Constant Reader discussion

Our next story is "Relief" by Peter Ho Davies. You can find it in our anthology, The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction. The only source that I've been able to find for it online is in the Paris Review but you need to have a subscription to read the whole story.

I've never read anything by Davies before that I remember. However, I am learning that he writes primarily historical fiction. The biographical information in our anthology says though he was born in the UK and was educated there, he teaches at the University of Michigan. I did a little snooping online and determined that this is still true and he lives in Ann Arbor. I'm often there, since I live about 20 minutes down the road, so my literary celebrity antenna will be up from now on.

I don't think I've ever read a story where the act of passing gas (as my mother would so delicately put it) was the central event in the opening paragraphs. But, I loved the way that Davies used the act to ultimately contrast the pomposity of one military hero with the true understanding of war in the other. Chard was quick to talk about confirming his courage when facing battle and fear. Bromhead's story about trying to hold onto his soldier's leg to save him from the Zulus was incredibly moving. In the end, he was also using the story to divert attention from the younger soldier's gas attack. I loved the closing line that gave you an idea of the kinship he felt with the young men.

I just read the story. I’ll read it again and share my thoughts.

I thought I was the one who got busy. Where is everybody else? :D

I’m glad to see you here, Dinesh. This happens occasionally on this conference. But, if we don’t give up, it always picks up again. Looking forward to your thoughts on this story.

Barbara wrote: "I don't think I've ever read a story where the act of passing gas (as my mother would so delicately put it) was the central event in the opening paragraphs."

Me neither! And he uses cheese and fruit and wine to contrast with the act of farting. The word “between” is repeated in the first sentence, and then there is alliteration: “... but rather too boisterous fart to slip between his buttocks.” Using high-register words to poetically describe a fart makes it rather funny.

Barb, do let us know if/when you meet Davies. :D

I have a friend who was career military and he confirmed that it was unusual for those men to be invited to dinner by Bromhead and Chard. I don't understand the divisions in the military but it is a real thing.

Dinesh, I will definitely be on the lookout and post about it here if I find him!

"Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead and Lieutenant John Chard were the two British officers who commanded the defense of the mission station at Rorke's Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War on January 22-23, 1879. Their successful defense of the small outpost against a force of 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors, immediately following the disastrous British defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana, made them famous and earned both of them the Victoria Cross (VC), Britain's highest military decoration for valour."

They seem to be real people. Maybe the dinner really happened, but the rest could be fiction.

Thank you, Dinesh. Since Peter Ho Davies is known for writing historical fiction, this makes sense.

This is an excerpt from an essay that Peter Ho Davies wrote on historical fiction:

One of my early forays into historical fiction, for instance, was a story called "Relief" set during the Zulu Wars in the writing of which I learned the useful lesson that if you pick a relatively little known by-way of history your own command of it doesn't have to be exhaustive just more extensive than that of your reader. I'd warrant, say, that no one in this room knows much about the Zulu Wars...(nobody? Phew!) and/because the truth is I don't either, but by virtue of having read a single history book on the topic I'm our resident authority.

So, since he didn’t mention the meal. I’m guessing that it didn’t happen.

It’s an interesting, chatty essay which you can find here:

https://www.peterhodavies.com/legend-...

So far, I have only skimmed it looking for mention of our story but what I saw makes me want to go back.

Obviously I was a couple weeks late to read this, and that's a pity since I really, really loved it. First, for the brilliant title: a fart is relief when you need to do it, and the powerful man's story provided a second level of relief from embarrassment. But more, the totally absurd pretense that a fart would prove to somehow be an insult to the delicate manners of these men, who a short time before were wading thru rivers of blood in defense of their lives. It is all too absurd. And yet it all seems so real.

I think Davies gave it away in the passage that Barbara quoted. It allowed him to expand his small knowledge of the Zulu wars without knowing a lot of detail. I agree with Tonya that a fart would be nothing compared to what the men went through in fighting.