Author Topic: The short story  (Read 21827 times)

Offline Lynne

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Re: The short story
« Reply #50 on: December 05, 2006, 03:44:23 pm »
So it doesn't matter (much) if he has very little, or that he's about to be uprooted to his married daughter's, because his valuables are completely portable and ever-present.

Excellent point, Clarissa:  "Don't got nothin', don't need nothin'" materialistically speaking.
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Offline nakymaton

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Re: The short story
« Reply #51 on: December 05, 2006, 03:58:43 pm »
So it doesn't matter (much) if he has very little, or that he's about to be uprooted to his married daughter's, because his valuables are completely portable and ever-present.

But what if he loses a place to park his trailer?

I have this sad image of Ennis shuffled off into an apartment complex in some small suburb. No horse trailer in the wind, because there isn't a place for the horses, and he can't afford to board them.

Yeah, he doesn't need or want much from life. But what if the new landowners put in development with a covenant that bans run-down trailers?

See: Jackson Hole.

I'm interested in the same themes that get Annie Proulx and Larry McMurtry going. But I think that Ennis is a particularly interesting character, because he's so appealing compared to Proulx's other characters. (Though I've only read a page of Postcards.) And there's this really sad irony, that there's this liberalization that comes to mountain towns with development. (Guess which towns in Colorado voted "no" on the anti-gay-marriage amendment? Guess which communities in Wyoming vote Democrat? And guess what the relative costs of housing are in those places compared to more conservative communities?) And it ought to benefit Ennis... but would it?

Would Ennis's daughters have taken him to see BBM?
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Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: The short story
« Reply #52 on: December 05, 2006, 04:16:39 pm »
When I think about the wind blowing down the curved length of the trailer, I have a vision of the type of trailers below. I imagine on a ranch they would have a few old trailers like these in leiu of a bunkhouse or something else.

I wonder if Ennis's daughters themselves would have gone to see the movie.
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moremojo

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Re: The short story
« Reply #53 on: December 05, 2006, 04:26:05 pm »
When I think about the wind blowing down the curved length of the trailer, I have a vision of the type of trailers below. I imagine on a ranch they would have a few old trailers like these in leiu of a bunkhouse or something else.
My God, those trailers are so tiny; the movie trailer looks downright palatial in comparison. It's really painfully sad to imagine Ennis (or anyone, for that matter) having to call such small quarters home. We know that Ennis is a man of simple tastes, but one still wishes some comfort for that time-weathered ranch hand.

I really liked Clarissa's suggestion that Ennis's treasures have no need of material accoutrements; that does soften the sense of grief I feel for the poor guy. He has known a richness of the heart that even princes do not acquire.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: The short story
« Reply #54 on: December 05, 2006, 04:31:42 pm »
Excellent point, Clarissa:  "Don't got nothin', don't need nothin'" materialistically speaking.

I know it's beside the point, but, tell you what, at times there is a part of me that envies Ennis living life with the minimum, unencumbered with a lot of cr*p.  :-\
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: The short story
« Reply #55 on: December 05, 2006, 04:35:00 pm »
Would Ennis's daughters have taken him to see BBM?
Yes, daddy, they would've. I love this thought!!

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Offline nakymaton

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Re: The short story
« Reply #56 on: December 05, 2006, 04:40:47 pm »
My God, those trailers are so tiny; the movie trailer looks downright palatial in comparison. It's really painfully sad to imagine Ennis (or anyone, for that matter) having to call such small quarters home. We know that Ennis is a man of simple tastes, but one still wishes some comfort for that time-weathered ranch hand.

Remember that his best times were spent in a tiny tent, though.

Alma's the one who wanted stuff. Screw stuff. Bedroll's big enough.

(Though it's easier to say that at 19 than at 40 or 60!)
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: The short story
« Reply #57 on: December 05, 2006, 05:05:25 pm »
When I was about 19, I knew some guys who had to leave town in a hurry and were able to throw everything they had into a VW bug and hightail it. I always thought that was so cool. And now, that any move for me entails weeks of packing and organizing and a van's worth of space, I think it's even cooler.

Not to say I'm envying Ennis his lifestyle, but there is a certain romantic appeal to being so unencumbered ...

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: The short story
« Reply #58 on: December 05, 2006, 05:11:45 pm »
When I was about 19, I knew some guys who had to leave town in a hurry and were able to throw everything they had into a VW bug and hightail it. I always thought that was so cool. And now, that any move for me entails weeks of packing and organizing and a van's worth of space, I think it's even cooler.

You should tell that story some time, Katherine. Sounds like some high class entertainment!  :)

Quote
Not to say I'm envying Ennis his lifestyle, but there is a certain romantic appeal to being so unencumbered ...

Makes you think of Thoreau: "I went to Brokeback Mountain because I wished to live deliberately."
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline nakymaton

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Re: The short story
« Reply #59 on: December 05, 2006, 05:16:25 pm »
When I was 22, I threw all my gear into two backpacks and climbed into a helicopter, to be dropped off in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness.

Two weeks later, we ran out of food.

Sometimes, living deliberately isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I can understand why movie-Jack and movie-Ennis traveled with lawn chairs by the end of the movie. :D
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