Poison

     The fourth story I chose to read is called Poison. The main character in this story is a man who has recently reached mild success, and now has some money and may be considered rich. He is married to a woman named Clare. The story takes place when the main character's friend, Gene, comes to visit his house. Clare and her husband are going away for two weeks to visit their son who is traveling in Europe. They have invited Gene to come live in their house and he is going to, with his new wife, Portia. Gene and the main character are about 50 years old, and it is implied that Portia is significantly younger, perhaps around 25 or 30 years old. The story takes place in one night, telling the conversations between Portia, Gene, the main character (who remains nameless throughout the story) and Clare. The beginning of the story is also told through flash-back anecdotes from the narrator and main character's point of view. The flashbacks are mainly from summers before Clare and the main character had enough money to purchase the house they currently live in, which they wanted for a very long time.
     We also find out, later in the story, about the fathers of Gene and the main character, and how the main character and Gene know each other. There is a mill in the town that Gene and the main character grew up in, where both fathers work, that contained toxic chemicals that gave the people in the town cancer. The main character's father died of cancer, and it's clear Gene blames his father for this, saying that his father poisoned him. We get a sense of guilt and blame Gene places on himself for what his father does. Gene wants to fight the town the men grew up and destroy the mill. At the very end of the story, we learn that the main character had a malignant tumor that he had surgery on. He chooses not to tell Gene about this, as to not add more fuel to his fire.
     Richard Russo's story almost always contain many flashbacks told through the main character or the narrator's point of view. These flashbacks are done effectively, so much so that we are able to get a feeling of  multiple stories going out at one time. This story is very similar to the other stories in this collection, because Richard Russo uses flashbacks to create multiple plots that all come together in the end of the story. He also creates a very simple main character and there doesn't seem to be one major problem or conflict throughout the story. There's nothing huge going on, no giant plot twist and yet he leaves readers wondering what exactly everything in the story means. Richard Russo always end with a very powerful, but confusing quote that leaves the reader puzzled. This story is no different, ending with, "I limped home, feeling something new and toxic coursing through my veins." This can be taken literally, since the entire story in written about the poison Gene's father has given to so many people. But it can also be taken metaphorically, while leaves readers with a lot to think about at the end of this story.

Monhegan Light

       The third story I chose to read in this collection is called Monhegan Light. The story is about an older man, Martin, who has recently lost his wife, Laura, and just found out that Laura had been cheating on him. He finds this out because his sister in law, Joyce, sends him a painting that the man that Laura had an affair with, painted. Martin finds out that this man, the lover of Laura, in an artist. Martin tracks him down and decides to pay him a visit. Martin brings his current, young girlfriend, Beth, and goes to visit this man. Beth goes on hikes, and Martin goes and meets this man, Trevor. Trevor and him talk about Laura, and it's a very normal conversation. There doesn't seem to be any resentment, now that Laura has passed on. Martin learns that Trevor painted dozens of portraits of Laura, and has several of them.
       Although throughout the story you don't know many details about Laura and Martin's marriage you learn that Martin, a prestigious L.A. movie man, never found Laura "beautiful" and perhaps that's why Laura cheated. We never find out how Laura died or really anything about her, other than that she is dead and she cheated on her husband for 20 years.
       After reading three of Richard Russo's stories, I've noticed some trends in his writing. He creates a really intriguing main character, but he writes in third person. You feel really connected to the character, although it's in third person. He likes to tell stories within stories, in this one he does it through flashbacks Martin has of Laura. He writes sad stories, and there's never a shock or a twist, but it leaves you thinking, kind of haunted by his words. Lastly, he likes to end his stories with a really powerful quote or something. He likes to leave his readers slightly confused, and he likes to make his readers think about the story for a long time afterwards. In this one, he ends it with "Still, he couldn't have been more surprised when she took his hand there in the darkness, leaned toward him and whispered, without ever taking her eyes off the screen, "Oh, I love you, I love you, I love you." This ending confuses the reader and really makes you want to figure out what exactly happened.

