Early in July, a friend and I were having a discussion about Gore Vidal and his writing. I had never read anything by him but always meant to. My friend has read many of his books and is a great fan. Is it coincidence that a few days later Mr. Vidal died?
Of course, I had to run to the library and get one of his book and I( thought that short stories would be a good place to start.
The Robin is from the Short story collection Clouds and Eclipses. The narrator is an adult recalling what happened when he was a nine year old and I assume him to be a boy. He explained how tough he use to be. He liked “magazines sold in drug stores, with pictures of young women.”
In fourth grade he had a friend, Oliver. The both loved violence and torture and sometimes even stole things from stores. He described what his country school was like. One day in October they were walking in the school yard and spotted a robin on the ground with a broken wing. They knew that the bird wouldn’t survive and thought they should put it out of it’s misery. They discussed how to do it. They decided..
The Robin is both a coming of age story and a story of two boys learning about ethics. I found it deeply moving and am looking forward to reading more of the stories in this book.
Tweet
I’ve not read any Vidal either. (My first exposure to his existence was a Simpsons reference). I’m going to see if I can find a short story online.
Ray Bradbury’s recent death has had me searching for a couple of his works to take a look at. I haven’t read any Vidal, yet!
John, let me know if you find any of his shorts online. I tried to find some with no success.
Julia, my favorites of Bradbury are Fahrenheit 451 and the Illustrated Man.
Thanks for the review and recommendation. I didn’t know he had written short stories.
Interesting characters