Lantern Slides by Edna O'Brien
"Lantern Slides" by Edna O'Brien is a collection of stories that reflect the complexities of life in Ireland, presented through the metaphor of magic lanterns projecting images of personal experiences. The title story, "Oft in the Stilly Night," introduces readers to an Irish village through a series of vignettes featuring eccentric characters such as a music teacher and a defrocked priest, embodying themes of nostalgia and the weight of the past. The centerpiece of the collection showcases a sophisticated Dublin society gathering, where the emotional stasis of the guests parallels the characters from James Joyce's works, yet with O'Brien’s unique humor and contemporary lens.
The stories delve into the dynamics of dysfunctional families and unsatisfactory romances, exploring themes of resignation and irony as characters navigate their struggles. For instance, in "A Demon," a seemingly innocent family outing reveals underlying tensions, while "What a Sky" depicts a fraught father-daughter reunion filled with unresolved anger. The narrative addresses the impact of gossip in "The Widow," showcasing the destructive nature of communal judgments. Overall, "Lantern Slides" offers a poignant reflection on human connections, highlighting the often unfulfilled desires and emotional complexities of its characters.
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Lantern Slides by Edna O'Brien
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1990
Type of work: Short stories
The Work
The pages of Lantern Slides are bracketed by two stories that neatly illuminate the book’s title. The “lantern” is an old-fashioned magic lantern, an early kind of slide projector that throws images upon a screen, just as these stories are images of the lives that O’Brien displays. The first, “Oft in the Stilly Night,” takes its title from a song by Thomas Moore, the nineteenth century Irish poet whose lyrics mourn a romanticized past. The story is virtually plotless, a series of vignettes featuring the inhabitants of an Irish village: the music teacher who keeps hens in her house, a defrocked young priest who lives with his mother, a woman who believes she has been attacked by a lily. These sad eccentrics flicker on and off the screen.
Paying homage to James Joyce with unmistakable allusions to “The Dead” and Ulysses, the title story is the true jewel of this collection as it observes a cross section of Dublin society at an elaborate surprise party for Betty, who has been deserted by her husband. Mr. Conroy, a rather pompous fellow (like Gabriel Conroy of “The Dead”), fleetingly remembers a dead lover as he escorts Miss Lawless, who daydreams of her first seducer. Other guests include the crude Mr. Gogarty (recalling Oliver St. John Gogarty, once Joyce’s roommate and the model for Buck Mulligan in Ulysses), an argumentative young woman, and the requisite drunkards. These partygoers are updated, seemingly more successful and cosmopolitan than Joyce’s, yet they too are emotionally stunted—gossiping, dissatisfied people waiting for something to happen to change their lives. Like Joyce’s characters, they are passive, already “dead,” but the wicked humor is entirely O’Brien’s.
Between these two lie other stories, centered largely on dysfunctional families or unsatisfactory love affairs. One of the best is “A Demon,” the tale of a disaster waiting to happen. Young Meg, the narrator, travels with her parents to fetch her ill sister from her boarding school because the nuns there are worried. They are accompanied by the doctor’s wife, whom Meg’s mother has attempted to befriend without success. Even though the hired car is late, Meg’s quarreling parents become jovial and the doctor’s wife thaws, as the mother struggles to please her guest by secretly procuring gin for her. As Meg’s sister Nancy, coughing and wrapped in a blanket, is taken home, Meg sees that Nancy’s abdomen is swollen and “knew without knowing” that things can only get worse.
In “What a Sky,” a daughter returns to Ireland to visit her elderly father and treat him to a little outing, but mutual anger and bitterness thwart their reconciliation. Vicious village gossip in “The Widow” ultimately destroys a good woman, revealing the cruelty of cramped little lives. A sort of resignation exists in these stories, often laced with a strong dose of irony, as if the worst will happen regardless of what anyone does to prevent it. As one character remarks, “You see, everyone is holding on. Just.”