Intimate Dialogues.
Description
$15.00
ISBN 978-1-55071-295-7
DDC C843'.54
Author
Publisher
Year
Review
Intimate Dialogues is a series of ten very short stories by Hélène Rioux, translated from the original French. The tales span approximately three and half years of the bored banter and bickering of a nameless French-Canadian couple. They complain endlessly that they never go anywhere or do anything, yet in their discussions about where to go and what to do, they always seem to find what they consider insurmountable obstacles. Consequently, they are never able to make any plans. They can’t agree on anything—restaurants, vacation destinations, paint colours, or in what position to make love.
Two-thirds of the way through the book, in a rare moment of consensus, ironically, they agree that a pair of their friends should have separated long ago: “They could never agree on anything. In the long run, hearing them argue was becoming tiresome.”
In the beginning the couple’s squabbling is mildly entertaining, but towards the end I found it exasperating. I initially thought they were a long-married couple, and was surprised in the last story when they decided to have a baby. It was frightening to think of such a self-absorbed couple rearing a child. By the end of the story, a year had passed and with one delay after another, they were still waffling over what to do.
One can only hope their pattern of bickering and procrastination continues over this decision.