Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
The short story
Front-Ranger:
I have a couple of questions about this...why do you suppose the collection in which Brokeback Mountain appears is called Close Range? Also, is there a discussion of the prologue anywhere? Thanks for any insights.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on December 04, 2006, 10:58:19 am ---I have a couple of questions about this...why do you suppose the collection in which Brokeback Mountain appears is called Close Range? Also, is there a discussion of the prologue anywhere? Thanks for any insights.
--- End quote ---
Can't say anything as to why Annie chose Close Range as the title for her short-story collection. Is it the title of a story in the collection? I think authors--or publishers--sometimes do that, take the title of one story in a collection and use it for the title of the entire collection. Or maybe it's because she's looking really closely at Wyoming people and their lives (think: "shot, or photographed, at close range")?
I don't remember a specific thread on the prologue, though I do remember a discussion about the story, as it appeared when it was first published in The New Yorker, where it did not have the prologue. That discussion went all the way back to IMDb. Maybe it made it to the archives here at Bettermost? I haven't looked.
As for that discussion, I remember speculations that I think were not resolved about whether Annie had written the prologue when she wrote the story, and The New Yorker cut it, or whether it was written later and added when the story was to be included in Close Range. I have a memory of reading somewhere that the prologue was written and added later, but I cannot document it.
If the prologue was written and added later, then my take on it is that it actually represents Annie's "sequel" to the body of the story, and that a significant amount of time has passed between the end of the story and the morning described in the prologue, possibly ten years or more. Why do I think that?
My opinion is based on Annie's physical description of Ennis as he gets out of bed that morning. Remember that Ennis and Jack were essentially the same age when they met in 1963, so they were also essentially the same age when Jack died (in 1983 in the story)--39 or 40-ish. While it's true that everyone ages differently and at different rates, it seems to me that the Ennis of the prologue is significantly older than the Ennis of the conclusion of the story because--forgive me for being graphic here--Annie describes his belly and pubic hair as having turned gray. That suggests to me that Ennis-in-the-prologue is in his late 40s at the youngest, if not older.
And he's still alone, with the shirts, in that ratty trailer which, apparently, doesn't even have a bathroom (more like a travel-trailer camper than a "house trailer").
(Incidentally, and not meaning to change the subject, make trouble, or open a can of worms ::) , my take on the prologue is also why I do not personally consider fanfictions that feature Ennis finding another male lover to be "canon," (edit) or taking place within the "reality" or world of the story or film--because they do not comport with my understanding of Annie's take on Ennis's life after Jack.
Anyone curious about Brokeback Mountain-inspired fanfiction, check out the Fanfiction forum here at Bettermost.)
Front-Ranger:
Interesting observations about the prologue, Jeff. Tangentally, I was Googling the term close range, and came upon a movie by that name about a crime gang in Pennsylvania! Looks like an interesting movie.
If you wanted to do a nice favor, would you mind moving that last paragraph over to the fanfiction forum, because words like "canon" and "fanfiction" don't have any meaning for us people who are just trying to understand the words in the short story, and, in fact, are very confusing. Thank you very much.
CarlaMom2:
Thanks guys,
I actually read the story last night. I had to go to Barnes and Nobel. It was truly amazing. Reading the powerful words and picturing the men in my head was very moving. I'll probably read it a hundred more times, lol. Thank you all for being so helpful.
Lynne:
Terrific, Carla!
There seems to be two camps of folks around here - those who first read the story, then saw the movie. And vice-versa. I read the story first, myself, and it was a treasured companion in the long months between October 2005, when I first read it, and January 2006, when I saw the movie the first time. I don't think there has ever been a movie/book combination that complements each other so perfectly. My reading copy stays on my bedside table. And my souvenier copy goes with me to Brokie meetings for autograph purposes. ::) Silly, huh?
-Lynne
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