Lee Smith - Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger

Lee Smith's website: http://www.leesmith.com/

Lee Smith interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZp4y4_eM84&noredirect=1

Other short story collections by Lee Smith:
Cakewalk
Me and My Baby View the Eclipse
News of the Spirit

Anthony Komonski
Case Study Paper
March 19th, 2012

Lee Smith

Lee Smith - “Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger”

While I was reading “Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger” by Lee Smith, one of the first things I've noticed upon reading is the theme all of a majority her stories take place at a beach or a beach like setting. Yet, all of her stories aren't about the bright beautiful sunshine, or family fun times everyone enjoys, but rather it focuses on certain characters who think about their lives, as well as how to overcome certain obstacles that block their way, and finding a resolution in the end. When I read something about the leading character in any of Smith's short stories, there is always a feeling of sentiment that I felt in all of her stories. Smith wants the reader to become interested in the actions the main character does, making them more enchanting and stand out more than the others. I liked how Smith handled her characters, each have their own hard time to overcome, such as death of a husband or going against a mother's wishes, as well as relieving memories of one's own past. On the psychic distance scale of all of the short stories in this collection from one to six, most of Smith's stories range in the three to five area, with one story in particular being a six. Smith wants you to thrust you into viewing the characters situations, and giving the right amount of tension to build, and either letting it go downhill and conclude, or in a few of her stories, leaving me guessing for what's to come. In one story in particular that I remember, the story starts off in the present and the main character's husband is already dead, but I didn't know what was the cause of this death, and it game me chills when I was reading it.While in most of her stories, the main character is normally a woman, another story that I have read involve a young boy, something that I wasn't expecting Smith to do, and to see him radically change in the story from how he was before, as someone who was really into books, to someone who decides to have his own stand up routine was very drastic of a change, but at the same time, it changed his personality, giving the reading more sentiment towards him. One other story, that I have read follow the life of woman, who practically tells you her life story in open arms, which I felt was pretty different, and didn't feel like Smith was actually the one that written the story, but by someone else, which is why the story had the highest part of the psychic distance scale, because it felt like Smith took on a different persona, which really got my interest, and made more to learn more about this character and her life story. I am glad that I got to read Lee Smith's work, because normally I have never read short fiction stories that did not normally involve a type of fantasy like theme or setting, and after reading and reflecting on all of her stories, I am glad that I have chose to read her collection and I have no regrets doing my assignment on her.