After This- Alice McDermott

This week we are reading and discussing the novel "After This" by Alice McDermott. McDermott has been selected by the college to receive the Corrington Award. One of the things that sets her novel apart from others is its unusual structure--there is no distinguishable beginning, middle, and end. McDermott begins in medias res and does not wrap everything up neatly at the end. Some may think that this makes McDermott an inferior writer, but this is simply her style. Her goal is not to create and develop characters in the same fashion as other novels do, but rather to tell a story through a series of events. Another technique of hers is to bypass an entire decade in a single sentence. Therefore it is important that readers say alert while reading her work, lest they miss important details.

The novel is not only unusual in its structure, but also because of the many paradoxes it presents. For example, the docile son gets sent off to fight a war while the one who would make a good soldier stays in school to further his education. McDermott also gives accounts of fond memories as well as sad moments, making the tone both nostalgic and melancholy. This pair of conflicting tones emphsizes what seems to be her central point: there are good times and there are bad times, but life goes on.