Short Stories, Irish literature, Classics, Modern Fiction, Contemporary Literary Fiction, The Japanese Novel, Post Colonial Asian Fiction, The Legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and quality Historical Novels are Among my Interests








Thursday, April 5, 2012

"Desert Island" by Terrence De Vere White

"Desert Island" by Terrence De Vere White (1977, 10 pages)


Irish Short Story Week Year Two
March 12 to April 11


Resources and Ideas for Irish Short Story Week


Links to Posts By Participants 


Please consider joining us for Irish Short Story Week Year Two, March 12 to April 11.   All you need do is post on one short story by an Irish author and send me a comment or an email and I will include it in the master post at the end of the challenge.   If you like you are more than welcome to guest post on my blog.  Just contact me.

"Still time to join us"
Rory


Terrence De Vere White (1912 to 1994, Dublin) was a writer, solicitor, and was literary editor of The Irish Times from 1961 to 1977.  He was married to Victoria Glendinning.


Frank O'Connor has famously said in his brilliant but maddening book on the short story, The Lonely Voice (the only book worth reading on the short story)that modern short stories are at their best when they are accounts of the loneliness of "submarginal groups", people who have no one to speak for them.  Mostly these are "little men" as O'Connor calls them.   in his totally brilliant story White writes brilliantly about some deeply lonely people.  The only contradiction to O'Connor's theory is that the people in the story are incredibly rich, own a magnificent estate with a great house which is almost like a museum, a mansion in Paris and a townhouse in London and have a constant stream of visitors.
"With me around no one need be
lonely"-Carmella


The narrator of the story has somehow become sort of friends with the the Barclays.   Even though they were Irish, he was their token "real Irish" friend.
Mr Barclay collects rare books though he never reads them.   Everybody in this story seems emotionally disconnected from everyone else.   Why and how these people are so lonely is they power behind this great story.

I would happily read more stories by the author.

Mel u

2 comments:

TheGalvestonChronicles said...

The way you have organized this is fantastic. I am so impressed! When do you sleep??

Mel u said...

TheGalvestonChronicles-thanks for stopping by-I hope to post on your novel soon-did you get the tweet I sent you?