Saving Grace, by Graham Swift

Saving Grace, by Carme Sanz

 Dr Shah, an eminent cardiologist, was born in Battersea, a famous neighbourhood in London. He was a very peculiar man or, better to say, a peculiar doctor, because while he treats his patients, he likes to relate them the history of his own family.

Although he has never been to India, he has the appearance of an Indian man, because his father came from this country.  In those times, India was ruled by the British, that means, before its independence in 1952.

His father was very fond of British culture, because his family was one of the few that really revered the British, and was educated as any boy in Britain. So, when the Second World War started, he fought for the British and, in the D-Day, he was badly wounded in his leg. It was then when he met Dr Chaudhry and, thanks to him, he could save not only his leg, but probably also his life.

Dr Chaudhry came from India too, and, in those times, not many people wanted to be treated by an Asian doctor, no matter how good he or she was. At this point, Dr Shah liked to say that his father was really lucky also because, thanks to his being in hospital, he met his future wife, Nurse Rosie.

Dr Chaudhry became as a family member, and Dr Shah thought he probably became a physician because of his mentorship.

To end up the story, he explained that his father had been a hospital porter for ten years, and then a clerk, in spite of his poor education. And this, thanks to his wife and probably to Dr Chaudhry.

 

As far as I am concerned, this story is easy to understand. The author presents his main character, Dr Shah, as an honest and calm man who likes to explain what happened to his family with all the issues of the immigrant people, but without any anger or resentment, just with the reality of facts. Things such as prejudice against foreigners were very strong in the past and have changed nowadays, although probably less than we’d like to. And eventually, how a man can feel a longing for his country and at the same time be able to start a new life.

QUESTIONS

What do you know about the English rule in India?

“He was born into one of those families who revered the British”. Is it possible friendship between owner and slave, between colonizer and colonized?

Where is Poona? Can you point Birmingham, Bradford or Battersea on a map?

Why sometimes a foreigner speaks the language better than natives?

According to your opinion, which position had to be the Indian position in the WW2, pro or against Nazis, pro or against British? Remember that Gandhi said that the British should not offer resistance to the Nazis, even when he knew about the genocide.

Do you think our lives are directed by the chance, or that we can decide our destiny?

What do you know about the D-Day?

He had an injured leg, and then he couldn’t go back to fight. Is that good luck? What do you know about SIW?

What can you tell us about amputations?

“If they let him do, he could save them”, being “he” a foreigner. What would you do in your case?

What does “Krupp” refer to?

“His home was in England now”. If you don’t live where you’ve been born, how do you know where is “your country”?

What do you think about following one's parents' trade? Is it a good idea?

He said cardiology was the glamour field. What is it now the glamour field in medicine?

Do you trust in foreigners when it’s an important job? Why? Did you have any experience with them?

 

VOCABULARY

awash, cut up rough, consultant, chapter and verse, on the mend, slot, overtook, mishap, whizzed, saving grace, stump, disadvantaged, pinstriped, against all the odds, disclaimingly, beam, dexterous, worked up, puny, plumply

Tragedy, Tragedy, by Graham Swift

Tragedy, Tragedy, by Lídia Gàllego

 

In the morning break, Mick talks about the improper use of the word “tragedy” in newspapers. As an example, he gives the case of Ronnie Meadow, who died of a heart attack. Concerning this, Bob also has doubts about the use of this word. Ronnie was a colleague who had a heart-attack driving a fork-lift at work. Mick thinks that newspapers use the word “tragedy” when they don’t know what to say.

Bob remembers the moment when the ambulance came and Ronnie’s wife came too. Mercer was there and said to Mrs Meadow that it was tragic, unknowing what else to say.

Mick begins a reflexion around the term “tragedy” and tries to imagine how to describe the death of a mountaineer while trying to climb. He thinks the better term to define the situation would be “heroic”, while Bob thinks the adjective could be “mad”. Mick thinks that all mountaineers dream to die climbing a mountain, but, in the other hand, he thinks it’s tragic when a mountaineer dies climbing up some easy-peasy little mountain. Bob can’t understand Mick’s reasoning and decides to ask him the killer question, “why?” Mick give him a quick answer with whom Bob disagrees. But all the discussion causes Bob beginning to think about what can be considered tragic or not. Finally, he realizes that all the thoughts that Mick express were only the expression of his fear.

The discussion ends, and Mick believes his argument has won. But Bob finally understands that people use the word tragic because they can’t use the word they ought to say: comic.

QUESTIONS

-Talk about the characters

Mick

Bob

Ronnie

-The place somebody dies: Do you feel a kind of awe or respect passing by it? (Remember the bouquets of flowers by the roads)

-Do you think there are “glasses’ faces”, that is faces where glasses (or earrings or a tattoo, or a haircut, or a lipstick colour) suit perfectly?

