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28 augustus 2006
LAST FRIDAY, Y. and her E. Lansing sis and mom and dad met in downtown AA for a dinner to celebrate their 40th anniversary. We'd debated presents, &c., but thought, since they don't really need anything, that a dinner together would be nicer. We had a lovely dinner on Real Seafood's porch. Y. had the fancy-schmancy escargot, drenched in garlicky oil, and the creamy "He-Stew," with oysters and bacon. It was lovely and a nice dinner.
The event made Y. think over the past, over the weekend, and a result I read Updike's "Rabbit" quadrilogy over Saturday and Sunday. Its familiar events take place over approximately the same time span as my mom and dad's marriage. I read it in reverse order as a way of travelling into the past, then rounded things off with Updike's later novella "Rabbit Remembered."
I must have read these novels twenty times each over my lifetime, and they never fail to mesmerize. They successfully put Y. into a nostalgic spell lasting the whole weekend, aside from a fun-filled visit to the dollar store with the AF, a practical soul not given to wasting whole weekends on reading novels. Skeptical of my glowing review of the Pulitzer Prize-winning classics, a permanent part of Y.'s mental furniture, he laconically asked if there were rabbits in them.
Posted by ypsidixit at 28 augustus 2006 08:32
Comments
Some detractors have criticized Updike's portrayal of women, a criticism Y. finds both accurate and irrelevant.
Posted by: Laura at 28 augustus 2006 09:58
Actually, I just made up the word "quadrilogy," and see the correct term is "tetralogy."
Posted by: Laura at 28 augustus 2006 09:59
Biblioquadripartite?
Posted by: Spammy from Miami at 28 augustus 2006 11:30
I like that better. It sounds more impressive if you say you spend the weekend reading a biblioquadripartite. Kind of detracts from the truth of the matter; that one was a complete slothy slug of supreme laziness.
The AF was skeptical of the word "quadrilogy"; I blithely assured him with a little chuckle that of course it was a real word, as everyone knows. Have to keep him on his toes.
Posted by: Laura at 28 augustus 2006 11:34
From urban dictionary.com:
1. quadrilogy
A story contained in four parts.
Mostly known from the title of the boxset of Aliens-series films, "Alien Quadrilogy." An awkward mix of Greek and Latin, seen as incorrect by some linguists (despite the common word "television" being a similar combination of Greek and Latin). The Latin-rooted word "tetralogy" means the same thing and avoids the awkwardness.
The first two parts of the Alien Quadrilogy are considered masterpieces, while the last two parts are considered duds.
Posted by: Brian Filipiak at 31 augustus 2006 08:32