Animal Behavior by Laurie Colwin, 1972
The magic trick:
Using birds as the backdrop to a burgeoning romance
Well, way back 10 years ago, I’d intended that this website would help develop my base of knowledge around short stories and the tricks authors use to make them work. The plan, then, was that I could become one of those authors myself someday and steal some of those tricks for my own stories.
Problem is, I never wrote anything. Time went on and on. The site continued. I never wrote my own fiction.
I thought maybe I’m reading too many short stories. I have no time to write. I decided I’d end the website at a certain point. Ten years seemed like a good place to stop. June 9, 2024, would mark 10 years of SSMT to the day. Perfect.
Problem is, I didn’t want to stop reading. I couldn’t just not read short stories anymore. And if I read a short story, I couldn’t just not write a magic trick about it.
So here we are. I’m back just one week later posting again! There’s Laurie Colwin to discuss.
The return does come with a nod to sensibility, though. I’m going to post once a week instead of every day. The site can live on and I can pull back on the time spent reading. Win-win.
On to today’s entry.
“Animal Behavior” tells the story of a man and woman who meet and start to fall in love.
It’s told against the backdrop of birds. The leading male works at the American Naturalist Museum in New York. He takes naps in the afternoons in a room full of birds.
The birds provide characterization. They drive the plot some. And their animal behavior provides the story’s central metaphor and poetic device.
And that’s quite a trick on Colwin’s part.
The selection:
“You said you didn’t want your privacy invaded. I don’t want to people your solitude unless you want it peopled.”
“People my solitude,” Roddy repeated. She looked very fragile in the doorway. There was a sweetness in her eyes when she looked at him.
“Can I go up and see the finches? I mean, is it all right?” she asked.
Roddy stood looking at Mary for a long time before he spoke. “You’re not like other people,” he said.
Mary looked at the floor. “Can I go up?”
“I’ll go with you,” said Roddy, and he took her arm.
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