This certainly is unsentimental, and that quality is heightened by the fact that N has the accoutrement of a sentimental grave visit with the flowers. “my dead” is tremendous—a curveball on “my dear,” and one that, for me, establishes a kind of endearing link between the N and his or her dead…while remaining unsentimental. The only thing that rubs me the wrong way is the stretch on war, politicians and heroes. It almost goes off course there. We’re kind of taken out of the scene. It would be better if the world the two shared in an exclusive manner--things such as their children, a topic that admits the rest of the world as well yet remains intimate--ran straight through.
RM
Last edited by Rick Mullin; 04-02-2009 at 09:54 AM.
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