"IN THIS LIGHT: New and Selected Stories," by Melanie Rae Thon, Graywolf Press, $16, 266 pages
“In This Light” is a worthy attempt in uncovering humanities flaws. Though sometimes author Melanie Rae Thon uses irrelevant prose, the reader is able to glimpse into the lives of society's unwanted.
Writing with the idea that all people need to feel loved, the collection of short stories, released May 24, is striking and impressive.
Thon, an English professor at the University of Utah, writes with versatile storylines. One story is about a drunken young woman who hits a man on a desolate Montana road. Another is about two unwanted children and their innocence during the Christmas season. Yet another story is about a rapist who destroyed a woman’s life.
Perhaps the most striking story is called “Punishment.” It is about a slave who murders the white child that was entrusted to her care. The story is beautiful and haunting. Devoid of any inappropriate prose, Thon captures the essence of slavery and the drudging consequences of disobedience. The imagery used in this story will surely be seared into the readers mind. Fans of African-American literature will surely be drawn to this story.
The sex scenes throughout the book are one of the book's largest flaws. Though seemingly necessary to drive the plot, the scenes seem to drag out, and the integrity of the various stories is lost. The description of the human body also seems out of place. Though Thon masterfully describes the body and its role in the story, Thon goes too far and often paints unnecessary and inappropriate images in the reader's mind.
Overall “In This Light” is a poetic and honest piece of literature. The collection of stories provides valuable insight to individiuals who may have be be rejected by society. Though the sex scenes dilute the stories, they truly speak to the reality of the characters experiences. Though the book invokes feelings of sympathy and remorse, the reader is truly inspired to read about each characters phlight and rejoice in their story.
Shelby Scoffield is a graduate of Brigham Young University and a graduate student at California State University, Stanislaus.