The last time I used the word "maniac" (it was "maniacally" to be precise), I was quoting Stephen King and describing my reaction to his words.
In Duma Key, the main character suffers a brain injury. He has trouble getting out the right words to say what he means. He is in pain, a little bit out of control of himself, and incredibly frustrated with his new inabilities. Once when his wife visits him in the hospital, he asks her to sit down in the chair in the corner.
Or he tries to.
Finally, he is reduced to, "Sit in the buddy. Sit in the friend. Sit in the goddamn pal, you dump bitch!"
(This is the quote the best that I can remember it right now.)
I laughed maniacally when I read this passage. The kind of laughing that could be sobbing because there's almost no physical difference between this kind of laughing and a certain type of crying.
Why the hysterical note? I'm not sure.
Theory One: I get that way when obscenity is used.
Theory Two: Fear. It's funny that he had to use these words for a chair, especially when these friendly kinds of words are paired with obscenity and anger. But it's not funny if it happens to you.
Theory Three: Take the above reasoning and apply it to sadness instead of fear. Maybe this guy's situation in the hospital was a little too close to Grandpa's. Maybe I was that close to crying even while I laughed. I remember having no control over my laughter when we heard the announcement that Mom and Dad were getting a divorce.
There were several similar passages in Duma Key that made me laugh in spite of myself. Which brings me to the next theory.
Theory Four: Stephen King is a great writer.
Theory Five: All these theories are correct.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
This is pretty interesting, Kristy. I don't have the emotional sophistication to mix emotions, so I felt them in sequence: that passage is pretty funny, but then I, like you, got around to thinking about G-pa and how frustrated he was when he tried to speak. It's peculiar how closely connected humor and sadness can be.
Yes, it is. Are you sure you don't mix emotions? That seems strange to me. Maybe you just analyze them in order rather than feeling them in order. Of course, this is all out of line since you know yourself way better than I know you.
Post a Comment