Her bliver du klædt på til at analysere novellen “It's Beginning to Hurt” af James Lasdun. Du finder novellen i lærebogen Wider Contexts (s. 124) under temaet “Love”.
Præsentation af teksten
Titel: “It’s Beginning to Hurt” (2009)
Forfatter: James Lasdun
Genre: Short story
James Lasdun (f. 1958) er en britisk forfatter, som bor og arbejder i USA. Han skriver både poesi og prosa. Denne tekst indgår i en novellesamling, som blev udgivet i 2009 under titlen “It's Beginning to Hurt”. En bog, der blev rangeret blandt de allerbedste det år af adskillige amerikanske publikationer.
Uddrag
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Title
The short story “It’s Beginning to Hurt” by James Lasdun has a title which does not reveal much about the plot. The reader may expect to read about something painful, although it is not clear from the title if the story will be dealing with physical or emotional pain. The use of the word “beginning” might also make readers think the story will talk about recent pain in the characters’ lives.
It is only towards the end that readers find out “it’s beginning to hurt” is an expression used by Marie, the main character’s former mistress: “And then, abruptly, she had ended it. ‘I’m in love with you,’ she’d told him matter-of-factly, ‘and it’s beginning to hurt.’ ” (p. 125, ll. 32-33). The title refers, then, to how Marie, Mr Bryar’s former mistress, felt about their relationship. The story might suggest that Marie was affected by the idea that their relationship did not have a future, as she did not ask Mr Bryar to leave his wife for her. Also, Marie's words could suggest she wants to avoid the pain that can come with romantic relationships.
