‘Former Marine’ by Russell Banks

Former Marine by Russell Banks, 2013

The magic trick:

Art-house cinema with a plot

We’re doing a weekday double of Russell Banks stories. I’ve read several of his over the years, but I’m not sure I can pinpoint what it is he does consistently over his oeuvre. I guess maybe it’s his realism. It’s not overly stylized writing, so you definitely feel like you’re operating in a familiar reality. But it’s also a little bit cinematic. People say interesting things that effectively move the plot along – more than the people we exist in actual reality usually do. And interesting things happen in his stories. They’re stories that are about action. This is an action-oriented reality. But it’s not action-based like a giant action movie. It’s not cinematic like a three-hour swords and sandals epic. I’m not expressing myself well. Russell Banks stories are like a talking-heavy, feelings-based movie about people. The kind of movies that used to fill art-house cinema in 2006 but weren’t nominated for Oscars. The really pretty good PG-13 small-budget indie film that gets released in July.

OK, so you were a witness to me working that all out over the course of several rambling sentences. “Former Marine” fits that bill. It’s like a really good “art-house with a plot” movie.

And that’s quite a trick on Banks’s part.

The selection:

Jack smiles back. The old man amuses him. But he worries him too. The old man’s in denial about his finance, Jack thinks. He’s got to be worse than broke. Jack gets up from the table, walks to the counter, and tries to pay Vivian for both their breakfasts, but Connie sees what he’s up to. He jumps from his seat and slides between his son and the waitress, waving a twenty-dollar bill in her face, insisting on paying for both his and Jack’s meals.

Vivian shrugs and takes Connie’s twenty, just to get it out of her face.

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