!?
You are young enough!

After the meetings, the dances and the tenderness between Adam and Miranda, I was surprised.
I thought that Adam would die and the woman would just grieve.

But the unexpected happens...
She falls ill.

And it is a catastrophic disease, that has killed more people than the big war itself.
Influenza...

And the condition of the patient is really serious.
She is delirious and exhausted.

I thought My God!
She is the one that is going to die.

Proving the adage

"Nu e pentru cine se pregateste, ci pentru cine se nimereste "

In another form
God works in mysterious ways

I have read about the silliness of proverbs
From you can't have the cake and eat it to

All is fair in love and war

Obviously, I will not say what actually happens.
Robert Penn Warren had only praise for this collection, which is


"At the top level"

Comentarii

Trimiteți un comentariu

Postări populare de pe acest blog

Epistolary edited by Gabriel Liiceanu http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/11/50-minutes-with-plesu-and-liiceanu-10.html - 10 out of 10

  Epistolary edited by Gabriel Liiceanu http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/11/50-minutes-with-plesu-and-liiceanu-10.html 10 out of 10     This wonderful book contains letters exchanged between the brightest minds we have in this realm – there is the exception of Eugen Simion, the late president of the Academy here, a rather horrid attack on luminaries that were so much wiser than this fellow, who came to lead a forum that should be only for the crème de la crème, yet, his presence at the top in fact reveals the ‘values’ that have reached what should be the chamber of the nec plus ultra – and as such, much of what is being debated is quite inaccessible   Ergo, the spoiler alert, warning, disclaimer, and maybe the way out of accusations of spam – one of the notes I have posted on Goodreads, Cleo From 5 to 7 http://realini.blogspot.com/2023/07/cleo-from-5-to-7-aka-cleo-de-5-7-by.html has been deleted, because it was considered spam, while the one who is the #...
Citiți mai multe

The Killer by Luc Jacamon 10 out of 10

  The Killer by Luc Jacamon 10 out of 10     Reading about killers, or watching the stupendous The Killer, with fabulous Michael Fassbinder in the leading role may seem like the wrong idea, in a world that has some nasty wars taking place in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Myanmar, and the danger is that they might be expanding, as it is, Iran is attacking the USA, through its proxies Hezbollah, Houthis in Yemen (they have launched missiles) and militias in Iraq and Syria   It all depends on how good the author is, what the adaptation looks like, cast, director, you could have a magnum opus that is a crime story, such as Crime and Punishment http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/06/crime-and-punishment-by-fyodor.html by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - an algorithm has recently looked at various relevant compilations and established the 50 Greatest Novels and the story of Raskolnikov is on it, together with other astounding works, Marcel Proust is at number one The Killer starts...
Citiți mai multe

The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom by Tobias Smollett – included on The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read List http://poemeglume.blogspot.com/2023/04/1000-novels-everyone-must-read.html - 7 out of 10

  The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom by Tobias Smollett – included on The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read List http://poemeglume.blogspot.com/2023/04/1000-novels-everyone-must-read.html 7 out of 10     The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom was first published in 1753, which might mean that it is not for the tastes of readers from our times, not even middle aged ones, like yours truly (who is actually sixty in a couple of months, but like to adopt the ‘the sixties are the new forties’ slogan) who has abandoned this   Hence, the spoiler alert, warning, disclaimer to avoid being (again) censored for spam – though I did not get the inclusion in that category, a reading of the definition could help, but this being my note, until it is obliterated by the Goodreads staff, and then it will still be available at the new blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/ I say that spam is used for the unrequested messages we receive, meant to make us buy things ...
Citiți mai multe