#697 A Bird in the House- Rebecca Makkai
An estranged couple living halfway across the world meet for the last time in Chicago for the birth of their grand-daughter. A sparrow flies through the room, jarring and ominous, but not without elegance. This two-page interlude has more beauty and well-sculpted symbolism than most novels achieve, proving to all aspiring writers that a story should be as long as it needs to be, not as long as you can make it.
“In almost any culture, it’s an omen: of death, or of a birth, or a journey. Sometimes a bird in the house is said to be the ghost of the recently departed. We aren’t capable of seeing it rationally –especially as it falls in love with itself in our windows, as it flaps frantically past family portraits, as it kills itself against our walls.”
“The longest feathers stayed between her fingers as the bird flew on, raining small, perfect circles of blood on the kitchen tiles, on the flesh of the peeled apples…”
In this project where I’m only reading one story a day, I’m getting Makkai stories only periodically. I think that’s perfect. It’s like getting rare bottle of whiskey. You want only a taste every once in a while to keep on your tongue. Too much and you’d risk emptying the bottle too soon. This collection is just about perfect, I want it to last for a while.
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