“To Sunland”
by Lauren Groff
from the July 4, 2022 issue of The New Yorker
More Lauren Groff! I am becoming a bigger and bigger fan with everything I read, even when I read something I don’t like quite as much as something else she’s written. I’m very intrigued by her projects, and I think she is a fantastic writer. The way she adds darkness is remarkable. Here is how “To Sunland” begins:
He woke to an angry house and darkness in the windows. Aunt Maisie had packed his suitcase the night before and left it near the front door, and so he dressed himself without turning on the light and came out and dropped the pajamas on top of the suitcase. She was in the kitchen, banging the pans around.
Buddy, she said when she saw him, set yourself down and get some of this food in you. Her eyes were funny, all red and puffy, and he didn’t like to see them like that. When he sat down, she came up behind him and hugged his head so hard it hurt, and her hands smelled like soap and cigarettes and grease, and he pulled away.
There we go! I hope your summer is allowing for some reading, and that that is bringing you joy and solace and comfort and fun. I look forward to reading this one, and I hope you’ll share your thoughts below in the meantime!
Two incredible novels, ”Fates and Furies” and “Matrix”, have made Lauren Groff my favorite modern writer.
An interesting aspect of this story for me was the way Groff communicated Buddy’s thoughts as mostly reactions to his physical environment. His thoughts are triggered by these physical stimuli, much like Benjy’s stream of consciousness in The Sound and the Fury.
Good observation, MAH. Also a very nice characterization of his sister, often by how others react to her. This isn’t as deep as her last NYer story, but a nice depiction of a young woman who is trying to make her own way. She’s too smart for her own good, except that that’s what drives her to get out and will eventually (we think) allow her to make a new/good life.
Nice depiction of a prior time — 1957. I wonder if it was random or if it relates to something in the life of someone she knows.
“Sunland” is obviously ironic for the home Buddy gets deposited in. Also relates to the fact that the sister is going to her own future better life by going north to snow land in Maine.
I love the contrast between Sunland and snow land, William. I used to live in Gainesville, some 40 years ago, and Sunland loomed large as a big employer in this university town. It also had its dark history and scandals, as many large facilities for the mentally disabled had. As the state shut most of Sunland’s sister facilities down, it grew by absorbing those who could not thrive in the transition to community programs. It remains open to this day, though renamed as a more compassionate and productive environment.
Thanks for that background, MAH. Makes the story stronger. Her bio says she lives in Gainesville. Obviously she’s absorbed local history.
I enjoyed this story and the homage to Flannery O’Connor.
Groff needs an editor– her prose is so overwrought it’s painful. It’s like gorging on Halloween candy– that’s great when your 11, but when you’re an adult, not so much.
James – what’s the Flannery O’Connor homage? I just listened to it in the car and either didn’t hear it or didn’t know it….
I also like Groff very much and particularly ‘Fates and Furies.” This was, to use an overused word, masterful. Her command of rhythm and flow and well-chosen description moves us through this sad, fascinating vignette.
There’s one shadow discourse here, though. Since this is a Southern bus in 1957 it would presumably be racially segregated, as would wash rooms in the station, as would the lunch counter they visit. I hardly think every story needs to address issues of race, but somehow couldn’t find myself wondering about a Black passenger on the same bus.
Ken,
In June, 1956, a federal court struck down segregated seating in a case brought by the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott. In November, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ruling: Integrated seating on buses was now the law of the land. Even so, the Tallahassee City Commission refused to rescind its ban on integrated seating.
Also, p. 62, top, “The bus was broiling hot and they had to go halfway back to find a seat.”
But my impression was that Joanie and Buddy were white, and the red-haired lady on the bus was too. Did I miss something. Read it a couple of weeks ago.
Sorry if I was unclear, MAH, I definitely think all the characters are white. I was just curious about the time in which it was written when buses were either just desegregated or still were. Thanks for the historical information.
Thanks for clarifying, Ken. I understand your comment now. Though I will say, Groff is true to character as it is unlikely that these characters would make note of any racial issues. To them, in 1957, that was their world. Also, putting a Black person in the story, which seems to hew very close to just a few characters’ POV, would seem to violate the “Chekov’s gun” principle.
I agree with all your comments. I was sort of musing that it’s like a shadow-discourse, not necessarily one Groff needs to bring to light.