Esther and Holden: A story

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As the composer Igor Stravinsky said, “The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees oneself of the chains that shackle the spirit,”. This is at least how I, and undoubtedly some of you guys, felt about this project. You’re given a pretty limited set of requirements for what you can write, established characters, setting, et cetera. But within those limits, I found it all of a sudden a lot easier to write something. The combinations and possibilities were extremely fascinating.

My story is from Esther’s perspective ten years later, in 1963, when she’s a writer and return to New York City. She meets Holden and they get to know each other a bit. It’s a story that looks at both of them ten years on, but now in the context of the 1963 political crises and culture (although part of the story is that things haven’t changed that much yet). My goal was to follow Esther’s thoughts over two days with Holden, and see where it goes. It's titled In Open Air, sort of "the opposite" of being under a bell jar. But this is complicated and hopefully you guys see the complications of the title reflected in what I wrote, although who knows. If you guys want to read my story and comment, here’s the link.

Comments

  1. Jenna LeeMay 7, 2019 at 5:40 PM

    I like this a lot! There's a lot of interesting dynamics that you explore between Holden and Esther in both a political sense and an artistic sense that I wouldn't have thought of! I also love Phoebe's appearance and how she's still calling Holden out on his bullshit it's great 10/10

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  2. La DiaphaneMay 8, 2019 at 7:47 AM

    This is really good. You definitely got Esther's tone really well, and I really like how you showed Phoebe as a grown up. I was still annoyed with Holden in this story, which tells me you got his character well too! I really like the description in your prose and the way this encounter moves.

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