"....He pressed his face into the fabric and breathed in slowly thorough his mouth and nose, hoping for the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of Jack but there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain of which nothing was left but what he held in his hands..." :'(
The door opened again a few inches and Alma stood in the narrow light.
What could he say? "Alma, this is Jack Twist, Jack, my wife Alma." His chest was heaving. He could smell Jack -- the intensely familiar odor of cigarettes, musky sweat and a faint sweetness like grass, and with it the rushing cold of the mountain. "Alma," he said, "Jack and me ain't seen each other in four years." As if it were a reason. He was glad the light was dim on the landing but did not turn away from her.
"Memory" is one of the key themes in the book.
Thanks for that one TJ - you're right of course
But then isn't the success of the book, and the movie the product of being so darn real? As is memories being so important in life.
TRJ - We're really off topic on this, but some ancient memories came back to revisit me this past week too. A former student (I've been teaching at the same elementary school for 18 years) came to register her kid to begin jr. kindergarden next year. Recognized the face, but not the name. She remembered me (by name, I think - I didn't always look this old! - Ha!).