The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
In the New Yorker...
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on November 22, 2013, 10:53:00 am ---I read that last night too. Shouldn't we add a big spoiler alert to your posts?
--- End quote ---
Well, we haven't said how it ends. I don't have the issue here with me at work, but the magazine itself sort of gives it away on the first page of the story, under the title.
And I agree, it's quite powerful.
Front-Ranger:
When I began reading the story, the title said "Thanksgiving in Mongolia" and the subtitle said "Adventure and Heartbreak at the Edge of the Earth" so I thought maybe she tried to cook a turkey in Mongolia and it didn't come out well...or maybe she went for a hike and her hiking buddy disappeared or something like that.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on November 22, 2013, 01:06:40 pm ---When I began reading the story, the title said "Thanksgiving in Mongolia" and the subtitle said "Adventure and Heartbreak at the Edge of the Earth" so I thought maybe she tried to cook a turkey in Mongolia and it didn't come out well...or maybe she went for a hike and her hiking buddy disappeared or something like that.
--- End quote ---
Ah, but the "Heartbreak" tells you it's not going to end well, and then it goes into her decision to have a baby, and how quickly she was able to become pregnant, and how she decided to go to Mongolia while enceinte. ...
Jeff Wrangler:
Well, I finished the story over dinner this evening. As I had read the story of Levy's wedding several years ago, I found it even more saddening that the loss of the baby apparently also led to the breakup of her marriage.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on November 22, 2013, 09:56:47 pm ---Well, I finished the story over dinner this evening. As I had read the story of Levy's wedding several years ago, I found it even more saddening that the loss of the baby apparently also led to the breakup of her marriage.
--- End quote ---
Now that is a spoiler. I was going to mention something about that -- about how I felt more invested in her marriage than I usually am, because of that other essay -- and decided not to say anything to avoid spoilers. But now that you've let the cat out of the bag ...
I thought it was interesting that she never indicated the gender of her spouse. If you examine the writing, you can see she was careful to avoid using pronouns. I now know much more than I ever had about what it's like in Mongolia in November, but if I hadn't read that other essay I wouldn't know she was married to a woman. (Though of course it's possible that this is actually a different marriage.) Any theories on why she kept that undisclosed?
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