JCO: JCO profile/interview in The Guardian (UK)

Published yesterday (Saturday) in the Review section, it's available online
here:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1296074,00.html

I suspect much of it will be familiar to most of us on this list. However,
one bit struck me - her discussion of Lawrence and Joyce's writing methods
and which one she considers she takes after!

Gary


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JCO: An Encounter with the Blind

Hi friends!
I read these stories last month, but I'm happy to
try to remember some things about them! The following
statements aren't meant to be definitive; they're just
my thoughts.
I'm not sure how the Senator intends to victimize
the boy, other than to hijack him so his wife can be
impressed. What else do you think he had in mind?
The boy is a desperado who has learned what he
needs to do to get by. The Senator is a man who needs
to be in control. He doesn't mind so much the
anonymous accident of a bear attack, but can't stand
the thought of a person getting to him.
There may or may not have been sex in that half
hour, but the main thing is that the boy got through
to the Senator in a way he resented.
At the end of the story, the Senator decides to
give the knife back; he tries to restore himself to
the role of decision-maker. Much as buying a round of
drinks or waving another driver forward at an
intersection might be an act of control rather than
kindness or courtesy.
The Senator helped the boy to the bench because the
boy couldn't hurt him physically. But he drops the
knife out the window because he's afraid of a boy with
a knife. That's why the boy smiles at the end.
The story seems to be saying that control is an
illusion. Sooner or later, something will get us.
The boy never comes out and says what he really
means. His language is all about how helpless he is.
This kind of innuendo is very creepy--reminds me of
Mafia guys in movies saying "You have a lovely
family."
I haven't read the JCO books mentioned in this
discussion. This story reminds me of Somerset
Maugham's long short story *Rain*: A preacher looks
down on and tries to redeem a woman he regards as
slutty, but the woman gets to him in the end.
Laurie

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Re: JCO:An Encounter with the Blind

 

Hi Cyrano, Ted, and everyone else interested in continuing the BTNG discussion:

 

I'll pick up on the point you mentioned in your last post, Cyrano, that of "An Encounter with the Blind" being the companion piece to "Where are You Going Where Have you Been."

 

The main similarity between this story and the more familiar "Where are You Going" seems to be that of, as you say, "hapless victim" being carried away by a killer. Differences are that I was surprised to find the Senator as the victim, since he so clearly intended the blind boy to be his victim, whereas I was not surprised to find Connie in that situation. I was also surprised that the blind boy was as cunning as he was, but I was not surprised to find that Arnold Friend was treacherous and dangerous to Connie.

 

However, despite these obvious differences, there is the similarity of sharply drawn characters (Oates describes the blind boy as giving "the impression of having been drawn with minute, painsaking detail, with something like a very fine drawing pen") engaged in psychological manipulation. There is also the similarity of characters who, by the end of the story, are not confident and strong as they thought themselves to be in the beginning, but rather powerless victims in the hands of dangerous individuals.

 

I haven't read "Starr Bright Will Be With You Soon" or any of the Rosamond Smith stories, so can't comment on that connection, but, like Ted, I have a hard time imagining what happened during that time between the struggle in the car and when the blind boy was left off at the bus stop.

 

I would love to here what others think of this story.

 

Jane

----- Original Message -----

From: Cyranomish@aol.com

To: jco@usfca.edu

Sent: Friday, September 03, 2004 6:19 AM

Subject: Re: JCO:An Encounter with the Blind

Oh, I did read that a few months ago.  I remember it pretty well now.  It
struck me as the companion piece to the later short story "Where Are You Going
Where Have You Been?"  Only the hapless victim carried away by a killer at the
end of the story is an elderly male instead of a girl.  But I will reread it
anyway.
Cyrano
 

In a message dated 9/3/2004 12:23:26 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
music@thenightshades.com writes:

<< I was reading a trashy true crime book
 about Aileen Wournos, a hitchhiking serial killer and prostitute, and
 wondered if it was the inspiration for Starr Bright, but An Encounter is was
 written when Aileen was just a child. (Of course, Blind Boy is just a
 child!)
 >>
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