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    | | Dancing
by the River
by Marlin Barton
“Dancing by the River” by Marlin Barton
If the only subjects worthy of a writer’s labor concern certain
universal truths, which William Faulkner called the problems of the
human heart in conflict with itself, then Marlin Barton has achieved
a noble goal with his splendid second collection of stories,
“Dancing by the River.”
Most of the stories center around several generations of Andersons,
a family that once owned a general store in rural Alabama. There is
no genealogical tree to easily identify the Andersons, nor does
Barton provide any but the slightest of physical descriptions of his
central characters, choosing instead to depict them by their ages
and by their relationships with friends, spouses, parents, children
and lovers. When he does provide clues about his characters’
appearances, Barton affords this modest luxury mostly to the
supporting cast from outside the Anderson clan, such as a gypsy
handyman or a mouthy young Confederate soldier.
The sparse character studies do not deprive the stories of their
rich imagery, however, because Barton’s strengths lie in his subtle
description of place and his pitch-perfect dialogue. For Barton,
what happens to his characters in their relationships, framed by
their connection to their homes, the family store, or a strip club,
is far more important than any family trait passed down through the
generations. The constant references throughout to area rivers, as
obstacles to cross or landmarks by which to identify significant
events, reflect the temporary place that each generation occupies
compared to the eternity of the countryside in which the characters
live.
Barton adheres to the premise that universal truths are universal
precisely because they cannot be avoided by forewarning but must be
learned anew by each generation. In “Another Story for Catherine,”
Barton visits the theme of a doomed love affair in which a grandson
enters into the same tortured relationship with an older woman that
his grandfather experienced two generations before in “At the Wall
in Gaillon.” That the grandson began his romance at a college night
class instead of in post-World War II France does not diminish the
heart’s expectation that love can triumph over adversity, nor does
it soften the blow when love falls short, again.
Only two of the twelve stories in “Dancing” do not concern the
Andersons but, instead, feature a narrator who hopes to keep his
marriage from dissolving. “Meaning Business” does little more than
provide back story for the protagonist in “Falling,” a chronicle of
an absurd contest in which chickens are dropped from a low-flying
plane into a crowd of contestants, with one chicken bearing a
special ticket that will reward its captor with an all-expenses paid
vacation along the so-called “Redneck Riviera” in Gulf Shores.
“Falling” can stand alone, however, as one of Barton’s most
endearing stories, with the future of a loveless marriage depending
for survival on the comic plight of flightless fowl.
In his best stories, including “Beneath a Dark Window,” “Falling,”
“Errands,” and “At the Wall in Gaillon,” Barton focuses on decisions
made in life, or words spoken, that seemed right at the time, and he
provides his characters with the perspective of time to determine
whether their past actions were, indeed, well chosen. Redemption
does not come often in these stories, but enlightenment always
appears, even when not welcome.
Barton endeavors to remind man “of the courage and honor and hope
and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the
glory of his past,” an obligation with which Faulkner sought to
imbue future generations of writers. With “Dancing by the River,”
Marlin Barton capably discharges his duty.
Review by Craig Price
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