[HN Gopher] "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" - Irwin Shaw (1939)
___________________________________________________________________
"The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" - Irwin Shaw (1939)
Author : bookofjoe
Score : 73 points
Date : 2024-01-15 19:48 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.classicshorts.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.classicshorts.com)
| bell-cot wrote:
| A nice short story.
|
| Some things never change -
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distracted_boyfriend
| shagie wrote:
| Charlie Chaplin - Clip from Pay Day (
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_Day_(1922_film) )
| https://youtu.be/evU2Hbs9JJM
| dxbydt wrote:
| Huh! Did not expect to see Irwin Shaw on HN in a million years.
| Bread Upon the Waters is arguably his best work. Please give it a
| read if you have plenty of time to kill. Very long & engrossing.
| Basically, its a novel-length version of rayiner's rants, but way
| more entertaining. You realize why family-first is good,
| individualism bad, what happens if you substitute material
| success for family stability, etc. etc. - old fashioned
| moralizing in a convincing package. Cast your Bread Upon the
| Waters, for you will find it after many days. Not.
| Jun8 wrote:
| A beautiful "battle of the sexes" themed story, all dialog,
| similar to "Hills Like White Elephants" (that one was published
| in 1927, maybe Shaw was influenced by it? Or it could be the
| influence of his theater background).
|
| This being 1939, one shouldn't visualize the women Michael was
| ogling similar to the Distracted Boyfriend meme, luckily there's
| a movie called "The Fifth Avenue Girl" from 1939 that gives an
| idea what they were wearing at the time,
| https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1222/fifth-avenue-girl/#over....
|
| I read this story for the first time; another story that he
| published in 1939, "Main Currents of American Thought" is widely
| anthologized (I personally found it dreadful).
| Jensson wrote:
| Looked up clips from that movie, and they look like the
| distracted boyfriend girl but with longer sleeves, so I don't
| think it is such a big difference.
| Wistar wrote:
| Here is a great 1989 recording of "The Girls in Summer Dresses"
| read by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid who played the reluctant,
| guilt-ridden vampire Barnabas Collins on the TV soap opera "Dark
| Shadows."
|
| https://youtu.be/qI2Fe1f3BGU?si=1xPO-ISTyGzIyhvb
| kwhitefoot wrote:
| Wow. That was quite something.
|
| I too looked at the pretty women. But in forty years of marriage
| I never once took it even half a step further. I think my wife
| was secure in the knowledge that I really was only looking.
| arghwhat wrote:
| Women also look at the pretty men.
| all2 wrote:
| Desire does run both ways. Ask any woman about Chris
| Hemsworth or Dwayne Johnson or any number of other affluent
| men.
| whalesalad wrote:
| How is this relevant to the audience here on HN?
| 9dev wrote:
| The audience of mostly-male, mostly-white, mostly-young,
| mostly-affluent, readers? Those with a plausible interest in
| historical details, for example how men almost a hundred years
| ago felt the exact same about women as they do now?
|
| Also, it's really a neat little story. Believe it or not, there
| are people here appreciating that too.
| bluishgreen wrote:
| I doubt it's mostly white. The other filters might hold. But
| that I suspect might not.
| all2 wrote:
| GP did say white. I'll acknowledge it.
|
| Tbh, I don't think "white" matters in this context. Young,
| male, (msotly) single, affluent, all have a similar
| outlook, especially if their pride and drive are intact.
| acchow wrote:
| HN Sundays is a bit of a subculture within a subculture.
| smackeyacky wrote:
| Reading this I thought it was a very elaborate version of this
| old joke:
|
| A young married couple are lying in bed after making love. The
| young wife turns to her husband and says "Darling, if I died,
| would you marry again?"
|
| The husband frowns and responds "Well, I've not thought about
| that, but I expect after a suitable period of mourning I may
| marry again".
|
| The wife is less than pleased with his answer. "I see. Would you
| move into this house?"
|
| "Why, probably. Yes"
|
| Further incensed the young wife says "Oh! Would you let her sit
| in my favourite chair? Would you let her sleep on my side of the
| bed? WOULD YOU GIVE HER ALL MY THINGS, EVEN MY GOLF CLUBS?"
|
| He replies "Not your golf clubs, she's left handed"
| goethes_kind wrote:
| I cannot relate to this Michael. When I am in a relationship I
| have tunnel vision. Prettiest girl in the world could come up to
| me and I would walk right past her to go spend time with the girl
| of my obsession. Ironically I feel as though this attitude of
| mine tends to be detrimental during the dating phase. I give them
| way too much attention and they lose respect for me.
| all2 wrote:
| I've got tunnel vision as well. I cannot say I obsess, but I
| don't have eyes or desire for anyone but her.
|
| > I give them way too much attention and they lose respect for
| me.
|
| I've done this. There's a balance in remaining an individual
| and committing fully to a relationship. I think there's a lie
| in the idea of being subsumed by a relationship. You have to
| maintain your heading and keep the winds of purpose at your
| back. Don't lose speed just because your heart is full. If
| she's game, she'll be more than capable of keeping up.
| danenania wrote:
| How long of a relationship have you been in? I think your
| experience is common early on during the honeymoon phase but
| it's rarer if you're talking about multi-year, cohabiting long
| term relationships or marriages.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2024-01-15 23:00 UTC)