St. Mawr (1925) 3

As mentioned, I started D.H. Lawrence's St Mawr last month, and am only now reaching its end. That's what reading five pages a night will do. Five pages from a 1953 Vintage paperback, which is like ten pages by today's printings.

After a hundred pages in England, Lou Witt and her mother are now back in their native U.S., having left their ranch in Texas for New Mexico, in an effort to recharge themselves. Like many women in Lawrence's novellas and stories ("The Woman Who Rode Away", "Sun", etc.), malaise gives way to a journey of self-discovery, which in turn gives way to stand alone scenes like the one I read last night, after Lou visits a ranch for sale and, upon first seeing it, decides "This is the place." 

With ten pages left, and the clock about to strike 11pm, I set aside my book and turned on the radio to hear the CBC news. At the top of the news: death on a film set in New Mexico, where a western was being shot. A "prop gun" discharged, killing the cinematographer and wounding the director. On the other side of the gun, the actor Alec Baldwin, who can be seen on this morning's CNN site crying outside a sheriff's office. My god. What a nightmare. Making matters worse, CCN's coverage, where the "entertainment" reporter, in an effort to hitch us to this story, recalls a judge's recent order that Baldwin take an anger management course after punching another man in an argument over a parking spot.

Disgusted, I clicked on another story, any story, which turned out to be coverage of Rudy Giuliani's handmade attack ad on gubernatorial candidate Terry McAulliffe, which has the politician-turned-performance artist appearing through a digital filter as Abraham Lincoln. 

Some years ago I felt as Lou Witt did and left Vancouver for a friend's ranch in the Okanagan, where he allowed me to keep a trailer in exchange for chores. This too was the place. Until it wasn't. Now I'm back in Vancouver, reminded once more of Baudelaire's great conundrum, waiting until bedtime, when I can read how St Mawr turns out.