VLVL 4: War, politics and love

[Mark Wright AIA]

--- jbor <jbor at bigpond.com> wrote:
 
> There is a surface impression of them as a well-adjusted and happy
> family, I
> agree, and I've always read it that way previously, much as you do
> below.
> But this time around I'm alert to the darker shadows around their
> situation
> which are hinted at in the text. Maybe it's just me.

Dark shadows are certainly there. I recommend a peek into Shays' book. 

> I think the description of the two of them at the Lost Nugget bar
> speaks
> volumes: RC's "deep eyes" and "mortally cautious bearing that told of
> where
> else he'd been", and the way he "slid back to the bar, dropped a hand
> on
> Moonpie's shoulder that she pressed for a moment with her cheek, and
> nodded
> at Zoyd with a please-don't-piss-me-off look of inquiry." It's a
> wonderfully
> evocative piece of writing.

I agree. It is an odd-sounding phrase, though, that "with a
please-don't-piss-me-off look of inquiry" --- isn't it? Not quite our
man at his best. I guess it is the note of "inquiry" that makes
RC/Moon/Zoyd's subsequent friendship believable, however. Inquiring
about what? It isn't as if he is jealous of or uncertain about Moonpie,
really. "You aren't going to trigger one of my episodes, are you? I
hate it when that happens." i suppose the note of "inquiry" makes RC
sympathetic and human rather than merely hazardous. And Moonpie presses
his hand with her cheek, as if she knows she is all that holds him in
place in the world.

Mark

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