(Untitled)

[proximoception]

Is there a name for this particular story trope: some utterly innocuous-seeming detail at the start of a story that in fact, looked at very closely and perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, gives the whole game away. Obviously such keys can be camouflaged elsewhere, but the start has some unique advantages when it comes to hiding stuff

Comments

[grashupfer]

I like thinking about this. Don't know what it's called. What are some more examples? Twin Peaks the Return?

[proximoception]

The one that stuck out for me there was the flashback to the running, screaming student. In context it seemed to mean that though we're back in idyllic Twin Peaks there's an old trauma affecting it even now. Which is true - initially offered meanings are almost always true - but in retrospect it becomes about the girl's response to the trauma: not running-to or screaming-for-help, just running away while screaming to drown out your thoughts about what you experienced. Laura's scream at the end occurs while looking straight at the upstairs of her house, so seems like a healthier sort of response.

Wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot in that one, though. The giant prophecies are almost a parody of this technique, suggesting that there is no way in hell you will recognize the signs of the next important moment early enough to prepare. Which means you need to stay prepared for certain moments always. Vigilance vs. denial.

[jones_casey]

this is bloody brilliant! but you buried the anagnorisis.

[jones_casey]

pareisduno paraprosdokian

[proximoception]

Greek to me. But if you went looking that far I'm beginning to suspect there isn't a one-word term for this.

[nightspore]

This is great. I think Roth does something similar, a lot. And it's interesting that he denies it in real life, making those denials part of the fiction.

[proximoception]

Goodbye Columbus is the densest long (or longest dense) story I know of, in re. thematic rift-loading. I thought he cooled it after that but wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he just found a way to be subtler about his subtlety.

And you're right, he really is amazingly consistent in his public disavowals of any significant signification in his work. I don't think he's alone in that practice, but he's probably the most disingenuously insistent.