Dissonance

A couple of times, by accident, I've found myself confronted by two fictional stories that illuminate each other somehow. The first was when I read Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls and James Michener's The Bridges at Tokyo-Ri in succession. Both are stories about attempts to blow up a bridge during wartime, Hemingway's bridge in Spain and Michener's in Korea. The juxtaposition left me more impressed than ever with Hemingway's work, less with Michener's.

The second, now, is reading Jeanine Cummins's American Dirt alongside watching Apple's television production of Mosquito Coast. The novel, Dirt, is about a woman and her son fleeing Mexico for the United States to escape unspeakable violence; the TV series is about a family trying to escape the United States for Mexico to escape perceived materialism and hypocrisy. The irony is palpable.

Both stories have quite a way to go before they end: I'm just hoping my head doesn't explode before they get there.

(In the meantime, both stories are recommended if you're up for it.)