Mary Gaitskill: "Secretary" and "A Romantic Weekend"
In an interview with Carri Anne Yager, Mary Gaitskill says: "Any time you write a piece of fiction it will be interpreted in ways that you don't intend. It's difficult, it's painful, but it's part of the turf. I would never change my writing based on my advance projection of other people's interpretations. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt." For another pretty good interview, go to Bomb.
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ReplyDeleteGaitskill is one of my favorite authors yet. She’s just—I don’t even know how to put start this, since “Secretary” was just so spot-on for me that I’m sort of stuck. Somehow, despite the extreme situations Debby is in, I found “Secretary” to be one of the most real stories we’ve read this semester. Gaitskill tells Debby’s story as if it isn’t a story—it is so blunt, so honest, truthful, and raw in the realest way I’ve seen yet. It doesn’t feel structured or even written, really, it’s like I was right there inside Debby’s head the whole time. Even though Gaitskill’s throwing such an extreme situation at us, I trust her, again, more than I trust the other authors in the anthology, probably because she’s so matter-of-fact in the way she puts things. Somehow, there isn’t any melodrama.
ReplyDeleteI could see myself sitting down next to Gaitskill and talking to her, (okay, not literal me, but an “ideal” me who would be able to keep up with someone like her). I think, for the sake of this class, I would list her as my literary wife. I just haven’t trusted anyone like I trust Gaitskill, and she’s got to have a spot in my family somewhere. Somewhere close.
I guess what I’m so fascinated by is how Gaitskill’s lens is a realistic one. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I personally don’t see my life through a series of metaphors, significant details—the voice I hear in my head every day doesn’t type out lines of poetry or lines from a story. It’s moment by moment, narrating things bluntly, sometimes sarcastically, but there are no triumphant epiphanies or similes in my days. Gaitskill captures this so damn well in these two stories (best in “Secretary”). I hear some kind of intelligent, monotone, matter-of-fact voice here that is so refreshing to read.
While reading “Secretary,” I make a chart like we did for Daniel Evans’s “Snakes” and “Virgins.” Sure enough, the story seemed to fit pretty well with the “upside down check mark” Burroway refers to. Most interesting to me, though, is how, in relation to the chart, Gaitskill challenges our expectations. The scene where Debby masturbates to the lawyer’s spanking seems like it should be rising action, when in reality, it moves us horizontally, and we feel a draining of our emotion rather than a heightening of it. She’s takes scenes that are arguably cliché, like a girl masturbating, and makes them her own.
I second Alex in that Gaitskill takes new reign as my favorite author we've read so far. I was set up for these stories to be about sex, and about sex presented in a very blunt, there-it-is way, but I was certainly not prepared for the stark loneliness, the sadness.
ReplyDeleteIn "Secretary," the tragedy is not at all in that the narrator gets sexually abused by a sadomasochistic boss -- the sadness is in her return, her retreat to her desperately mundane, sheltered, male-run world. Yes, the lawyer is a great brute of a man who thinks women live to serve as his sexual release, but the narrator finds at least some interest, at least some fascination in that. When she mentions encounters with other boys, how one put his fingers in her, she describes it in a way completely devoid of emotion.
But after almost every instance of the sadomasochism she suffers, she masturbates.
This is the way Gaitskill leaves me in awe. She lets us, the readers, know things that the characters don't -- and it's in us seeing them discover the things we know, or in the characters' refusals or inabilities to discover them, that the real meat of the story lies.
Mary Gaitskill might not be my favorite author we've read this semester, but I did really like her stories. I think she definitely makes it on my family tree- as an aunt or something. Someone I might not know that well but can hold my interest without fail. I like Alex's comment about how realistic her stories seem- it's easy to imagine a woman that DOES want to expose the mayoral candidate in "Secretary," because that's who we find out about in the media. But it's less easy to imagine the woman who doesn't want to expose him, and Gaitskill handles her with perfection.
ReplyDeleteAs stated a little bit in class, Gaitskill doesn't sugarcoat anything, and I think her trust in the reader is what makes the reader trust her.
I read both stories and felt neither nor there about them. Frequently I enjoyed her language and certainly she captures people emotions stunningly but it never struck home. I think that I had a hard time connecting to the characters and a lot of the subject material. It seemed like someone took a real family and made them all sad in "Secretary" and I am not even sure what to think about in "A Romantic Weekend".
ReplyDelete"A Romantic Weekend" felt all over the place. The characters were sad then angry then indifferent. It was incredibly chaotic. I kept wondering if the man in the story was trying to hurt her to be sexual, or if he was that way, and when was he acting out the slave master role and when was he himself? Was he ever himself? I wondered the same for the woman.
Between the two stories I enjoyed "Secretary" much more but still it didn't leave any lasting impression on me. I think the sex may have put me off a little. I am not sure why, but it bothers me how much of a focus they are in both stories, as if the world is just one sexual action after another. I certainly don't see things like that and I don't think it is like that, perhaps this is why the basis of both stories bugs me.
Although I don't know if I can say that Gaitskill is my favorite author we've read this semester, I actually enjoyed her stories, which at least puts her a big step above some of the other writers we've read for class. I have to agree with everyone in saying that Gaitskill is definitely not one to hold back, and I actually really enjoyed that about her. She's brutally honest, and it's a refreshing thing to see. Though I did enjoy these two, I'd have to say that I'm with Kevin in that they didn't really have a lasting impression on me, but on the whole, I'd have to say that I enjoyed how gutsy she is.
