#727 The Listener- Tove Jansson
The author eulogizes about her Aunt Gerda, the pillar of her family. She speaks about her life, mostly her later days where she began to lose her mental acuity, and began acting very different from the Aunt she remembered.
“When a person loses what might be called her essence—the expression of her most beautiful quality—it sometimes happens that the alteration widens and deepens and with frightening speed overwhelms her personality."
Once giving with her time and the writer of wonderful letters, Aunt Gerda was now very internal and keeps to herself. Knowing that her life was on the wane, she began a project to keep her mind sharp. She drew her life as a map, with planet like ovals, and satellites of her life, connected by her loves, and losses, her regrets and her family. By he end it is a beautiful creation, but she is afraid it is incomplete and false. She won’t destroy it but writes a note asking for it be burned, unread when she dies. We don’t know if her wish was granted.
In the introduction to one of her short story collections, Jansson writes: “I love the short story—concentrated and united around a single idea. There must be nothing unnecessary in it, one must be able to hold the tale enclosed in one’s hand.”
For this reason, this story is a success. It is a simple story, focused and complete. In style and art, it is wonderful.
No comments:
Post a Comment