Read Online Weekend by William McIlvanney - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: William McIlvanney
Ads: Link
into the room, feeling embarrassed to be in her pyjamas but unable simply to walk away. When she stood beside the woman, Marion paused, transfixed by her utter self-absorption.
She sat like a woman in the waiting-room of a railway station where no trains came any more. She seemed dressed to travel but unable to move. Her cashmere coat was buttoned. A small travelling-bag lay on the floor beside her. There were some objects on the table in front of her. The only one Marion identified clearly was a small coolbag. The woman was staring through the windows at the moonlight on the sea. She was as bleak an image as Marion could remember seeing. Marion followed the woman’s eyes out into the darkness. Diseased and deadening pallor on the waters and the land. It was as if, Marion thought, the night was painting her mood. The world had leprosy.
‘Are you all right?’
The woman turned almost towards Marion without confronting her directly. Her face was cadaverous in the moonlight. ‘I’m not sure,’ she said.
‘Can I help you?’
‘I wouldn’t think so.’
‘Can I do something for you?’
The woman shook her head.
‘You see, you left your door open.’
The woman had an expression vague enough to suggest that she didn’t know doors could be closed, and turned again towards the window.
‘Shall I close it for you?’
‘If you like.’
Marion felt reluctant to leave but the woman was watching the sea again.
‘Who are you?’ Marion said. Once she had expressed it, the question seemed slightly impertinent. It had surfaced automatically because she couldn’t identify the woman as amember of the study group. The woman thought about it for a moment.
‘Sandra,’ she said. Something like a smile that died in embryo happened in her face. ‘I think.’
Marion smiled too but the woman didn’t notice.
‘I’ll close the door then, shall I?’
Marion went out and closed the door. Back in her own room, she turned the lock again. If Vikki decided to come back now, that was her problem. She went and sat on the bed among her notes. She wondered what the woman was doing there. She didn’t know whose room it was or if it had been occupied until tonight. She lifted her tape-recorder.
She was glad Andrew Lawson had given her permission to tape all the lectures. She wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight and the tape gave her something to distract her from herself. She would make notes of the parts that had interested her. It would take her mind off the embarrassment. How could she have done what she did this evening? Perhaps that was why someone had tried her door. Maybe they imagined she was available. The thought would have been laughable last night. No doubt it was still laughable but she didn’t find it as easy to be amused now.
She looked at the tape-recorder. She was almost at the part about the names, the part she had found most interesting. She pressed the button.
Perhaps one of the most striking things about the novel is the scarcity of event. What does Hyde actually do on all those occasions when he escapes from the body of Jekyll? It’s veryvague. Of course, Victorian convention would forbid too many details. Perhaps that’s why a Hollywood version of the novel introduced Ingrid Bergman to proceedings. But Stevenson turned this limitation to his advantage. There is a story of Michelangelo confronting the marble from which he would carve the statue of David. Someone had started to work on it before him and had lost his nerve. But not before he had cut a large piece from it. The story is that Michelangelo contrived to conjure the damaged marble into the posture of David’s body. He made a virtue of necessity. Stevenson does something similar. Obliged to work with an enforced reticence, he induces us to inform the silence with our own imagination. We fill the void with ourselves. And isn’t that what we try to do with our own lives?
And Vikki, Marion was thinking. What
She sat like a woman in the waiting-room of a railway station where no trains came any more. She seemed dressed to travel but unable to move. Her cashmere coat was buttoned. A small travelling-bag lay on the floor beside her. There were some objects on the table in front of her. The only one Marion identified clearly was a small coolbag. The woman was staring through the windows at the moonlight on the sea. She was as bleak an image as Marion could remember seeing. Marion followed the woman’s eyes out into the darkness. Diseased and deadening pallor on the waters and the land. It was as if, Marion thought, the night was painting her mood. The world had leprosy.
‘Are you all right?’
The woman turned almost towards Marion without confronting her directly. Her face was cadaverous in the moonlight. ‘I’m not sure,’ she said.
‘Can I help you?’
‘I wouldn’t think so.’
‘Can I do something for you?’
The woman shook her head.
‘You see, you left your door open.’
The woman had an expression vague enough to suggest that she didn’t know doors could be closed, and turned again towards the window.
‘Shall I close it for you?’
‘If you like.’
Marion felt reluctant to leave but the woman was watching the sea again.
‘Who are you?’ Marion said. Once she had expressed it, the question seemed slightly impertinent. It had surfaced automatically because she couldn’t identify the woman as amember of the study group. The woman thought about it for a moment.
‘Sandra,’ she said. Something like a smile that died in embryo happened in her face. ‘I think.’
Marion smiled too but the woman didn’t notice.
‘I’ll close the door then, shall I?’
Marion went out and closed the door. Back in her own room, she turned the lock again. If Vikki decided to come back now, that was her problem. She went and sat on the bed among her notes. She wondered what the woman was doing there. She didn’t know whose room it was or if it had been occupied until tonight. She lifted her tape-recorder.
She was glad Andrew Lawson had given her permission to tape all the lectures. She wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight and the tape gave her something to distract her from herself. She would make notes of the parts that had interested her. It would take her mind off the embarrassment. How could she have done what she did this evening? Perhaps that was why someone had tried her door. Maybe they imagined she was available. The thought would have been laughable last night. No doubt it was still laughable but she didn’t find it as easy to be amused now.
She looked at the tape-recorder. She was almost at the part about the names, the part she had found most interesting. She pressed the button.
Perhaps one of the most striking things about the novel is the scarcity of event. What does Hyde actually do on all those occasions when he escapes from the body of Jekyll? It’s veryvague. Of course, Victorian convention would forbid too many details. Perhaps that’s why a Hollywood version of the novel introduced Ingrid Bergman to proceedings. But Stevenson turned this limitation to his advantage. There is a story of Michelangelo confronting the marble from which he would carve the statue of David. Someone had started to work on it before him and had lost his nerve. But not before he had cut a large piece from it. The story is that Michelangelo contrived to conjure the damaged marble into the posture of David’s body. He made a virtue of necessity. Stevenson does something similar. Obliged to work with an enforced reticence, he induces us to inform the silence with our own imagination. We fill the void with ourselves. And isn’t that what we try to do with our own lives?
And Vikki, Marion was thinking. What
Similar Books
