Uncritcally Accepted Myth Is A Heavy Burden In PALE HORSE, PALE RIDER, Katherine Anne Porter creates a world of two universes; one contains the semi-autobiographical life of Porter's alter-ego, Miranda, who is seen first as a very young girl in the first novella, "Old Mortality," then later as an adult woman in the third entrant, "Pale Horse, Pale Rider." The third novella is "Noon Wine," which is linked to the other two in its focus on a protagonist whose choice of life is severely restricted by the need to conform to society's restrictions. In these three long short stories, Porter elaborates on themes and character types that had previously appeared in her short stories. Porter most often examines the innermost recesses of the human mind that cause her protagonists to encounter spiritual and physical isolation even as they attempt to reach out to end their disconnection. These attempts at finding a soul mate are at first rebuffed, but in their continual probing for like-minded life mates, they achieve a near Faulknerian level of endurance even as they fail.
In "Old Mortality," Porter becomes young Miranda, who has heard of the almost mythical attributes and deeds of her aunt Amy. In Miranda's mind, her aunt is the apotheosis of all that she herself could be. Porter suggests that much of the accepted myth of the American south is similarly grounded on a no questions asked basis. Later as Miranda matures, her growth is seen as both physical and spiritual, but her sphere of newly-won perceptive vision comes at a heavy cost. She learns what happens when brute reality collides with delicate myth. In the second part, Miranda meets the husband-lover of Amy, whose appearance, actions, and words disrupt her connection to the past. This disconnect is deliberately shaded so that the reader is not quite sure whether Porter intends a discrediting of the past or merely a modifying of its accepted interpretation. In the third part, Miranda is further distanced from her idealized view of Amy when she talks to her cousin Eva, who has a definite grudge against Amy, the result of which leaves Miranda feeling that the immortality of myth is itself a myth. Stories and legends then must be measured against the mortality of those who lived them and those who told of them.
In "Noon Wine," Porter tells of a tragedy that begins in the past, assumes a myth that becomes self-sustaining, then encounters a reality that causes pain for all concerned. A Texas farmer named Thompson hires a roustabout Olaf Helton as a field hand. Helton works hard, well, and uncomplainingly. Thompson is more than pleased with Helton but is puzzled by Helton's harmonica, upon which he never plays more than one single tune. One day, a bounty hunter appears with a tale that disrupts Thompson's idyllic view of Helton. The bounty hunter, Homer Hatch, tells Thompson that Helton is an escapee from a lunatic asylum where he was committed for murder. Thompson ironically and unwittingly kills Hatch to protect Helton, an act for which he is tried and exonerated in court. The trial is so devastating to Thompson that he kills himself in depression. Both Thompson and Miranda are faced with disruptive reminders from the past, and the results cause pain to them and their families.
In "Pale Horse, Pale Rider," Porter brings back Miranda as an adult newspaperwoman during the First World War. She falls in love with Adam Barclay an army officer that brings to mind the ill-fated romance between Amy and Gabriel. Both lovers are stricken with the flu epidemic and Adam dies, leaving Miranda grief-ridden. The best Miranda can hope for is to reestablish her spiritual center in a world that is hostile to her very attempt. In all three novellas, Porter precisely captures the essence of those who face moments of crises when they begin to see that the ground underneath their feet is not as solid as once believed.
Beautiful and sad I was unfamiliar with Katherine Anne Porter before reading this book and am now glad I picked it up. Porter has an amazing way with words and with characterization. With only a few sentences you feel as if you know the people in her stories. This book contains 3 short novels of which I think Pale Horse, Pale Rider is the best. Miranda is a young woman working at a newspaper during the last year of the first world war and of the tragic flu epidemic which killed millions. She goes from show to show every evening writing reviews for the paper, never sure why she bothers. She is alive, but not living. She dines and dances with a soldier she loves but knows the relationship is pointless as he is being shipped overseas in a few days. Then she contracts the flu and the end is a harrowing description of the effects of the disease.
Noon Wine is the second strongest in my opinion, detailing a small Texas family dealing with the aftermath of the father murdering a man. It may have been in self defense, but it might not have been, you are left with the question and the family is left with the guilt and shame.
Old Mortality tells of the sad life of Gabriel through the eyes of his two young nieces. The woman he loves puts him off for a lengthy time while flirting with other men. Finally, though she doesn't love him, marries him and dies 6 weeks later. Gabriel never completely recovers.
These novels are beautiful and sad, filled with complex characters trying to get through each day while figuring out why they are doing it.
Three gems in a jewel box Katherine Anne Porter writes like a lapidary; each sentence is like a polished jewel, every word is perfect. "Pale Horse, Pale Rider" is a compilation of three novellas: "Old Mortality", seen through the eyes of Maria and Miranda Rhea, two children home for the weekend from their stultifying boarding school, is the tale of the family black sheep, a beautiful young cousin of easy virtue who continues to fascinate and frustrate her extended family long after her early death; "Noon Wine" shows us a Texas family torn apart by the guilt of the father who murdered a man in what may or may not have been self-defense, and "Pale Horse, Pale Rider" brings Miranda back again as a young woman disillusioned too many times, whose relationship with her lover Adam is threatened not only by his impending entry in to combat in World War One, but even more immediately by the specter of the great flu epidemic of 1918 that is sweeping through the population, leaving more death in its wake than any war ever fought. Porter writes sparingly, but she packs a world of emotion and feeling into every paragraph. This relatively short book is one of the giants of American fiction.
Short fiction the way it should be. Katherine Anne Porter displays the human experience with turns of phrase that catch your breath. The awkward spinster cousin blooms "like a dry little plant set out in a gentle rain" when her critical mother leaves the room. A woman delirious with influenza falls into a sleep "that was not sleep but clear evening light in a small green wood..."
I thought Flannery O'Connor had ruined all other southern short fiction writers for me, but Porter meets O'Connor's deft character portraits, with their keen knowledge of mannerisms and their psychological depth, as well as O'Connor's ability to surprise the reader with moments of recognition: Miranda's girlhood experience feels like my girlhood experience, across generations and geography. Even Mr. Thompson's story feels like it could have happened in one's own family, like the story grandparents and great aunts and uncles half-tell and subtly refer to while the turkey roasts in the oven and everyone steals nuts off the pecan pie.
I agree with others who are astonished that this book is not part of the literary canon in the U.S. It is a stunning, gorgeous example of short fiction. With the impenetrable heaps of "literary fiction" from contemporary writers, marketed to ridiculous heights, I'm finding old gems like this one soothing to my constantly inundated reader's mind. Read it. And writers, take note.
A great work of art which deserves to be far more well-known I first read this book about thirty-five years ago, as a young teenager. At the time, I didn't really know what it was about, lacking the historical background to understand World War I, and having no knowledge whatsoever of the widespread influenza epidemic of 1918. Nevertheless, the memory of Porter's shimmering prose somehow stayed with me, leading me to read the story once again, this time as an adult, and to finally comprehend it better. In fact, I have reread it several times over the years, always profoundly moved by the experience. Recently, after the events of September 11, 2001, I found myself thinking again of the story, and hauled it out of the library for still another reading. It is more beautiful and meaningful than ever. It has the powerful force of deeply felt, true experience.
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