The Union Pacific/Signal Crossing/Catch the Westbound might rip your heart out, especially if you read the very last addition "Boxcar" but it's my favorite of all of Maggie's.
I've been reading these fics - up to and including "Boxcar" - over the last few days. I'm very glad I did. Maggie's got a true gift of love and understanding for J&E that she's sharing with us.
Yes, the fic and that ending pretty much *did* rip my heart out - and I recognized the feeling - it was very similar to what I felt walking out of the cinema after having watched BBM those first few times. That's the highest praise I can give a BBM fic, I think. Though it hurt I wouldn't have wanted to miss that feeling for the world.
I've gotten some grief in the past over reading fanfic - some are of the opinion that it's disrespectful, not worthy of Annie Proulx nor of the original short story and film to either write or read fics - but fics like Union Pacific remind me very strongly why I disagree with such statements.
I very warmly recommend Union Pacific/Signal Crossing/Taking the Westbound, despite all the immense sadness and grief they contain. They also contain so much J&E joy and love, and the ending is........ well, "perfect" surely is the wrong word under the circumstances, but I feel like using it. I can't see how this could have ended any other way. There's so much compassion and beauty in that ending. And it has *all* been written with a tremenduous amount of heart, understanding of and insight into the human condition, -and respect.
I also thought the many references to the original Jack and Ennis, and the fic characters' pilgrimage to Wyoming and to Brokeback Mountain, and not least the reason all of that was included in the fic, worked like magic on my mind. The same goes for the consistent and effective use of the imagery and symbolism of the trains. Once she explained what "Taking the westbound" was an euphemism for, I read on with dread in my heart, but I just didn't even consider *not* reading.
I truly do feel that my BBM experience has been enriched by reading these fics.
