Stephen King's Just After Sunset

title: Just After Sunset
author: Stephen King
genre: short fiction
published: December 2008 (hardcover)
source: Franklin Grove Library
first line: "You don't see what's right in front of your eyes, she'd said, but sometimes he did."
rating: 4/5 stars


I can't even remember how old I was when I first read Stephen King. I know that in 8th grade I was already reading Christine, Insomnia, and Salem's Lot, but I'm pretty sure I attempted Tommyknockers back in pre-pubescence, never completing it, though whether my reason was fear of the contents or intimidation of its size is now lost to the ages. 


Regardless, I'll admit it--long time fan. Most people with graduate degrees in literature would never say this aloud. It's tempting for me to be self-indulgent and say, "Well, that's because I'm not a book snob and never have been," but that's not quite right. I AM snobby about books. I can't stand to read drivel, sap, or sloppiness anymore. Almost twelve years of studying the world's great literature at universities has heightened my standards to the point that for me, there is no guilty pleasure when I'm reading. If it's pleasurable, I don't feel guilty. If it's something I'm apt to feel guilty for reading, it's not pleasurable. It's like someone who's been off dairy for years and tries to eat a vanilla ice cream. I'd have to choke it down, it'd be liable to make me puke, and I certainly wouldn't enjoy it.


The thing with Stephen King is that he's not just a horror-genre hack. He's really talented. He may not be the next Proust, Dickens, or James, but he's also no Dean Koontz or James Patterson. I really don't think I have to defend this position too vigorously. King has started to earn a toehold in literary circles, partly for his 2000 memoir On Writing. In 2007, he was named editor of the prestigious "Best American Short Stories" series, cementing his position as Respected American Writer (totally different, as King himself will tell you, from Commercially Successful American Writer). It is in the short story that King truly shines. Heidi Pitlor, series editor of the "Best American Short Stories" series, did well to choose King. His novels have always terrified and captivated me, but his short fiction is, in short, dazzling. I think I've read about every one of his collections, Skeleton Crew most notably (my volume is losing its cover and is highlighted into oblivion). King's short stories range from comic to wistful to grotesque to horrifying to downright beautiful. If you're looking for a starting place, pick up Skeleton Crew and read "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" and you'll see what I mean.


King's new collection, Just After Sunset, is most of these things. Notably absent is the "horrifying" story. Nothing chilling here, except for a few brain-burning images from "Willa," the opening tale. There is more beauty and sadness than anything else. King, as a writer, is showing his age. Mostly, that phrase means starting to fail at which you once succeeded. I mean literally. The tales are mostly about older adults with grown children, losing spouses, moving to Florida, facing their own deaths, and coming to terms with the afterlife. Which isn't to say that these stories are staid, boring, or flaccid. King writes with a humanity and a fearlessness that's both touching and disconcerting. 


"Willa," "Harvey's Dream," "The Things They Left Behind," "The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates," and "Ayana" are all tales that deal with what worlds lay beyond ours, and what happens when those worlds intersect. 


"The Gingerbread Girl," "Stationary Bike," and "A Very Tight Place," as well as all the stories listed above, feature a protagonist dealing with the loss of a loved one.


"N.," one of the most characteristically "scary" King stories, is more disheartening than anything. (At the end of the story, it's clear that the story goes on, and no good can come of it.) 


"Graduation Afternoon," one of the shorter stories, is more of a sketch, and is one of the two stories in the volume that King admits to "transcribing" from a dream or vision instead of intentionally creating (the other is "Harvey's Dream," also sketch-like). 


The best story in this collection, hands-down, is "The Things They Left Behind." It's part of a growing canon of post-9/11 literature, and it made me weep. It's haunting and beautiful and sad and not a little bit scary. 


All the stories in this volume held my imagination and attention. I became captive to each one in its turn. They stayed with me after I read them. If they didn't horrify me, that's all right--I'm past the stage where I'm looking for fear. Motherhood is full of fear every day. If you want more traditional, scare-you-in-the-dark King, grab an earlier volume. If you want captivating, beautiful, wistful, disconcerting tales, look no further. 

