A Kind of Flying: A Book by Ron Carlson

A Kind of Flying is a book written by Ron Carlson which was first published in 2003. This work includes several short stories and the name of the book comes from the title of one of these stories, which is a story I want to talk about further.

A Kind of Flying, the short story that named this book is about the marriage of a couple. To be honest, it is not the most interesting story out there. The story is constructed like a monologue of the narrator who tells someone about his love story during and after marriage. He tells us about things like his wife's sister being against their marriage, how their wedding cake was attacked by two crows, and how one of the crows steals the groom's figurine on the top of the cake. Yet, in the end, we learn that even if they had some misfortunes they are still together after twenty years. There is also a paragraph of the story that I love so much, the ending passage. It contains a dialogue between the narrator and his sister-in-law's (the same sister-in-law who didn't approve of him) daughter. At that point, he has been married to his wife for twenty years and he is giving her some advice since she is about to get married.

Just get married. Have a friend sing your favorite song at the wedding. Marriage, she said, what is it? Well, I said, its not life on a cake. Its a bird taking your head in his beak and you walk the sky. Its marriage. Sometimes it pinches like a birds mouth, but its definitely flying, its definitely a kind of flying.

Actually, you may find it unnecessary for me to write about this story. It is only one among many, after all. Yet, it is a great story for me to show you Ron Carlson's writing style. His stories tell everyday events, even mundane ones. During the story, there might not be a plot twist or an explosive moment. Still, you find yourself enjoying the story. I think the way he plays with words helps at that point. He knows how to make the sentences enjoyable. Instead of a gripping storyline, he catches the attention of the reader with the way he writes. I can easily say that his sentences and ideas are really pretty, like the way he writes about marriage. This is my favorite writing style, actually. Reading a story but not thinking about what will happen next, just getting lost among the words. Not reading a story but feeling it... This is the best kind of story, in my opinion.