This is a story that blindsides you in the most subtle and surprising way: you start off by thinking that it's about love, or growing up, or a compromised version of both – and in a way, it is – but by the end Atwood manages brilliantly to weave changes in society and the natural world, as well as the futility of much human endeavour, into a narrative that's still intensely, minutely on a human scale.
"The Age of Lead" is by turns funny, scathing, satirical, clear-eyed and heartrending. If you can read the third-from-last paragraph without a twinge at the back of your eyes (read the rest of it first, obviously) you're made of sterner stuff than me.
Atwood draws together the threads connecting Jane, the protagonist, her best friend Vincent, and the doomed nineteenth-century Franklin expedition, a dead member of which Jane watches being thawed out on TV throughout the story – and you don't even realise the structural and thematic pattern she's building up until the last page, which is why it works so well, in my opinion. The story becomes, by the end, about something far larger than the lives and deaths of its two (well, perhaps three) main characters; and that, for me, is exactly what a short story should do.
Yet Atwood's writing isn't fancy or showy; it's just studded with plainly-put, piercing observations that always sound as if they belong to the protagonist, not the author, which is another great strength of hers: finding a compelling voice and sticking to it. Three particularly memorable quotes (for me) are:
"Love was like a steamroller. There was no avoiding it, it went over you and you came out flat."
"You had sex, and love got made out of it whether you liked it or not." and
"If you are dying, you want to know why."
Simple truths, simply stated - and a damn good story too. Enjoy.
The Age of Lead by Margaret Atwood
C. T. Kingston is an actress who loves to write. Her work has appeared on various flash fiction websites, and she is currently turning one of her previous stories for Liars' League, "The Hand in the Dark", into a short film. Comments and job offers to [email protected].
Stories Written: "Something Exotic" (read by Sabina Cameron), "The Icicle" (read by Allie Croker), "Birds & Butterflies" (read by Judith Quin), "The Hand in the Dark" (read by Sarah Feathers), "The King of Beans" (read by Frederick Aarons).
Comments