The "ABCs of BBM": Round 965! (Rules in first post)

[Fran]

Jack and Ennis rode out the hailstorm in a weatherproof tent.

[southendmd]

Ang xactingly directed all aspects of the film, even the clouds.

[southendmd]

Round 549!

Proulx's Prose

We love it, line by line

[Toast]

Annie's achingly spare style suits the ultimately unfullfilled love and passion in her uncompromising tale of two young men losing their vibrancy and hopefullness.

A review from Amazon.com:
Whilst being set resolutely in America's west and telling the story of two ranch hands, don't dismiss this wonderful novella as a gay cowboy story. This spare and uncompromising tale of an enduring, yet ultimately unfulfilled love and passion that spans 20 years is a universal one that challenges the reader to explore their views about duty, trust, love and desire within a society that has dictated what is acceptable and what is not, as the two main characters live out their single, disappointing lives. In Ennis and Jack I discovered what it is like to love and yearn for something and someone you can never have and was left asking the question, would I want to have such a grand passion in my life if the cost was such emptiness and longing? Such a love takes these two vibrant and hopeful young men and ultimately makes 'ghosts' of them both. Achingly sad. Beautifully and sparingly told. Annie Proulx delivers a masterclass in short story writing. Don't miss it!     Link

[Fran]

     "You got a kid?" said Jack.  His shaking hand grazed Ennis's hand, electrical current snapped between them.
     "Two little girls," Ennis said.  "Alma Jr. and Francine.  Love them to pieces."  Alma's mouth twitched.
     "I got a boy," said Jack.  "Eight months old.  Tell you what, I married a cute little old Texas girl down in Childress -- Lureen."  From the vibration of the floorboard on which they both stood Ennis could feel how hard Jack was shaking.
     "Alma," he said.  "Jack and me is goin out and get a drink.  Might not get back tonight, we get drinkin and talkin."
     "Sure enough," Alma said, taking a dollar bill from her pocket.  Ennis guessed she was going to ask him to get her a pack of cigarettes, bring him back sooner.

[story]

[southendmd]

Annie Proulx's prose is concise, tight and evocative.

[memento]

Many of Annie's characters have distanced themselves from the truth about each other and themselves.

=aside= Fran


      on 4,000 Frantastic Posts.

[Fran]

A slow corrosion worked between Ennis and Alma, no real trouble, just widening water.  She was working at a grocery store clerk job, saw she'd always have to work to keep ahead of the bills on what Ennis made.  Alma asked Ennis to use rubbers because she dreaded another pregnancy.  He said no to that, said he would be happy to leave her alone if she didn't want any more of his kids.  Under her breath she said, "I'd have em if you'd support em."  And under that, thought, anyway, what you like to do don't make too many babies.

=aside= Sandy
Yesterday I had 18 or so to go.  Can't imagine how I posted that much... or maybe math isn't my forte. 
Thanks for noticing.

[Toast]

Proulx peoples her prose with the hardworking poor with fantastic names and characters to match:

old Ace Crouch
Bob Dollar (aka Mr. Dime and Mr. Penny)
Bromo Redpoll
Fiesta Punch
Freda Beautyrooms
Gilbert Wolfscale
Habakuk van Melkebeek
Jerky Baum
Jim Skin
LaVon Grace Fronk
Lillian Lillian
Mitchell and Eugenie Fair
Orion Horncrackle
Plato Bucklew (nicknamed Plate-Head)
Quoyle
Ribeye Cluke
Rilla Nooncaster
Rope Butt
Tater Crouch
Uncle Tam
Wiregrass Cokendall

=aside= Fran
Four Thousand Frantastic Posts.

Congrats!

[memento]

Much of Annie's prose is grammatically incorrect in an effort to accurately portray how her characters think and speak.