ReplyDeleteI feel like my admiration of her bold style could be something to take away from these. Gaitskill tells it like it is, she's a fearless writer, and I think that's a pretty great quality to have.
have to say that by looking at Mary Gaitskill’s picture, she does not look like the type to write very sexual pieces. I really did like Gaitskill’s stories because she wrote about some really risky topics without being too graphic. My favorite story was “A Romantic Weekend” because it did not sound like what the title hinted at. I was expecting candlelight dinners and a nice hotel not S&M and an old apartment. What makes this story so interesting is the fact that as the reader you don’t even know that it is about masochistic people. I liked how the plot progressed building up each moment until the climax in the apartment when Beth learns that she really isn’t a masochist. Also I did like “Secretary” but at first I didn’t know what to make of it. The narrator is very mysterious and I had no idea exactly why she masturbates every time the lawyer does something sexual to her. Even though that part kind of turned me off, it in a way fascinated me as well. It made me want to read more so that I can see the possible connection. I also thought that this story was based in the sixties because of the secretary classes and the family sitting together at the table.
ReplyDeleteI think I would like to take her technique of writing, unusual and risky topics such as S&M and present in a way that still appeals to the reader. She does this by eliminating a lot of the graphic detail while still leaving some in so that the reader can imagine what is going on. I would also like to take her technique of not revealing the true personality or characteristics of the character until the middle or at the very end so that the reader has to read more to see what the mystery is behind the main character. In “A Romantic Weekend” originally we think that Beth’s lover is a normal guy with a Korean wife. But as the story progresses, we instead see that he loves to get peed on and bind women. In “Secretary” Debby was first shown as a young woman looking for a job yet then it takes a turn and we see her masturbating after meeting the lawyer in the office. These characters were not exactly who I thought they would be and it made me like the stories even more because of that reason. Mary Gaitskill will probably be the one of my favorite aunt who happens to be crazy as well. I really enjoyed reading her.
The thing I liked about Mary Gaitskill's writing is her approach. She approached the storys in a way that made it seem like she trusted her reader. As Alex said earlier, real life is not made of metaphores, and random poetic meanings. Many authors overuse these metaphores, and poetic lines, and it gets to be a bit too much. I think her cutting back on these is what made the stories seem more real to me. She told her stories in a very realistic fashion. It made me feel like I could see eye to eye to her as I read. I think I will take this into my writing, because I kind of liked it.
ReplyDeleteWhile many of the blogs above this one seem very appreciative of Mary Gaitskill's pieces, I personally found them irritating. For the most part, I lay the blame on characterization. In "Secretary," for instance, the main character is too conflicted about her environment to bother to do something about it. Meanwhile, neither of the characters in "A Romantic Weekend" seem to have any idea what they want, though it seems that they want more from each other than the other is willing to give (in both cases). And of course, in both of these cases the characterization dominates the plot, so by not liking the one, I set myself up to dislike the other. This same domination makes it very difficult for me to find something else to reflect on for either of these pieces; I simply cannot think of anything else to say except that I am very disappointed in the characterization and, for that reason, the pieces themselves.
ReplyDeleteI really liked these stories, and I think that has a lot to do with what Alex and Charlotte said about how realistic the pieces felt to me. I agree with Alex that I don't try to picture my life as a metaphor, and so to have the story put in such a straightforward way, I really appreciated it, because I feel like that's more of my style of writing. Gaitskill is so blunt and upfront about everything, and it really made me trust her as a reader.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gary, though, that I was frustrated with the characters, especially in "A Romantic Weekend." They seemed to just go back and forth, and they couldn't decide on what they thought of each other, and of what they expected out of this weekend, and it was just frustrating to keep reading about that indecision. But again, I feel like this is just a situation that would happen in real life, so while I found it very frustrating, that indecision that they feel is also relatable and necessary to the story.
I just appreciate how Gaitskill isn't afraid to push the boundaries in her writing. She could be an aunt on my family tree, because there are some things I liked about her, and others that I didn't. I would like to take away her bluntness, and how she isn't afraid in her writing.
Mary Gaitskill's Secretary was not exactly what I expected. From what I was prepped for, I was expecting a somewhat erotic story of lust, but I'm not sure how typically "erotic" this story is. Although this is a particularly strange story of sexual harassment in the work place, it still seems real. I feel like Gaitskill's best skill is the way she doesn't write typical fiction, but instead writes in a way that just seems strangely ordinary. There is no extreme conflict or deep reflection. The story simply details the life of a particularly dull young woman. Now that last sentence makes this story sounds awful. Who would want to read a story about a "dull young woman's" life? But Gaitskill makes it very engaging somehow. I'm not sure whether it's the enticing subject of sex or just the readability factor of Debby's simple life told through her simple voice.
ReplyDeleteI would like Gaitskill to be my mother on my literary family tree. I may not write about sex, but I sure do strive to write in the same tone she does. She's simplistic and doesn't strive to be complex in her writing, but instead leaves her readers wondering why such a simple story seems so multifaceted. I want to read more from her. I want to learn more from like her. I want her to be my literary single-parent mom.
When readers misinterpret my writing, I often become consumed with frustration. Why do ideas that feel straightforward become muddled by unintended subtext? I can imagine how this would be a chief concern for Mary Gaitskill, whose stories are crafted in such a way that readers could easily accept their messages at face value, or they could subject her work to excessively magnified analysis. Because of her noted irritation with misguided interpretations of her writing, I would assume that readers are not intended to dwell upon instances of ambiguity in her writing, but that won't keep readers from guessing. This is likely due, in part, to the high level of accessibility in Gaitskill's writing. Because her lovably-flawed characters are conflicted, Gaitskill's readers feel conflicted too; they seek resolve and they draw misguided parallels to their lives. This is a strength of her writing; from the moment I was introduced to her work, Mary Gaitskill's writing felt instantly familiar.
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