-Do you think that a change in your style of dressing or in the complements you wear can change your life?

-What is the best way, according to your opinion, to “quit the fags”? Were you a smoker? How did you quit it?

-What can you tell us about Hamlet? Have you read or seen the play?

-What do you know about the Lake District?

-What is for you the “killer question” when you want to decide about a film, a friend, some clothes, a lover, a dish…?

-What do you know about Beano and Dandy? Did you use to read comics? What was your favourite comic / comic character? Why?

-Are / Were you a newspaper reader? What is your favourite newspaper?

-Could you really say “comic”, or even think, about somebody’s death?

 

VOCABULARY

canteen, half-rims, fork-lift, headline, drumming, lawn-mower, gasping, mouth off, quit, pallet cover, skirting round, dawdling, fags, nipping off, daft, wipe, easy-peasy, hankering, killer question, search me, keel over, slumps, dotted, zonker, talking cobblers, score, scrunched

As Much Love as Possible, by Graham Swift

As Much Love as Possible, by Nora Carranza

“As Much Love as Possible” explains an apparently eventless evening when two old friends, Alec and Bill, spend a few hours drinking whisky.

Alec invites Bill to come home and share a bottle of an old and appreciated Macallan, considering that his wife Sue would be out with her friends. Bill was also alone, his wife being away with her parents.

When Bill arrives, Sue is about to leave, and looks fantastic, it seems she has a kind of shine in herself. She welcomes Bill with a generous hug.

Years ago, Bill didn’t try to make any move to approach Sue, he considered she was the right girl for Alec, and gave the precedence to his good friend.  It was a good decision and, in a short time, he met Sophie, they got married and had two kids.

Alec and Sue took some years before they had twins, probably they enjoyed that time just for them together. By now, the twins were 4 or 5 years old, Bill wasn’t sure, although he was their godfather.

Alec had forgotten to call the taxi for Sue, but Bill offered himself for a ride to the restaurant.

But when Bill drove to the restaurant, he felt as if he and Sue were a couple having a date. Sue was grateful to Bill, explained about her two friends, they all had gone to the same hair academy, and now each one had her own salon, financed by Alec.

Bill asked himself when he and Sue will be together in such an intimacy and exclaimed, “I love you, Sue. I love Sophie, but I love you. Don’t you think there could be as much love as possible”? As an answer to that, Sue approached and gave Bill a soft kiss.

They say formal goodbyes, but Bill remarked, “I can see down your top when you lean”.

Later, Bill and Alec spent the informal evening drinking the Macallan and eating the pie Sue left for them.

Bill knew he had to stop drinking alcohol, he wanted to go back home driving his car, and avoiding having to sleep in the spare bedroom in that house.

Nothing notorious seems to have occurred during the facts described in the story.

Finally, Sue returned home at about half past eleven, not very late in Alec’s opinion. She looked as before, with her natural inner light, after the “girls” night out.

When Bill asked Sue about her evening, she replied she had the “most wonderful evening”.

 

I think that, as in many other stories of this author, we can imagine different motives for the actions of the characters. Perhaps Bill was moved by old feelings, hidden in his heart, that reappeared at that moment of unexpected proximity with warm Sue.

Bill was moved when he saw the twins sleeping, remembering his own children. Was he resenting his words to Sue? Was he thinking about his friend Alec, who ignored what had happened?

And Sue, why was she so happy, because of her time with the girls, or because the feelings she provoked in her husband's friend?

QUESTIONS

-There is a word repeated several times, “decent”. What does this word mean for you?

-“Girls night”, “boys night”: what do people do in these nights? Why are they different?

-Alec says that the bottle of whiskey fell off the back of a lorry. Do you think it’s true? If not, why does he say that?

-Do women tend to dress more carefully than men (they are only wearing “woollens”), more “decorated”? In this sense, do you think women use more icons than men on the whatsapp conversations?

-Why didn’t Bill marry Sue? Don’t you think he excused his decision with poor arguments? So, why does he feel something for her now?

-Usually, people get less attractive when they grow old (they say). How can they reverse it? Or is it the way we see people?

-What made you suspect that that night she had tender feelings for Bill?

-Bill felt attracted by Sue’s attire (she shimmered). But there was also something in her personality that seduced Bill: what was it?

-We’re having again a question we’ve debated before: is it possible to love two girlfriends / boyfriends… at the same time?

-Why do you think she kissed him when he told her he loved her? Was his love for Sue platonic? Was it a loving kiss, or a compassionate kiss?

Why wouldn’t Bill like to spend the night in their spare room?

