Ordinary Sins by Kirstin Valdez Quade, 2014
The magic trick:
Presenting a story that truly could be interpreted in two totally opposite ways, depending on your read
There is that famous optical illusion picture where if you look at it one way you see a rabbit; from another angle, you see a duck. You know this picture, right?
Well, “Ordinary Sins” does a remarkable job of being the rabbit-duck picture of the short story world.
Taken one way, it’s a harsh criticism of a Catholic church that’s lost the ability to love or provide real care in favor of its cherished, rigid rules.
But viewed from a different angle, it’s the story of a church standing strong, a beacon of holiness amid a sea of ordinary sin and lost souls.
The text supports either reading.
It’s an extraordinary story.
And that’s quite a trick on Valdez Quade’s part.
The selection:
Since the arrival of Father Leon, the young Nigerian priest, three months before, Father Paul had been sleeping past his alarm. Crystal enjoyed the thought of the priests chattering away late into the night like girls at a sleepover—but the idea of humorless, aloof Father Leon saying anything that wasn’t strictly necessary defied imagination. Sometimes, to amuse herself, Crystal experimented by greeting him with wide-ranging degrees of enthusiasm, but Father Leon gave her the same solemn nod every time.
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