Pale Horse, Pale Rider (HBJ Modern Classic)
by Katherine Anne Porter
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Book Summary Information
Author: Katherine Anne PorterEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1990-06-18
ISBN: 0151707553
Number of pages: 216
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Book Reviews of Pale Horse, Pale Rider (HBJ Modern Classic)
Book Review: Uncritcally Accepted Myth Is A Heavy Burden
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Summary of Pale Horse, Pale Rider (HBJ Modern Classic)
First published in 1939, these three short novels secured the author?s reputation as a master of short fiction.
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