Contact us at WritersClearinghouse@yahoo.com. We're always looking for contributors and comment. Join the conversation! © MMXII John O'Hara Society.
One of the many things I love about John O'Hara's writing skills is his ability with a few words to give me the impression that I really see what he describes, I'm really there.
In From the Terrace Alfred Eaton is at his room at Princeton. It is December 1917, the day before Christmas break. The country has entered World War One. He has just read a newspaper report of the death of his mistress Norma Budd as the result of a murder-suicide.
"Alfred re-read the newspaper and put it down and looked out the window and saw nothing but what there was to see: the hard ground, some of it dug up for trench warfare exercises; the leafless trees; the young men in civilian clothing and some in the uniform of the officers' training units; the corners of dormitories; the tops of towers; the groundkeeper's wagon...He noticed a man with a Krag slung from his shoulder; an older, Regular Army man, a sergeant, who was probably on his way to teach some younger men to shoot."
____
A Krag is a rifle.
THE JOHN O'HARA SOCIETY celebrates the life and works of John O'Hara, Pennsylvania's pre-eminent contemporary author and America's greatest short-story writer. The JOHS studies, publishes, and diffuses works by and about the author. Membership is free. For details, contact the JOHS's Corresponding Secretary, Richard Carreño, via Philabooks@yahoo.com. © MMXXIV John O'Hara Society.
No comments:
Post a Comment