What do you know about the film Un rencontre (“Reencontrar el amor”, in Spanish), starring François Creuzet and Sophie Marceau?

Why do you think she wasn’t awkward in any moment?

Do you think she came earlier from her dinner because she wanted to see him?

In your opinion, her wonderful evening was because of the girls’ night or because what Bill said to her?

 

VOCABULARY

ushered, soldiered, yersel, cardiganed hug, shepherd's pie, dastardly, woollens, ditzy, shrewd, best man, hitched, shimmer, puffa, tumblers, quandary, breast-beating, sparko, buster, contritely, scoffed at, bogus, rueful, bubble, sloshed, cane, mop it up, waxing, Caledonian, haggis, mon, schoolmasterly, slobs, garbled, wee, smarting, blunder

Half a Loaf, by Graham Swift

Half a Loaf, by Glòria Torner

The story has four parts:

PART I. PRESENTATION

The first words we read, “half a loaf”, are the repetition of the title and also the synthesis of all the story.

The narrator is remembering the last lovely night he spent with his girlfriend, called Tanya, and he is imagining how she is returning home alone, as many times, after making love with him. He is thinking that everybody is looking how beautiful his lover is while she is walking along the street and descending to the Tube. He is waiting for the next time he will reach out and touch Tanya.

After that, he describes how important has been for him in his life the religious influence of his strict father, who was a churchman, and also the drastic opinions of her mother wishing him happiness, although she used to say: “all good things must end”.  

PART II. ERIC, THE OSTEOPATH

Now, we know that the narrator, called Eric, is a widower osteopath who has lost his wife, Anthea, three years ago. He describes how sad he felt when his wife died, until he fell into a deep depression. At that time, he only thought about ending his life and thus being with his dead wife.

PART III. TANYA, THE PATIENT

While he was suffering this mental breakdown, he met a new patient, Tanya, a young woman, twenty-six years old. He quickly cured her of a lower back problem and began a love affair with her. Following the story, Eric asked her to have dinner with him and they began a relationship spending since then a night together every week. He sought solace in the company of Tanya, all the while imagining and reconnecting with his dead wife, who encourages him saying “go on”. He can’t disconnect himself from his past.

But Eric has a presentiment: he thinks this love affair will end soon.

Part IV.  NATHAN, THE BOYFRIEND

Following the story, two months later, we clearly notice that Tanya has a regular boyfriend, Nathan. Eric, who isn’t jealous, shares her with her boyfriend. Now, he tries to understand if it’s possible to share his lover with Nathan and not to lose her, although he believes that there will come a time when this love affair will be quite impossible, a real obstacle, like “a stone”. The last words of the story imply that there will not be another night together.

SOME REMARKS

This story is quite different from the others we have read because it’s the first story we read only about love with sensual and sexual feelings.

The story doesn’t follow any linear order from the beginning to the end because Eric, the narrator, wants to mix his memories, thoughts and desires together, until reaching a possible, perhaps uncertain, end.

After reading this sad and conformist story, I finish my work with three questions:

Must he accept less than he wanted? Do you think he wants to share his lover? Or he prefers to finish his affair?

QUESTIONS

-What is the meaning of the title? Is there a pun with the word “loaf”?

-“All good things come to an end”. According to your opinion, is this saying true for everything?

-Talk about the narrator: family, job…

-Why do you think the narrator tells us about his father being a churchman?

-“Certain female patients didn’t exactly go to see him for their back problems”: do you think it’s true?

-Describe his love for Tanya.

-Tanya’s decision to bed with him, could be a paraphilia? (Perhaps she was attracted by crying men)

-What you invite someone, what is it best: to go where you like, or to go where you think the other person will like?

-Is there only a kind of love (sexual, not friendship or family love)? How many kinds of love are there? Does love change along the centuries? For example: jealousy. A true love, does it have to be jealous?

Does Tanya love him, or she feels pity? What do you know about the novel Beware of pity, by Stefan Zweig?

-What can you say about Zeppo’s?

-What do you think about Tanya’s morality (she has a boyfriend and gets laid with the narrator)? Have you seen the French film À l’abordage?

-“The young are a mystery, a different species”. What sense is this true in?

-Men “might eventually resort to prostitutes”. Is this a cliché for men? And what about women?

-How do you think their relationship will end?

-What is the stone at the end of the story?

 

VOCABULARY

bay window, ammunition, dwell, unaware, swamp, nonchalantly, on tap, get-out card, balm, rehearsing, arouse, breakdown, sheer, vouched, NHS, blubbering, spectacle, unclad, delude, fee, aegis, doomed, allowance, stray, unprompted, period, crust, bereft, lack, egging me on