Roberta Allen's THE PRINCESS OF HERSELF & Samuel Beckett's old men wearing greatcoats
The old women in Roberta Allen's The Princess of Herself (Pelekinesis September 20th) made me think of how (Samuel) "Beckett's itinerant greatcoat-wearing old men ramble throughout the pages of his fiction...". ( Art of Salvage, Julie Bates). Her observations have a wit dry and ready without compromise to please. In the title story, the narrator observes the Princess' "broad unlined forehead, the symmetrical features, the sallow skin, the mane of long gray curls falling past her shoulders, her shiny silver "moon" necklaces. Hippy necklaces. Behind her, the empty cafe. The polished wood tables." In Allen's stories, her older women run from mortality, chasing themselves.The narrator, like Beckett, puzzles out consciousness. She observes, not devoid of sympathy, but wields words like a sharp knife, deftly uncovering what we know and don't imagine. From a story called Forgotten: " I remember thinking how young she looke...