By Thandiwe Grant
It is the Beyond the Walls time of year again! ‘Distance’ is the theme in this year’s anthology, and the Editing Team is expecting thought-provoking pieces that explore the many meanings of Distance. While we wait expectantly for the publishing of this year’s edition, here are 5 examples of pieces written on Distance throughout literature.
1. The first extract discusses distance from society, and highlights feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Wittgenstein’s mistress – David Markson
“In the beginning, sometimes I left messages in the street. Somebody is living in the Louvre, certain of the messages would say. Or in the National Gallery. Naturally, they could only say that when I was in Paris or in London. Somebody is living in the metropolitan museum, being what they would say when I was still in New York. Nobody came, of course. Eventually I stopped leaving the messages. To tell the truth, perhaps I only left three or four messages altogether. I have no idea how long ago it was when I was doing that. If I was forced to guess, I believe I would guess ten years. Possibly it was several years longer than that however. And of course I was out of my mind for a certain period too, back then. I do not know how long a period, but for a certain period. Time out of mind. Which is a phrase I suspect I may have never properly understood, now that I happen to use it. Time out of mind meaning mad, or time out of mind meaning simply forgotten? But in either case, there was little question about that madness.”
2. The second extract discusses serendipity. Two people, same moment – the other side of the globe.
The Distance Between Us – Maggie O’Farrell
“Jake’s hair is dark and his skin can turn to almost the same shade as his friend Hing Tai’s if he stays in the sun long enough, but his eyes are the colour of deep water. He has a British Passport, a British mother and somewhere, a British father. But Jake has never seen Britain, or his father, and has never been anywhere near Europe. Stella sees a solitary figure, far away, at the other end of the bridge, heading towards her. A man. Shrunk down by distance. She could raise her hand and encircle him with a finger and a thumb. As if pulled towards each other by a string, they walk and walk and walk. He becomes more defined: tall, hulking, wearing a green jacket.”
Stella sees a solitary figure, far away, at the other end of the bridge, heading towards her. A man. Shrunk down by distance. She could raise her hand and encircle him with a finger and a thumb. As if pulled towards each other by a string, they walk and walk and walk. He becomes more defined: tall, hulking, wearing a green jacket.”
3. This next extract is from a short story collection and is described in the introduction as, ‘stories about feeling far from home’. “Some of their characters undertake distance, others are overtaken, overcome, bound by distance…” The short story is made out of distance.” (A Kind of Compass – Edited by Belinda McKeon)
Ross Raisin – Holy Island.
“ When she is at the top she lays a blanket over a large stone, a few steps from the cliff’s edge, and sits down. From here, even in the ebbing light of the sun, she can see for miles around. To the west the wet amber gleam of the mudflats stretches away to the mainland. Below her, a sheer rock falls to the shingle beach and the harbour, on the other side of which the Needles tower above Black Law.”
4. This next extract is about the distance between peoples, culture clashes and immigration.
The Arrangers of Marriage by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A woman from Lagos arrives in America to join her husband. She discovers the reality of her new life, getting to know her husband, living situation and American customs.
““Okay.” I said. I felt light-headed. The ten-hour flight from Lagos to New York and the interminable wait while the American customs officer raked through my suitcase had left me woozy, stuffed my head full of cotton wool. The officer had examined my foodstuffs as if they were spiders, her gloved fingers poking at the waterproof bags of ground egsui and dried onugbu leaves and uziza seeds, until she seized my uziza seeds. She feared I would grow them on American soil. It didn’t matter that they had been sundried for weeks and were as hard as a bicycle helmet.”
5. This last extract is about loving across distances, Long distance love – love across adversity? Loving someone from a distance.
The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
Lovers Henry and Claire are ripped apart unexpectedly by Henry’s time travel illness.
“Okay. Here’s how it is: You time travelled. You were in your bedroom, and all of a sudden, poof! You are here, and it’s a little earlier in the evening, so we have plenty of time to look at everything before you have to go home.” He is silent and quizzical. “Does that make sense?”
“…My young self will be home now, climbing into bed. I remember, I remember. I woke up in the morning and it was all a wonderful dream. Mom laughed and said that time travel sounded fun, and she wanted to try it, too.
That was the first time.”
That concludes the five literary examples I found on Distance, I hope this provides stimulating reading material as we wait for the publishing of this years Beyond the Walls, which will showcase writing like this from our very own York St John students!