27 January 2009

From Rabbit at Rest:
From his expression and the pitch of his voice, the boy is shouting into a fierce wind blowing from his father's direction. "Don't die, Dad, don't!" he cries, then sits back with that question still on his face, and his dark wet eyes shining like stars of a sort. Harry shouldn't leave the question hanging like that, the boy depends on him.

"Well, Nelson," he says, "all I can tell you is, it isn't so bad." Rabbit thinks maybe he should say more, the kid looks wildly expectant, but enough. Maybe. Enough.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never read any Updike (except maybe for a New Yorker piece or two). Should I start? Where?

Alec said...

Couples is probably my favorite Updike, although mostly because it's so trashy. One of the later Rabbit novels (not the first one, which isn't that great) might be a better place to start.

Before the news hit, I'd just begun reading Bech: A Book, which strikes me as a good starting point, too. But I should probably finish it first.