The Farther You Go

     The second story I chose to read in this collection is called "The Farther You Go". The story tells the tale of a man, his wife, one of his daughter's and his daughter's husband. The narrator of the story is a man named Hank. He's been married to his wife, Faye, for 30 years. He has two daughters, Karen and Julie, and a son, who remains unnamed throughout the story. The story focuses around one of his daughters, Julie and her husband, Russell. We find out that Russell has hit Julie, and Julie wants her father to come over to her house. Originally, it's unclear why she wants her father there, but we find out that she wants him to kick Russell out of the house. Throughout the story we find out a few things about Hank: his father died of some sort of cancer. He recently had prostate surgery and fears that like his father, he is going to die soon. He also cheated on his wife once, with a woman in Pittsburg. Ironically, when he kicks Russell out of the house, he sends him to Pittsburg.
     This story is quite interesting. It's not exactly dramatic or full of action, but it has a subtle irony and has hidden messages that make the story really hard to put down. There isn't a dramatic ending that you anticipate, it ends very simply with uncertainty. It leaves a lot for the reader to figure out. It's unclear what exactly is happening at the end of the story. It's unclear how much Faye really knows about Hank and it's unclear if Hank is going to live through his prostate cancer. Everything is left unknown, which makes the story really stick in your head. It really left me wondering what everything in the story represents. The quote that really spoke to me the most in this short story was, "Then, suddenly, she's in my arms and I can't think about anything but the fact that she is my daughter. If I'm not going to be much good at blaming Russell, at least I'm certain where my loyalties must be, where they have always been." I think this quote is really well done and shows that despite his hatred for sharing things with her, Hank really does love his daughter. My favorite part of this story is the relationship between Julie and Hank. It seems like Hank hates talking to his daughter and doesn't want to be involved in her life at all. But in this quote, we see that there is much more to the relationship then that, and he actually deeply cares for and loves his daughter in a really beautiful way.

The Whore's Child

         The first story in this book is the one that the book is entitled after, "The Whore's Child." "The Whore's Child" tells the tale of Sister Ursula, a nun that that the narrator of the story has in his college writing course that he teaches. The story is told in sections. It starts off with the professor meeting Sister Ursula and her attending his college course. It summarizes each of the stories she submits, which are submitted to him in a series of installments, all about the same character. Interestingly, the first-person narrator is Sister Ursula, and she essentially writes a memoir of her life. The story is told through summaries of each story, as well as the workshops done in class and the encounters the professor has with Sister Ursula.
         Sister Ursula's story begins in the convent that she is sent to. Her mother is a prostitute and her father does not have a job, so they send her to a convent for her education. She is treated extremely poorly there and is constantly ridiculed by the children and the nuns. She is called "The Whore's Child" by all of the people in the school, because of her mother's life. She turns to God in the story, praying constantly and comparing her father to Jesus. Later on in the story, he mother passes away from syphilis. She never sees her father again and she is unsure of what really happens to him. After her mother's passing, the nun that takes her home tells her she will become one of them. She then begins the process of becoming a nun. Eventually, she becomes a nun and ends her story with a summary of her life since entering the ministry. During the workshop of the last installment of the story, a girl insinuates that the father in the story, was the mother's pimp. It is clear that Sister Ursula never realized this, and she never returns to class after that. The story ends with the professor's last encounter with Sister Ursula, when he goes to visit her at the convent. Sister Ursula asks if he thinks it is true, that her father was the pimp, and he says yes.
         This story is extremely beautifully written and really moving. Richard Russo tells the story in sections, that make you want to constantly find out what happens next. There's kind of two parts to the story; it's a story within a story. The entire time you want to know what's happening in Sister Ursula's written story, but then the ending is so powerful with what happens in the workshop. There isn't a lot of symbolism until the very end. At the end of the story, the convent that Sister Ursula lived in as a child burns down, as Sister Ursula often prayed it would. The last line in the story is "'Ah but the flames,' she said, her old eyes bright with a young woman's fire. 'They reached almost to heaven.'" This part is clearly symbolic and really beautifully written. It's an intense ending, kind of leaving you with a lot to think about afterwards. I'm interested to read more of Richard Russo's stories to see if their told in the same way, in segments with multiple stories within a story, and if the endings always leave you with a lot to think about. I think the story was really well written and I didn't want to put it down the entire time I was reading it. I would definitely recommend it.