Not Boyle’s best work, but as an author, he’s got this ability to write convincingly and fluidly about so many different topics that it hardly matters. It’s a passable story that’s either being Swiftian in its seriousness (toward the idea of eugenics) or — and I lean more on this possibility — a tale about a too-tall man and a too-small woman finding happiness for the future in between extremes.
I don’t doubt that Boyle means to mock eugenics on some level, but I’ve always found him more character-driven than satirical, and that extends to his humanized giant here, who starts out depressed and gradually seizes the first chance he gets for actual (not artificial) happiness. I also think that Boyle didn’t flesh out much of the supporting incidents, so hasty was he to get to the last part (which I suspect is the seed for this story, but hey, I don’t read the Book Bench stuff before I jot down my thoughts).
As usual, you can find my fuller (and more stream-of-conscious-y) breakdown of the story here: http://bit.ly/A6jjJ6
jerry
February 6, 2012 at 11:22 pm
agree with Aaron far from his best work but I’m glad to see Boyle back in the magazine.
Not Boyle’s best work, but as an author, he’s got this ability to write convincingly and fluidly about so many different topics that it hardly matters. It’s a passable story that’s either being Swiftian in its seriousness (toward the idea of eugenics) or — and I lean more on this possibility — a tale about a too-tall man and a too-small woman finding happiness for the future in between extremes.
I don’t doubt that Boyle means to mock eugenics on some level, but I’ve always found him more character-driven than satirical, and that extends to his humanized giant here, who starts out depressed and gradually seizes the first chance he gets for actual (not artificial) happiness. I also think that Boyle didn’t flesh out much of the supporting incidents, so hasty was he to get to the last part (which I suspect is the seed for this story, but hey, I don’t read the Book Bench stuff before I jot down my thoughts).
As usual, you can find my fuller (and more stream-of-conscious-y) breakdown of the story here: http://bit.ly/A6jjJ6
agree with Aaron far from his best work but I’m glad to see Boyle back in the magazine.