Zen Inspiration

Being a very distractible person, I fail to make the best of situations. I get angry and frustrated with my kid. I sometimes feel overwhelmed by small tasks. I stress and worry and wonder why I can't get on top of things.

Since my freshman year of college, I have found peacefulness and calm in Zen practices. Buddhism, though widely considered a "religion," is more about habits than beliefs. It's about the way you train yourself to think and to act. I don't claim to be Buddhist, but I do turn to Buddhism when I am feeling crazy.

Some sources for peace and calm:

Sylvia Boorstein
I heard her on the American Public Media program "Being" on Mother's Day morning, and the timing was perfect. Her outlook on being a mother and being a Buddhist (or in her case, a Jewish Buddhist) made me reflect on my own parenting. One of the most notable things that she said on the program was that everyone has time to cultivate their spiritual side. Even if you're a busy, working mother, it's about doing things lovingly. Even folding the laundry lovingly can be a spiritual practice. She's written tons of books: I downloaded the first chapter of Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake on my Kindle and plan to download the rest when my class is over. I would love to attend one of her retreats. http://www.sylviaboorstein.com/

The Dalai Lama
I read My Land and My People in college, and now I follow him on Twitter. Seriously. There's something wonderful about receiving a little glimpse of the sublime in between all the goofy stuff.

Yoga
I did yoga when I was pregnant with Jack. Getting ready to start it up again. "Strong mind, strong body."  Jack likes to watch my yoga DVD with me and stretch with "the girls on t.v."

"Lessons from a Zen Mommy."
I just read this in the August 2011 issue of Parents' Magazine. I wish I could link to it, but they don't digitize their entire issue. It's written by Bethany Saltman, a Zen Buddhist and mother of a three-year-old, and she's the real deal: before becoming parents, she and her husband lived in a monastery. She translates traditional Buddhist teachings into "mom" lessons, such as: stop multitasking; take responsibility for yourself and your mess, and teach your child to do the same; limit acquiring too much stuff; don't beat yourself up over things; develop rituals; count your blessings; remember to breathe.

Stephen Batchelor
A Religion Panel in my Honors Program at Clarke College brought me into contact with a woman who was Zen Buddhist. She described Buddhism to me for the first time, in a way that calmed me and made me feel hopeful and joyful in a very depressing year of my life. After listening to her speak, I bought Buddhism Without Beliefs and Verses from the Center by Stephen Batchelor, and these volumes became my crash-course in Buddhism. Admittedly, it has been a long time since I've read them, but I think they are ready to be dusted off.

Keeping track

In the very first class I took for my grad program, my professor recommended that we all keep a notebook where we record the titles and details about books we've read. I started to do that the following summer, which is now four years ago. Then came baby. And more grad classes. And four years' worth of papers to grade. And moving. And all that stuff. 

That notebook, in which I took careful notes about the seventh Harry Potter book as well as C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity and Screwtape Letters, Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone, and Anne LaMott's Grace (Eventually), gradually faded into obscurity only to be resurrected last summer as a grad-school notebook for my Dickens class. (Interestingly, it started life as an ill-fated workout notebook, where I kept track of how much I lifted and what settings I put the machines on and number of reps at Powerhouse Gym in Morris, IL the summer before I got married.) It's now, sadly, tattered and full of boring notes about Pickwick Papers. 

But who am I kidding? I don't have time anymore to write full-page summaries of every book that I read, including my evaluations, number of stars, and important quotes. It's impressive enough, these days, to read a non-school book beginning to end, though I've done a better job of that this summer than I have in recent years.

So, if only to remind myself (and my "mom-brain") what I've read lately and why, here's a breakdown (roughly in the order I read them) for 2011 (not including YA novels, because those take like 2 seconds to read and I totally don't digest them):

1. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
2. White Noise by Don DeLillo
3. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute by Grace Paley
4. American Tabloid by James Ellroy
5. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson
6. Babel-17 by Samuel Delaney
7. Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse
8. Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie
9. Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
10. Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
11. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
12. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
13. The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
14. The Story of Avis by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
15. Austenland by Shannon Hale
16. Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares
17. Daisy Miller by Henry James
18. Maggie, a Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane
19. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
20. The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells

Books I've re-read:

1. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
2. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
3. The Marrow of Tradition by Charles Chestnutt