LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Booked Solid |
by Constant Reader |
THE SHORT HISTORY OF A PRINCE, Jane Hamilton, Random House, 354pp. $23.00 Walter McCloud, fifteen-years-old, wakens early on the day of his Aunt and Uncles twenty-fifth anniversary party full of himself, secure in his life and eager to encounter the drama of it even if he has to create it himself. Sweet and naive, Walter has yet to learn that life is full of inevitable and often painful twists and turns that lead to adulthood. He is on the threshold of discovery. Discovery about life, and discovery about himself. Jane Hamilton chose the Midwest as the setting for this novel. She brings the reader into a world that is populated with people who look at life in general in terms of black and white, with little patience and understanding of the shadings of gray. By alternating chapters between the adult and adolescent voices of Walter, Hamilton allows us the viewpoint of the grown-up and the child who becomes the man who will live much of his life in the gray areas. Walters world, both as adult and youth, has been strongly influenced by his no-nonsense aunt, Sue Rawson. She introduced him to the ballet as a youngster and that was the beginning of a life-long love affair with the dance. He takes ballet lessons with his friends, Susan and Mitch. Walter knows they out-class him and that hell never be the dancer that either of them are. Their lives are firmly intertwined as a trio until Mitch and Susan start a romance that, while it doesnt exclude Walter, certainly gives him a taste of being the outsider. His growing fondness for Mitch only complicates things. When Walters older brother, Daniel, becomes ill and progresses through the stages of fatal cancer, Walter feels more and more estranged as his mother and father become more involved in Daniels illness and less involved, out of necessity, with Walter. The ballet is one of the few constants in his life. When the annual city production of The Nutcracker opens for auditions and since he has been rejected for any part the previous four years, Walter opts not to try out. Susan and Mitch are, of course, shoo-ins for roles. Walters hopes soar when his instructor calls him into his office, feeling that at last his hidden talents have been recognized and that his complexity of human feelings that he brought to the dance far outweigh his lack of technique. Hes told that he has the opportunity to dance the coveted role of the Prince in The Nutcrackerthe annual production put on by The Rockford Ballet, a group that represents Miss Amys Dance Emporium. He is devastated and while accepting the role, decides it will be his secret, that he will not humiliate himself by letting his friends know that he has been selected by a far, far inferior company even if it is the starring male part. Still, he is a prince for a short time. As Daniels illness becomes more and more debilitating, Susan is drawn to him and falls in love with him with the constant drama and devotion that only a teenager can have. The rift between her and Mitch becomes another pivotal point in Walters life. His longing for Mitch has been in the realm of exotic fantasy that is strictly spiritual and secret. Angry and frustrated, Mitch directs his sexual energy to Walter. Walter is overcome with joy and manages to convince himself that this is a reciprocated love even though their encounters are brief, somewhat seedy, and mostly one-sided. The denouement, with ballet and Mitch, comes when Walter, in the empty studio where classes are held, decides to slip into a costume left by one of the girls, "just to see how it feels." He also slips into the role of Odette the Swan Queen from Swan Lake. He discovers Mitch in the studio dressing room which far from dissuades him to stop. On the contrary, even with Mitchs taunts of "honest-to-God fag" and "youre always going to be a homo!" Walter begins to sing and hum strains of the ballet while doing arabesques and pirouettes in front of him. Walter is so enchanted that he runs, on pointe, out of the dressing room and into the studio so he could see if he looked as fabulous as he felt. He looked terrific even as the overhead lights switched on exposing him en flagrante to the piercing view of Mr. Kenton, his instructor. Kentons ensuing cruelty marks Walter, and he flees his participation in ballet for life, leaving a scoffing, macho Mitch behind. The grown-up Walter, now in his late thirties, reflects on this part of his life as he has set out on a new career as a junior high teacher in Otten, Wisconsin. He also is coping with what seems to be the imminent loss of what has been another constant in his lifeLake Margaret. Lake Margaret has been owned by his family for generations and has been passed down in joint-ownership to his mother and two aunts. One of the aunts, Sue Rawson, has announced her intention to sell her share of the property which has so increased in value that the remaining heirs are unable to find the resources to buy her out. Sue Rawsons action is a catalyst that shakes up the entire family with far reaching consequences. Through his young and adult life, Walter has managed to maintain his friendship with Susan. She is a prima ballerina with the Miami Ballet and is undergoing her own crisis of falling in love with a married man while she herself is a married mother of two. Hamilton weaves all of these intricacies into a story that is well knit and well written. It is absorbing to watch the metamorphosis of a confused boy into an uncertain man. She engages your empathy in a sure quiet way, and youll root for Walter from beginning to end. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 8, No. 10, July 31, 1998. |